Five Figure Fridays! Upstate for cheap(er).

Hello and welcome to Five Figure Fridays!  I’ll be your faithful correspondent from the bargain basement of upstate real estate.  We’ll cover anything that gets your price of admission down below 100 large: a big wooded lot with an Airstream, a 3-season cabin, an off-grid retreat, or any of a wide array of handyman specials.

To kick off this new column, we have not one but 5 properties – all available for five figures.  Depending on your financing, that’s less than $500 a month (plus taxes, insurance, maintenance, travel, etc. etc.).

Details and more pictures of each are after the jump.  From highest to lowest:

Wurtsboro 4BR - $99k

First up, a rare bird: an affordable, presentable house within the 2-hour “golden circle” of driving time from NYC.  Specifically, Google maps claims you’ll make it to this one in 1:53 from Park Slope (ahem).    Nice woodwork, a cute front porch, a stainless steel fridge and a remarkably peach-colored whirlpool bath!  Just $99k.

2 Cottages Arkville - 2BR/1BR - $95k

Next comes a 2-cottage property, one with 2BR and one with 1BR, plus garage.  Backs right up on a pretty steep rise, so it doesn’t look like there’s much yard, but the stone around the patio is awfully cute.  At $95k for both, you can share with a friend for only $47,500 each!

Woodbourne 3BR - $74k

The Craigslist ad for this 3BR in Woodbourne called it “Arts & Crafts,” which might be stretching a bit, but this is a cute as a button cottage with some original woodwork and a fireplace.   Grey wall-to-wall and a wonderful 70s tulip light fixture in the kitchen (don’t worry about the ceiling tiles falling down – that’ll fix right up).  $74k.

Pine Hill House and Barn/Garage - 3BR - $69k

Downtown in Pine Hill (the town the Trailways bus line is named after!) is a 3BR/2BA with a barn (workshop/2-car garage).  Commercial zoning means an artist/craftsman could swing a live/work situation.  The interior has gone crazy with paneling, which as a child of the 70s I appreciate.  Just $69k.

Smallwood "Handyman" - 3BR - $29k

Finally, the bargain of the week for those who don’t scare easy.  A seasonal Smallwood cabin which, to put it gently, has some needs.  It also has 3 bedrooms, a somewhat scenic creek, and an existing well – which could mean it’s winterizable.  The realtor assures us that “Seller will consider all offers!” and will offer a $1k bonus if it’s sold by the end of the year – which brings the total to (drumroll) $28,900!

After the jump: links and stats for each, plus a big gallery with a bunch more photos.  Happy bargain hunting.

Correction: Smallwood Cottage with Lake Access (Not Views) for $199,000

Update: We posted this property a couple of weeks ago, with a key misunderstanding.  Our Bethel correspondent corrected the original post, which made claim that this cottage had lake views and was waterfront. Not so, she says. “Its on the end of my block and no where near a lake (although its about 3 blocks from a pond!” Well, perhaps you could get it for even less?

This tidy waterfront cottage  is big for Smallwood. While the lot, like most in the private lake community, is only half an acre, the cottage packs in 4 bedrooms, plus an office, and 2 baths.

The house has been in the same family for over thirty years. It’s not “vintage Smallwood”—this one was built in 1972, which helps to explain its slightly bigger dimensions—but there are updates throughout: bamboo floors, new roof, Anderson windows, and a working fireplace. It’s zoned for residential (rather than just seasonal) usage and owners would have access to the Smallwood lake and pool . I think the bedroom count and the handicapped access make this one really feel multi-generational.

Catskill Castles  GMAP

Asking Price: $199,000
Square feet: 1234
Beds: 4
Baths: 2
Land: .500 acres
Distance to NYC: 124 miles; 2 hours, 3 minutes

Smallwood Cottage with Lake View for $199,000

This tidy waterfront cottage  is big for Smallwood. While the lot, like most in the private lake community, is only half an acre, the cottage packs in 4 bedrooms, plus an office, and 2 baths.

The house has been in the same family for over thirty years. It’s not “vintage Smallwood”—this one was built in 1972, which helps to explain its slightly bigger dimensions—but there are updates throughout: bamboo floors, new roof, Anderson windows, and a working fireplace. It’s zoned for residential (rather than just seasonal) usage and owners would have access to the Smallwood lake and pool . I think the bedroom count and the handicapped access make this one really feel multi-generational.

Catskill Castles  GMAP

Asking Price: $199,000
Square feet: 1234
Beds: 4
Baths: 2
Land: .500 acres
Distance to NYC: 124 miles; 2 hours, 3 minutes

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Smallwood, NY

In response to our piece about Bethel earlier this week, Sullivan County buyers’ agent and blogger David Knudsen posted a detailed comment about the ins and outs of Smallwood, a Bethel hamlet and private lake community. David’s comment anticipates a lot of the questions a city buyer might have about Smallwood’s range of prices and seasonal vs. year-round housing, so we thought it worth highlighting:

“[A]bout prices .. Yes, you will see some seasonals occasionally listed or selling as low as $35,000. But a more realistic range for a ‘seasonal’ (on community water, not with a drilled well to permit year round use) is probably $55,000 to $80,0000. Something priced ‘too good to be true’ most likely will have either wood rot in sill plates, floor joists or structural members; foundation support issues or problems with old septics or cesspools. Any of those items can be very costly to repair even in a very small house.

In Smallwood, buyers need to pay particular attention to a house’s ‘private sewage system’ (septic or cesspool). Quite a few are old and in not great shape. The lot sizes are also small (seasonals are typically on 50 x 100 foot lots), so if you have a problem septic you may have to put in a fairly pricey aerobic system.

One question I’m often asked is can you convert a ‘seasonal’ to ‘year round’ use by drilling a well (so you have a year round water source.) The answer in almost all cases is ‘no’. The reason is that there are now minimum distances required in code between a well and a septic, and not just between a septic on your property and your proposed well, but between your proposed well and the septic on any adjoining property. On these small parcels, particularly with adjoining houses and septics, you can’t meet the minimums to drill a new well.‘Year rounders’ (houses with already drilled wells) generally start around $90,000 and go up to $140K or so. (More for houses ringing the lake with lake views.)Smallwood can be a great, affordable getaway — particularly for city folks that are looking for more summer use, and content themselves with a ‘seasonal.’

 

We really appreciated David’s inside take, so we gave him a call to get more Smallwood info.