Smith College is selling a house for $1, but the catch (of course there is a catch) is quite pricey.
According to the Daily Hampshire Gazette, the house is 2,332 square feet and sits at 65 Paradise Road in Northampton, Mass., not even half a mile from campus. After paying the $1 asking price, the buyer would be required to cover expenses for moving the house, because the school would rather not tear it down.
Moving the house will reportedly start at $70,000.
Built in 1860, the 65 Paradise Road house is in impeccable condition, unlike the ones around it. Samuel Masinter, the director of college relations at Smith College, told the Gazette the school plans to erect an apartment-style student housing building for juniors and seniors.
The Northampton Historical Commission gave Smith College permission to demolish the buildings in the area - the Mason infirmary, the former Sunnyside Childcare Center, and the F. Dwight Drury house. However, the commission granted Smith with a one-year demolition delay for 65 Paradise Road because of the pristine condition of the house.
Roy Johnson, a real estate agent with Jones Group Realtors handling the house's sale, told the newspaper 65 Paradise has four bedrooms and fifth that can be used as one. The house has three stories and a basement with two full bathrooms, two fireplaces and woodwork in mint condition.
"We have already had quite a few people inquire about it," Johnson said.
Smith College wants to build the new student housing complex by 2016 and have 65 Paradise Road moved by Sept. 1. The real estate agent said the moving process would be "quite laborious" and apparently costly.
Boston.com calculated the approximate cost based on information from Zillow.com. First, the buyer will need to find a place for their new, fully built house and Zillow lists the cheapest plot of land at $60,000. After closing costs and other expenses, the website estimated the buyer of 65 Paradise would have to spend $230,000, just about the cost of buying a four-bedroom home in Boston.
