Housing

This 4 Bedroom House Is For Sale For $1

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: October 25, 2020 8:34 am

Grove City, Ohio sits just southwest of the state’s capital, Columbus, off Interstate 270. There, in the city of 41,820 and in an area of $300,000 and $400,000 homes, is a four-bedroom house for sale for $1. The house at 2151 London Groveport Rd, Grove City, OH 43123 is battered, run-down, and abandoned.

Under most circumstances, the house would be worth much more. The Zestimate for the property is $410,408. It has four bedrooms and three bathrooms, and a total square footage of 2,392. The house sits on 7.474 acres, has a 2 1/2 car attached garage a 34 by 72 outbuilding, and pasture. The house is up for auction, and there is no telling what it may bring. The starting price is $1. Several of the homes close by have price tags of over $400,000

Not surprisingly, the home is being sold “as is”. An auction will take place on November 21, 2020. It is preceded by an open house on November 15th. The buyer has to pay a $7,500.00 non-refundable deposit. The balance of the bid is due on December 21.

Grove City is among the fastest-growing towns in Ohio. Its population was only 16,688 in 1980, so it has risen by 2.5x since then. Over 92% of the population is White. Only 3.3% of the residents live below the poverty line, a small fraction of the national average.

Home auctions have become rare. During the housing bust of 2007 and 2008, as banks reposed houses which had been foreclosed on, they were much more common. However, at the peak of The Great Recession, 10% of Americans were out of work. In some cities, real estate prices fell more than 50%.

Housing prices have moved higher in much of America this year, and in some suburban and rural areas, they have soared as people move from cities where the spread of COVID-19 is more common. Grove City may be close enough to Columbus to offer a sense of security to people who have worked in the city of 892,533.

Will the house at Grove City sell for more than $1? Yes, but as a start, it is a tiny fraction of what homes are worth there.