View Full Version : Free House for the Taking--Literally
Want a free house? If you can move it, you can have it. Princeton provenance, but alas, you lose the cachet of the Princeton address. Here's the article. (http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/princeton-offers-free-houses-just-110200684--abc-news-topstories.html?.tsrc=samsunsquirt-movie-meridla/s.co.uk/graphics/white/facilities/symsquirt-movie-meridla/digitalni-odmeroC-CARDIFF_.TTF-)
http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/O1ibddmbBnEscXQNQKEOVQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0yODg7cT04NTt3PTUxMg--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/gma/Reuters/ht_princeton_housing_01_jef_130222_wmain.jpg
treehugger
2-26-13, 11:46am
My father-in-law did took an offer like that just after my husband was born. The city was going to tear down a "historical" (eye of the beholder opinion) house so my FIL found someone to move it, bought some land, and had a house to move his new family into. Sure, the house was built in the 1850's, but it was small and not very well preserved. But it was free.
DH and I lived in that house together, from 2000-2003, after it had been moved again (twice!). It was still small and not very well preserved, although it gained a basement and garage with the final move. We used to joke that if there had ever been ghosts in the house, they couldn't possibly have followed it to all the places it went.
Kara
This happens fairly often. It can be a good deal if all the stars align, but moving a house is an expensive undertaking. I've had a chance to see several during the moving process, but never one the size of the house pictured. The bigger it is, the more expensive to move because there is just that many more power lines, railroad crossings, bridges, etc. that come into play. I think I'll pass on this one.
How cool treehugger.
I see houses often in Detroit that are free to move. Other places also. How much would a move cost I wonder? Can the homes be moved far? And is it more cost productive to just build new if the home has no history to it? We have a home in the city by me that was moved twice. As the first place it was is a big Boulder to mark the spot since it was the first built home in the town. Moved and then moved again to it's final place in the town. It has a historic marker in front of it. Lovely historic home, but in need of far more then most would do. Now it is just an old rental home. I found it interesting that homes were moved that long ago. We had a farm home we bought years ago. There was a two car garage on the property also. Looked out of place with the barns and home that were 100 years old. Anyhow having some work done one day and the fellow doing the work said, You know for a case of beer and dinner my friend and I moved that garage here years ago from over on Starville rd.
treehugger
2-26-13, 12:37pm
I admit I have no idea how much it cost to move my FIL's house (any of the times it moved), but my FIL is famous for making deals and bartering, so I doubt he paid full price. There's a very active house mover in that town (Benicia, CA), and he makes a living at it. In addition to moving houses from one place to another, he does a lot of house-raising, to build new ground floors under old houses.
Here's (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n6_NJZWe1Y) a video of his company moving a large house a longer distance (Napa to Benicia).
Kara
Tussiemussies
2-26-13, 3:12pm
What an interesting offer...looks like the house itself needs a lot of work too. Could wind up costing quite a lot with the move and repairs and renovations. Great though if someone was a good DIY person....have never seen an offer like this before!
My SIL and BIL got a "free" house, a small ranch, and they moved it to their acreage. I'm thinking that it cost them around $20,000 to move it within the county. They had to build a foundation and then build a large porch/entryway. I don't remember exactly the work they had to do to it, but there was stuff. Personally, I wouldn't do it for that house. I might do it for a frame house that's interesting and old. That one in Princeton is cool, looks like a duplex.
But as for free houses, you can get $5 houses in my city. But you wouldn't want them. Two houses in the middle our my block went for $5,000 each just a few years ago but the catch is: umm, no plumbing no wiring, you've got to do a gut rehab job on them.
I know of a house that was moved about 12 miles. Guessing it was ~900 sq.ft., ranch style. The owner told me the movers cost $28,000. With the cost of the lot, a foundation, repair work (houses were not made to roll down the road afterall), utility hook-ups and other misc. work the owner was trying to get the house completed for $55,000 total. Not sure how he did, but the cost to build it new in that place at that time would have been around $95,000 so that one worked out to be a pretty good deal. I've also heard it is very difficult to get financing for a project like that so it is a game for people who have the cash on hand, not for everyone.
awakenedsoul
2-27-13, 8:45pm
That's cool. Maybe someday I'll move my cute little cottage to a nicer neighborhood. There's a tiny house like mine in Carmel that was moved down the street. It's a historical marker. I've heard that some of the homes in my neighborhood were moved here from Malibu. They were little beach houses. I wonder if mine was one of them...it's one of the originals on this street. It's the only one without any additions.
Coincidentally, this just happened here:
http://www.king5.com/news/local/Raw-Medina-home-barged-to-Canada-193684431.html
It's a nice big house now en route to Canada via barge.
The very house we live in now was a house that we bought at a bargain basement price of $4500 because it had to be moved. It is adorable, 2 bedroom, one bath, fireplace, in great condition and about 600 sq ft total. When BayouBoy told me he was buying it I told him the cost to move it would be astronomical. He said he was gonna move it himself. I told him that you can't move a 600 sq ft house. Well I was wrong and I have the pictures to prove it, lol. He jacked up that 20x30 house up onto a flatbed trailer and hauled it to our property (about 5 miles down the road) with a tractor. I took pictures of the entire astonishing event. He put it on our property and hooked up the elec and water, etc and we were living in it a day later.
Whenever he gets on my nerves with his cranky ole self, I remind myself that this man can move houses if he puts his mind to it. His tenacity and refusal to accept the word "can't" are the things I admire most about him. No matter what happens in this world, this man will find a way to survive and thrive.
Looks like a fun dream! Love the style of the home!
JaneV2.0. Additional thanks to you for posting the interesting link!
The very house we live in now was a house that we bought at a bargain basement price of $4500 because it had to be moved. It is adorable, 2 bedroom, one bath, fireplace, in great condition and about 600 sq ft total. When BayouBoy told me he was buying it I told him the cost to move it would be astronomical. He said he was gonna move it himself. I told him that you can't move a 600 sq ft house. Well I was wrong and I have the pictures to prove it, lol. He jacked up that 20x30 house up onto a flatbed trailer and hauled it to our property (about 5 miles down the road) with a tractor. I took pictures of the entire astonishing event. He put it on our property and hooked up the elec and water, etc and we were living in it a day later.
Whenever he gets on my nerves with his cranky ole self, I remind myself that this man can move houses if he puts his mind to it. His tenacity and refusal to accept the word "can't" are the things I admire most about him. No matter what happens in this world, this man will find a way to survive and thrive.
Great story, Bayou Girl! Isn't it great to have a guy that surprises you that way? I'm always saying to DH "let's get an electrician" or "it's broken, let's just get rid of it--you can't fix it" Every time I say "You can't fix it" I think it's like a dare to him, because the next day, presto! The thing will be fixed, and I have no idea how he's able to figure it out.
My first job was a stock clerk in a small grocery store in downtown Portsmouth NH. My boss bought a nice old colonial house for $1 - contingent on him moving it. He had available space behind the store basically down the the street from the house's location and did it.
Great stories BayouGirl, Catherine, and Creaker!
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