Cloverdale is suffering from the housing bubble collapse, but that doesn’t mean the town is dead. It just means that bargains are available for buyers who would like to be in Healdsburg, but have been priced out of the market. There’s plenty of charm in Cloverdale, the wine tastes just as great, and the money you save can add up fast.
A case in point is an REO fixer property that has been off the market for six months while the bank was working on a fix for the failing garage. Well, the bank determined the proper fix is “let the buyer do it”, and the property is being listed again by my patient fellow agent Carole Sauers.
This 1903 gem is just blocks from Cloverdale downtown. It sits on almost a quarter acre lot with fruit trees and plenty of sunshine. There’s a terrific front porch that wraps around one side and there are many period details that buyers will want to keep. There is a basement and a sound foundation. My thought would be to lift the house a foot or two and create some great space underneath, but everyone will have their own ideas about what to do. No matter what you plan, the raw material of a great lot, great location, and classic fixer make for a bargain at only $185,000.
The house is surrounded by mixed use buildings, but the city of Cloverdale wants this to be simply residential. You can write the great American novel here, but you can’t meet your accounting or legal clients.
You’ll either need cash or a rehab loan to make this sale work. The upside on the property is probably in the $300K range today after repairs, but ten or fifteen years from now a downtown Cloverdale property is going to be very hard to find. I’ll call this one my Sonoma County Deal for the Labor Day weekend.