Classic House of the Week: A 1946 Bungalow in Dunleath, $119,900, and Other Starter Homes

818 Fifth Avenue in Dunleath, a 1946 bungalow for $119,900

Update: 818 Fifth Avenue sold for its asking price, $119,900, on May 25, 2018.

Not every classic home is expensive. Older homes that could be considered starter homes come on the market often. The tough part is getting them before Greensboro’s voracious landlords can grab them. Starter homes have been in especially high demand so far this year.

818 Fifth Avenue in Dunleath is a good example of a classic starter home. Built in 1946, it’s a bungalow with a picket fence, located just outside the Dunleath historic district. Two bedrooms, one bath, 850 square feet, $199,900 ($141/square foot). The photos with the listing suggest that it’s move-in ready (the quality of the photos themselves isn’t very good; click here to see them). It offers the typical kinds of positives and negatives that a buyer might have to balance in a starter home: good location but quite small, nice neighborhood but only one bathroom, doesn’t appear to need work (pending an inspection), but no garage, etc.

It’s been for sale for almost two weeks. I wouldn’t expect it to be available very long. Here are some more starter homes that have been listed since the first of the year.

1521 Rankin Road
Sold for $114,900 on July 23, 2018
After renovation, it sold for $149,900 on June 21, 2019

• $115,900
• 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1,359 square feet, 0.7 acre lot
• Price/square foot: $85
• Built in 1941
• Listed March 20, 2018
• Last sale: $100,000, May 2000
• Neighborhood: Rankin
• Nice house, nice neighborhood. Has a two-car detached garage.

Some of the best currently available older starter homes are outside Greensboro:

715 Burlington Avenue, Gibsonville
Listing withdrawn July 3, 2018

• $135,000 (originally listed at $138,500)
• 2 bedrooms, 1 bathrooms, 1,361 square feet, 3.06 acres
• Price/square foot: $99
• Built in 1927
• Listed February 1, 2018
• Last sale: $98,500, April 2001
• A little more expensive but considerably cheaper on a square-foot basis — a bigger house and a way-bigger, three-acre lot. It’s in the Alamance County section of Gibsonville.

5737 Chrismon Road, Browns Summit
Listing withdrawn April 18, 2018

• $119,900 (originally listed at $129,900)
• 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, 2,156 square feet, 1.36 acres
• Price/square foot: $60
• Built in 1928
• Listed February 14, 2018
• Last sale: $150,000, July 2008
• Again, more for your money inside and out (two and a half bathrooms — whoa). As you look at the interior, remember that painting a room (or two) is relatively easy.

500 Spur Road
Sold for $105,000 on May 1, 2018

• $105,000 (originally listed at $95,000 … supply and demand)
• 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1,405 square feet, 0.83 acre
• Price/square foot: $75
• Built in 1938
• Listed January 15, 2018
• Last sale: $39,000, March 2011
• Just southeast of Greensboro off Pleasant Garden Road