I love this.. ah hell, I love almost all of them.

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I know!

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This becomes confusing. On realtor.com, the house is shown as being in an auction situation due to foreclosure — with, however, a listed price of $170,000. http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/603-Bonham-St_Ladonia_TX_75449_M79667-66201?source=web

From the REaltor.com description:

AUCTION!!!! FORECLOSURE– GET YOUR REALTOR TO SHOW YOU THIS PROPERTY AND THEN BID. YOUR REALTOR WILL BE ABLE TO GIVE FULL INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR THIS TIME LIMIT BID. PROPERTY SOLD AS IS WITHOUT REPAIR, WARRANTY OR SELLER DISCLOSURE – DUE DILIGENCE TO BE DONE PRIOR TO BIDDING. BUYER OR BUYER S AGENT TO VERIFY ALL INFORMATION: SCHOOLS, TAXES, RESTRICTIONS AND ROOM SIZES, ETC. SOLD AS IS.

On Trulia, I would note that the price is stated to be $111,000, but somewhat similar information is given as to bidding:
Ladonia TX
The property at 603 West Bonham Street, Ladonia, TX is a Residential Single Family property with 4 bedroom(s) and 2.0 bathroom(s) and is 3325 square feet. Live bidding is ACTIVE for this property, sold in “as is” condition without contingencies or warranties. Make your bid now!GoHoming.com is an online bidding marketplace for buying and selling Real Estate Owned, or REO homes. REO homes are properties that owners, such as banks or lenders, were unable to sell at the foreclosure sale. We have helped market and sell thousands of properties per month through exclusive relationships with sellers, and we are one of the most credible and recognized… teams in the real estate industry.

http://www.trulia.com/property/1072592954-603-Bonham-St-Ladonia-TX-75449

It would appear from the photographs available on both realtor.com and trulia that the antique business has moved out (understandable given the foreclosure proceeding).

The point of all this additional detail is that this home may now be available through bid for considerably less than $111,000. Given that it is in a tiny (less than 700 population town), I suspect that bidding may be considerably less than what was apparently loaned against the house.

Great house, I suspect, for someone who wants to live there.

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I went to Ladonia, TX and viewed this house with my Realtor. There are substantial repairs still needed, and it is a VERY small town, with little in it. And the School district is Fannindel – a combination of 3 towns, with an avg. class size of 8 students per teacher. But, it has it’s perks for those of us who like to be off the beaten path : ) The pool is covered so there is no telling what condition it is in. And, here’s something I haven’t seen before – it has it’s own small water tower??? How does that work? And on the back porch there is an old water well which would need to be covered to keep small animals and children from falling in. Our realtor explained the bidding process to us, and said that most foreclosure auctions have a “reserve price”, usually 75% of the asking price, which I confirmed is currently $170K (it was most likely raised from $111K, so that the reserve could be higher). And it is indeed empty (with no kitchen or laundry appliances at all), the previous owners and the antique business are long gone. I spoke to a police officer in town who told me that it is a great house, but not in the best of neighborhoods. This house would be a major committment, and would require putting a lot of money into it, to get it up to par. However, it is a gorgeous old house, and a great example of the dwindling Gingerbread Victorian houses still remaining, especially in the South.

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John C Reply:
February 13th, 2012 at 11:26 pm

Boy, what a series of conundrums. I guess if I were possibly interested at some given price in the house, as you apparently are, I would have the realtor or someone push to see what the what the reserve is. If the sellers won’t tell you, then I guess you have to decide whether to tie yourself up for a period of time wiating to see if you “met the reserve” or not. Given what you say about repairs, etc., and what you say about the market and town being small, I’d guess something below even $111,000 would be reasonable — perhaps 80-90,000? Remember that you may be competing against yourself — meaning that in time the asking price and the reserve might be lowered even more if the auction is unsuccesful. Most of these foreclosure situations follow set guidelines where the property price is lowered in stages.

As to the tank, I am unsure. The well indicates that Ladonia did not have a common, town-wide water system. Providing water at presure in a non-municipal system was always a problem. This may have been some way of providing by gravity flow water into the house from the well. When I was a kid, some houses in town (before municipal water) had cisterns built in the attics where water had been laboriously pumped (and some water from very high roofs drained) for hte same purpose.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. As with a lot of things in life, you have to be at a point where you are willing to walk away from something before you can decide to walk toward it. What price it is where you would walk away as buying it at that price doesn’t make sense is a very personal decision.

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I did the street view. Typical of a small town that has had a lot of shrinkage, you have vacant lots but you have a nice older home across the street, a nice older home to the side of it and a nice one in back of it facing Main. This area is a real difficult one to assess, because then you are back with the policeman’s assessment of “neighborhood” in a town of less than 700.

I didn’t see a tank on any stilits. Perhaps this simply was a pressure tank; often when one has an electric pump, you have a pressure tank to provide immediate water under pressure. I don’t know about one being outside, but I am from much further North.

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