- Buying a home is really expensive right now, so much so that a burned house is listing for $399,000.
- The three-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom home in Melrose,
Massachusetts was damaged in a fire just weeks ago. - The home's listing says it needs "a complete renovation or potential tear down and rebuild."
Soaring prices in the housing market have left many homebuying hopefuls desperate for a deal.
But are they desperate enough to buy a home badly damaged by fire? That's what one realtor is hoping to find out.
A month after it caught fire, a three-bedroom, 1.5-bath house in Melrose, Massachusetts, is on the market for $399,000, according to its listing. Melrose is roughly 10 miles north of Boston.
"Attention contractors! This home suffered a fire that damaged the front facade," the listing reads. "House is in need of a complete renovation or potential tear down and rebuild."
When the home caught fire in August, its windows were blown out, and firefighters had to tear out walls and ceilings, Melrose Fire Captain Peter Grant said, according to The Boston Globe.
The home is 1,857 square feet and sits on a 4,500-square-foot lot, its listing says. It was built in 1960.
"Great potential to build a new and adorable home in desirable Melrose," the listing reads.
The home's asking price is well below the city's median home price. Realtor.com estimates that the median price of Melrose homes on its platform last month was $744,500, marking an increase of nearly 8% year-over-year. The Massachusetts Association of Realtors says the median price for single-family homes last month was up to $552,000.
In other cities, people have snapped up properties with glaring issues in a sign of just how tough the housing market has been on potential homebuyers. Last month, a California home that was nearly destroyed by a fire sold for $1 million two weeks after it went on the market. In June, a vandalized Colorado Springs property dubbed a "slice of hell" got more than 70 offers within five days of listing for $590,000.