This $225K St. Louis Mansion Is Not Actually a Bargain [PHOTOS]

Every so often, someone who is not in St. Louis stumbles onto St. Louis real estate and the Internet goes crazy. The most recent example is the Chicagoan who stumbled onto a listing for a glorious mansion on Beverly Place, built in 1917 with six bedrooms, eye-catching checkerboard floors and terrific curb appeal. “I’m losing my mind over this $225K house in Saint Louis,” wrote @Eric_Erins on Twitter, and the internet predictably lost its mind right along with him.

“That figure has to be an error,” one person responded. Wrote another, “For a studio apartment rent in NYC, you can get an actual mansion in StL. Doesn't make any sense. Gorgeous home.”

But here’s the thing about old houses, and old houses in St. Louis in particular: There are no bargains in real estate.

Does that sound harsh? Let’s break it down for you:

If a house is being sold for $225,000, that’s what the market will bear. And when it comes to a 1917 home in St. Louis, guess what? The market knows that this home needs a shit-ton of work on top of that sales price.

In fact, city records show this home’s last real update was in 2006, and it was just a few grand worth of electric work. Six years later, in 2012, the house was lost to foreclosure, and the current listing is the first time it’s been on the market since. You can bet it needs HVAC work and a new roof and likely a whole lot more on top of that. Even the Zillow listing acknowledges as such: “Home has been purged of old appliances and most all personal items. Ready for the new investor or owner to work their majic [sic].”

And beyond that, there’s this: It’s in Visitation Park, a block north of Delmar. That area is seeing more interest from would-be flippers and developers lately than it has in years, but it still has quite a ways to go to catch up to its neighboring blocks to the south. That’s one reason the city assessor has this 5,828-square-foot mansion appraised at just, yes, $171,000. And so for now, what the market will bear in terms of investment could quickly leave a dedicated rehabber upside-down.

We’re rooting for whoever is planning to buy this beaut. (Yes, it has an offer pending, even before our Chicago friend made it go viral.) Just know that it needs someone who’s patient, someone who truly loves old houses and isn’t just trying to make a quick buck, someone who is dedicated to investing north of Delmar and not just seeing dollar signs.

It needs, yes, a bit of “majic.”