The cheapest house in town

Detroit

• Listing price: $1
  
• Size: 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, 859 square feet
  
• Year built: 1914
  
• Price per square foot: About a tenth of a cent
  
• Median sale price (Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich.): $66,500

If you're looking for a cheap house, Detroit has plenty from which to choose. This home has some fire damage, so it would need a lot of work inside, broker Ron LeCasse Jr. says. Although many inexpensive homes are for sale, LeCasse says it's unusual to see a home for $1 on the market, because those homes usually are donated to nonprofit organizations.

"There are lots of organizations that put people in homes these days in Detroit," he says. "They take on the cost to do all the work and then put someone in the house."

This house is a bank repossession owned by Fannie Mae and has a few costs beyond the $1 price tag, including an outstanding water bill of $891.03. All told, though, the home could be yours for $1,500 to $2,500, including closing costs, deed recording and title work.

LeCasse says homes in the immediate area are selling for $5,000 to $10,000, on average. The median home price in Wayne County was $40,000 in October, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Beverly Hills, Calif.

• Listing price: $399,000
• Size: 1 bedroom, 1 bath, 676 square feet
• Year built: 1948
• Price per square foot: $590.24
• Median sale price (Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif.): $324,800

This house, on a street where other homes cost $1 million or more, needs a lot of work, says real-estate agent Victor Sampson. Although the amount of work that's needed is clear from listing photos, more than condition may be contributing to the home's low price. In late April, the mummified body of former Playboy playmate and actress Yvette Vickers was found in the home, where Vickers had lived since the 1950s. Vickers apparently died of heart failure, but police believe her body was not discovered for nearly a year after her death.

The home once served as a backdrop for some of Vickers' modeling photos. Vickers was known for her performances in B movies, including "The Attack of the 50-Foot Woman" in 1958.

NOTE: This property is no longer listed.

Honolulu

• Listing price: $269,000
• Size: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, 560 square feet
• Year built: 1921
• Price per square foot: $480.36
• Median sale price (Honolulu): $599,700

This home's price is competitive for the area, which is the Kapalama subdivision in the town of Kalihi, real-estate agent Christopher Prendergast says. He says the home's assessed value is more than $340,000. It's priced low for the area because it's a small home on a small lot of 1,333 square feet. He estimates that the median home price in the immediate area, with adjustments for size, is around $300,000.

"We had it priced at its assessed value previously, but there were no calls of interest," he says. "We steadily lowered the price until we reached the current $269,000, and at this point, we started getting calls."

The home is a short sale and is being sold as is. It has been well-maintained and is convenient to downtown and Waikiki, Prendergast says.

Upper Montclair, N.J.

• Listing price: $220,000
• Size: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, 1,325 square feet (approximate)
• Year built: 1897
• Price per square foot: $166.04
• Median sale price (New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island): $389,600

This home is in Upper Montclair, the northernmost section of Montclair Township in Essex County, N.J. The area is known for its proximity to New York City and is a popular suburban destination for New Yorkers who yearn for a green backyard, real-estate agent Pauline "Lina" Panza says.

The home, which has an assessed value of $490,000, is on a short, dead-end street just three blocks from the village area and the Manhattan direct train.

Panza says its low price tag may be because of necessary updates: The bathroom and kitchen are outdated, and the interior surfaces must be repainted or refinished.  Some buyers may be turned off by the home's proximity to the train tracks, though Panza says other homes near the tracks are selling for three times this home's list price.

The most likely culprit, then, is size. At just two bedrooms, the home is not big enough to meet the needs of most families who are looking to buy in the area.

Medina, Wash.

• Listing price: $659,900
• Size: 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2,600 square feet
• Year built: 1967
• Price per square foot: $253.81
• Median sale price (Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.): $286,200

Medina, a small residential enclave east of Seattle, is home to Bill Gates, and neighbors of that caliber don't come cheap. But this home is a bargain in a neighborhood full of million-dollar homes, real-estate agent Shelly Hu says. The second-cheapest home is $899,000. So why is this one so "cheap"? It's close to the highway, Hu says. It's also a short sale.

This home has been fully remodeled, with slab granite countertops, hardwood cabinets and stainless-steel appliances. It's also close to downtown Bellevue, trails, parks and a country club.

Unlike most of the homes that cost bottom dollar in their market, this one's move-in ready.

NOTE: This property is no longer listed.

Jackson, Miss.

• Listing price: $4,900
• Size: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths; square footage not available
• Year built: 1930
• Median sale price (Jackson): $139,400

Real-estate agent Jennifer Derrick says this home probably needs about $35,000 in repairs to make it livable, including subflooring and flooring. But even with those expenses taken into account, the home is still priced far below the median in Jackson.

Memphis, Tenn.

• Listing price: $55,000
• Size: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths; square footage not available
• Year built: 1964
• Median sale price (Memphis): $119,300

This home is newly renovated and has a fenced backyard, new flooring and new paint inside and out. Broker Harold Blockman says that the price is about average for that area of Memphis and that the home has tenants who are paying $750 a month, which would make it a good property for an investor.

Blockman says sales have been slow because of the number of homes on the market, including a lot of foreclosures. That part of Memphis is primarily working-class and lower-income, agent Steve Young says, and prices for homes on the market range from $31,500 for a three-bedroom, one-bath home in poor condition to $75,000 for a three-bedroom, two-bath home in good condition.

Madison, Wis.

• Listing price: $49,900
• Size: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 646 square feet
• Year built: 1925
• Price per square foot: $77.24
• Median sale price (Madison): $220,100

This bank-owned home was under contract within days of being listed, agent Josh Lamp says. The home itself is pretty solid, he says, but the inside is gross and needs a lot of work. While many homes that need this amount of work are selling to investors, this buyer plans to live in the home after fixing it up.

"I feel good when I sell one to someone who four years ago wouldn't have been able to buy a house," he says.

The buyer who is under contract to buy the home is using a loan that enables him to get extra money to do repairs and updates that will make the home livable, Lamp says.

Although this home is off the market, Lamp says quite a few similar properties are coming on the market. "We're kind of at the height of foreclosures in Wisconsin," he says. "We hopefully won't keep seeing this."

NOTE: This property is no longer listed.

Boston

• Listing price: $85,000
• Size: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, 485 square feet
• Year built: 1890
• Price per square foot: $175.26
• Median sale price (Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H.): $367,700

This home is being sold "as is" and will need a lot of work, so a purchaser would need to either be a cash buyer or get a rehab loan. No additional information about the property was available at the time of publication.

NOTE: This property is no longer listed.

Minneapolis

• Listing price: $12,500
• Size: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, 1,508 square feet
• Year built: 1911
• Price per square foot: $8.29
• Median sale price (Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.): $160,300

This home definitely needs a lot of work, but it is structurally sound, says Chelsey Shelander of the Jason Stockwell Team in Minneapolis. The vanity is missing in the bathroom, the hardwood floors are in pretty bad condition and some ceiling tiles are missing, she says.

"But there are definitely positives to it," she says, including a big deck in the back. "It needs some love."

The area is a little rundown, partly because of a tornado that hit this past summer and damaged a number of homes (but not this one). There also are a lot of abandoned and boarded-up homes in the vicinity. Many people are snagging low-priced properties and fixing them up to either live in or rent out, which will help turn the neighborhood around. In the past six months, 163 properties within a mile of this home have sold; the average sale price was $57,835.

NOTE: This property is no longer listed.

Tallahassee, Fla.

• Listing price: $9,900
• Size: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, 1,000 square feet
• Year built: 1950
• Price per square foot: $9.90
• Median sale price (Tallahassee): $150,100

This home must be completely renovated and has a couple of other issues that make its purchase a little complicated: easement and deed.

The home is off a main road and has access via an easement, which means a buyer has to cross another piece of land to access the property. Agent Jonathan Andrews says easement rights can be granted through recorded documents or are granted after use for seven years through "easement by prescription."

The other issue is that the seller obtained the home through a tax deed and does not own the title. The seller bought the home at an auction by paying delinquent taxes and would have to transfer the home to a buyer through a quit-claim deed. The buyer would need to go to court to get the title, a process called "quiet title" that requires some time and money.

Because of those issues, Andrews says it's probably best-suited for an investor who would purchase it along with the other homes on the road and either use them as rentals or develop the whole road.

Las Vegas

• Listing price: $19,900
• Size: 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, 1,848 square feet
• Year built: 1954
• Price per square foot: $10.77
• Median sale price (Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev.): $122,700

This home is in an older, less desirable part of Las Vegas, according to the McCollough Group. The property needs quite a bit of work. The kitchen and dining area have been redone, but other rooms are down to the studs and need drywall and carpet.

The lack of demand for homes keeps prices low in this and other parts of Las Vegas. Investors are paying cash for many of the lower-priced homes that need a lot of work. It's much harder for a homeowner occupant to obtain financing that will cover the home cost and repairs or upgrades.

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