NBC Bay Area reports that a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 2220 Rose Street in the desirable North Berkeley neighborhood, which hasn't had any maintenance since the '70s and comes with a lifetime tenant, was recently put on the market for a very low $395,000 and is already pending sale to a developer who plans to restore it.
As noted in a recent Reddit post titled, "You too could own this Berkeley deathtrap!":
The roof of the garage has collapsed, the second story sun room has collapsed off the building, the framing is leaning off of the foundation, there is a single gas meter and single electric meter. There is an active water leak from the mainline in the yard the basement and yard have been full of water for... decades? The monthly utlities [sic] gas/electric/water are $2000 per month.
The home inspector: "I've been doing inspections for 35 years. This is the worst property I've ever seen. There is nothing to salvage. It is a hazard and there shouldn't be anyone living there. It needs to be torn down."
Additionally, an 83-year-old tenant will remain in the home rent-free for life. There's also another tenant who pays rent.
This brings to mind Jeanne Calment, a 90-year-old French woman who benefited from such a deal, which is common in France, and ended up living to become the world's oldest person. Calment and her 47-year-old lawyer Andre-Francois Raffray made a deal in 1965 stipulating that Raffray would pay Calment's monthly rent of $500 until she died in exchange for her apartment. Calment ended up living 30 more years, outliving Raffray by three. Good for her.
Image: Google Maps
