A Steal At $155,000

In this case, a picture is worth 1000 laughs..

The home is located in Paterson, NJ. The seller is asking $155,000 and states that it’s perfect for a first time homebuyer or investor. Perfect for what? I’m not exactly sure.

So what does $155,000 buy elsewhere? Well, if you were willing to move to the Memphis, TN area, you could purchase this home.


Or perhaps you might consider San Antonio, TX where $155,000 will get you this 3br/3ba.

Perhaps a brand new home in Macon, GA is more your style? It’s $100 less than the Paterson home above.

I’d take my chances in any of the towns I posted over that wreck in Paterson any day. Is it any wonder that so many people are leaving this area? I hope this pictures give you some sense of the value of a home. Bubble in North Jersey? What bubble?

Caveat Emptor!
Grim

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25 Responses to A Steal At $155,000

  1. Anonymous says:

    Marin Pos started this but maybe we should have NNJ PoS. Just thinkin’ out loud.

  2. grim says:

    Thanks, I didn’t know about the MarinPOS blog.

    Marin POS Blog

    grim

  3. grim says:

    If anyone would like to start a NNJ POS blog, just respond or drop me a line, I’ll gladly help out.

    grim

  4. Richie says:

    This Paterson home is PERFECT for a home based drug business. Just look at those windows, all they people have to do is toss in the loot, then you drop the bag. Plus you have that second window for a lookout.

    -Richie

  5. Metroplexual says:

    I could cover NW Jersey. For NNJ PoS. I think it would be fun and educational.

  6. Anonymous says:

    Please start at NNJ POS Blog. I have some things I would love to get off my chest about the homes prices and pictures I’ve seen on the GSMLS website. Gheesh!!

  7. Metroplexual says:

    Grim,

    What do you say, another forum for venting. I’ll set it up tonight.

  8. grim says:

    Go for it, drop me an email at nnjbubble@gmail.com if you’ve got issues setting anything up.

    There is enough fodder on gsmls.com and realtor.com to keep you busy for weeks..

    grim

  9. Richard says:

    grim you kill me. your posts highlight the absurdity the market in NJ and the surrounding areas has become. sometimes you need to get above the treetops to get the proper perspective. keep em comin!

  10. r patrick says:

    I looked at the Marin blog

    1. In NJ these would be all teardowns.
    2. I wish they still had some of these left near me since as non POS and not over priced they would make a great Bachelors pad
    3. In Chicago 300k looks reasonable for a SFH compared to NNJ, NNJ looks reasonable comapred to Marin.

    Still messed up though

  11. Anonymous says:

    Please….you don’t have to Paterson to view the the trash, just take a tour of some homes on the market in Montclair, West Orange, Maplewood and South Orange. It’s just more money than your typical Paterson colonial.

    I call it Third World Charm!

  12. Richard says:

    while this listing isn’t a POS, i’m still amazed at what prices people are paying for properties. this is a 2 BR condo with a family room in the basement. it’s near the town of South Orange which looks like a war zone with all the construction and a # of seedy folks walking around (influx from Newark/Irvington). they paid $540k and it’s $414 a month maint with $11k in property taxes. that’s a monthly nut of about $4500 a month. HUH?

    http://listings.gsmls.com/SearchDetail/Scripts/PrtBuyFul/PrtBuyFul.asp?prp=Mls&MlsNumList=2209810

  13. Metroplexual says:

    Any suggestions for the NNJ PoS blog? and is there going to be a specific geography?

  14. Shivs says:

    $155,00O is insane. I purchased a two family house in Rahway a year ago for 165,000 after closing costs. I put 20,000 into it and asking 315,000 when its done. I was on gsmls the other night checking the price of homes in Rahway. Talk about cr*p holes! The only thing I didnt replace on my house was one door. All the homes listed looked like they got strcuk by a tornado then it circled back around.

    I drove by a home in Linden. Hot Pink siding, 1 level, total of 5 rooms, train runs right through the yard, asking 250,000 for it. Dude must be on some serious medication. Im going to offer him 135,000 can’t wait =)

  15. grim says:

    metro,

    drop me an email please.

    grim

  16. grim says:

    shivs,

    Are you just trolling for some kind of heated response? Sure, I’ll play.

    If you purchased the house for $165,000 and made improvements worth $20,000, why exactly do you think that the home is worth $315,000?

    $185,000 (the cost of the house plus improvements) adjusted for a year of inflation puts the price somewhere around $195,000, a far cry from the $315,000 you’d like to get for it.

    grim

  17. Gary says:

    A fresh coat of paint and this house can be flipped for a $100K profit. :o

  18. Dukes says:

    I grew up in NJ, I now live in Seattle. My grandparents lived in Jersey City back when it was an area where you could have a family.

    My parents moved us out to the suburbs of South Jersey. All that I can say about this listing is that you are spending 155K to risk your life each night that you come home.

    Not to mention the risk of having your car stolen every night. What a shithole, and I am sure the property taxes are probably high….amazing…

  19. inseattle says:

    This bubble blog has always been great (love the price reduction pieces) and is now getting even better.

    Yes please, an NNJ POS feature would be a hit to be sure.

    I grew up in the tri-state area and have lived all over the US. Altho I love it out there, people are the salt of the earth, etc. etc., >there is one thing that I believe no other section of the country can out do that area on and that is, you guessed it, POS properties.

    An interesting thing about POS tho, they can become instant POH (Piece of Heaven) properties. They only need to be priced correctly to go from POS to POH.

    This seller needs to take a trip up to the Albany area-plenty of POH properties up there. The cities auctions them off by the thousands a couple times of year.

    Starting bid= $25.00 and they sometimes go for as much as 1 or 2 hundred dollars.

    This seller needs to understand the concept of competitive pricing and how to move property.

    Good luck w/ the NNJ POS site- we’ve got it all over Marin! GO team!!!

  20. inseattle says:

    The trash in the yard is another nice touch too.

    Another thing this seller needs to understand: The more winters this POS sits empty, the POS-ier it’s gonna get.

    After acouple wintershe’s gonna have to change it into a POH property whether he wants to or not.

  21. Shivs says:

    Grim, I am not looking for a heated response. I just thought I would comment on that house in Paterson and share my experience with everyone. No need for so much hostility. =) Here are three reasons why I will sell my house for 315,000.
    1. Before starting any work on the house, I received estimates from five different contractors of $90,000 and up. I did all the work myself so I ended up saving about $70,000 give or take a thousand. This is one of the reasons why flippers who do their own work can survive in the real estate bubble. Sure you may not be able to make as much money as a year ago but it can still be profitable. Anyway $165,000 + $70,000 in renovations equals $235,000. I have to at least get that much back for the property. The one thing I have going for me is that the price of a home in that area is going for the same price as mine but they need about $50,000 in renovations. So why am I labeled as the bad guy when my asking price is the same as all the other beat up homes in town. I am giving you more for your money. Would you rather pay 315,000 for a house that needs repairs or a newly renovated home for the same price? Selling my house for anything less than what the other homes are going doesn’t make very much sense financially and I am sure we both can agree on that. Its not my fault that people are selling their beat up properties for too much. Now if I listed it for 400,000 or higher, then that would be unreasonable.

  22. Anonymous says:

    shivs-
    This elucidates the problem with bubbles> there will be as many people taking a hit on the way down as there were people striking it rich on the way up.
    That’s one of the dangerous things and it’s starting to happen now.
    If I were NEEDING to sell right now, I would forget about profits, let alone “big” profits, and cut my losses.
    The losses will only become more pronounced as the months go by.
    I pity needful sellers who get caught in the “huge profit mania” psychology.
    They are the ones who will get hurt the most.
    The days of huge profits are over.
    The days of huge losses are right around the corner.

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