"You Know It's a Tear-Down When . . "

Metastasized Mold

Jeff Foxworthy, the comedian, has a well-worn bit called "You know you're a redneck when . . ."

I suppose the real estate equivalent would be, "you know it's a tear-down when . . ."

In that spirit:

You know it's a tear-down when . . . the mold in the home has advanced so far that the nails in the home's framing are either missing or completely rusted out.

In fact, that describes the home I just took clients through this morning.

Once that has happened, even "gutting to the studs" is problematic -- because the integrity of the studs is in doubt.

P.S.: whether the home is an "economic" tear-down vs. a "functional" tear-down are two separate questions.

An economic tear-down is typically an undersized home on a big lot, in an expensive location. There may be absolutely nothing wrong with the home itself. Rather, the location simply supports a much more expensive home.

A functional tear-down is when the home's condition is so far gone that rehabbing is no longer an option.

Fern Hill "Flip"

Latest Chapter in Fern Hill Foreclosure

Where: 26xx Kipling Ave. South (St. Louis Park's Fern Hill Neighborhood)

What: 3 BR/3 Bath; almost 2,800 FSF home

How much: $429,900 (Pending)

Market time: 2 weeks

This home caught my eye because: 1) it just went pending; and 2) I didn't recognize it -- and I know the area extremely well, having sold numerous nearby homes.

Further thickening the plot: the current owner closed just four months ago.

In fact, the home has been the subject of two previous posts on this blog: "What's Selling: Fern Hill Foreclosure"; "Multiple Offers and $40k Over Asking."

If you haven't already figured it out: this one was a flip -- a supposedly extinct (or at least endangered) species in today's housing bear market. The owner won a wild bidding war, paying $40k over the $165k asking price back in February.

They then did a gut remodel, adding more than 1,000 FSF (mostly in the basement).

Did they make money?

You'd certainly guess that they did.