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4Br/2Ba/2Living/Bonus Building in Backyard (Scroll map to the right to see location of home)

Live Music, Market Days, Christmas Strolls, the list goes on and on….it’s what makes Historic Downtown Georgetown the heart of this city and why people from all over the world fall in love with the city of Georgetown, Texas.

However, the real “magic” of downtown Georgetown isn’t just the “special events,” it’s the unique lifestyle it offers for those who live, work and play here. Now, here’s your chance to be less than 4 blocks from “the square” and own a piece of history on 404 East 8th Street.

The Numbers:

This home is being GIVEN AWAY at $200,000 by the current owners! It’s approximately 2000 SF and that doesn’t include the bonus room that the current owners built in the backyard. If you do a little preliminary analysis, you’ll notice that $100/SF in this part of town, with this type of proximity to the square, is amazing. When the real estate market was appreciating in recent years, the part of town that experienced one of the highest percent gains was downtown Georgetown. It’s not unusual to see these older homes sell upwards of $130/sf to $150/sf.

The Delimma:

So why isn’t this sold? Currently the owners have some college students living in the home and paying rent. If you’ve been a college student before (or have college-aged kids) you know that housekeeping isn’t something they normally choose to major in. When I was at the University of Rochester my priorities were: Fulfilling my ROTC obligations, serving my college fellowship, squeaking by in school and hanging out with my future wife Autumn. Not necessarily in that order. I worried more about how I would get my next chicken wing fix, then I would about cleaning up the place. Fortunately, God blessed me with Josue Padilla, quite possibly the cleanest Puerto Rican man on earth!

The bottom line, staged homes help sell homes quicker. Messy college-boy homes take a bit longer. The other difficulty is finding a buyer who is willing to move in after the current lease is up sometime in May of 2010.

However, if you’re an investor, this is a dream. These types of homes are rarely vacant because college boys just rotate through them pretty automatically. Hold on to the home and sell it when the market peaks.

If you want to take advantage of the tax credits and interest rates, now is the perfect opportunity to snatch this up even if you are an owner-occupant.

12/21 Update: If you’re an investor looking to capitalize on the college rental market here’s a tip. Don’t just get a home with proximity to Southwestern University. Get one that is also close to the square. That way you can attract the college crowd and also have maximum potential for appreciation on your home due to the rare location. As of this date, this is the ONLY home on the market that is in the prime location I just described. There are maybe 4-5 other rental homes close to the University, but they are all about 1/2 – 1 mile from the square and are mostly located across a major street (University Avenue).

Check out the pictures below: