Five cheapest homes for sale in Denver right now

Good news, Denver renters: homeownership may finally be in reach. That is, if you don’t care about little things like space, cleanliness or structural integrity.

Home values are declining in the Mile High City, but buying property is still unaffordable for many. The median sale price for single-family homes in Denver was $723,157 in May, according to Redfin. That’s up over 26% from five years ago and significantly higher than the national median sale price of $455,241. Costs aren’t much better outside of the capital city, either. The median closed price for detached homes in the broader Denver area was $675,000 in June, according to REcolorado.

However, as of July 29, five detached single-family houses in Denver are listed for sale on Zillow for $250,000 or under — just over a third of the median sale price.

That’s cheaper than all but one of the houses featured in Westword’s winter roundup of the least expensive homes for sale in Denver, when home prices are typically lower across the board. Though the new top five are older, smaller and dingier than the last. One particularly decrepit house from the winter roundup is still loitering on the market and earned a spot on this new ranking, with an even lower price.

But buyers, beware: You get what you pay for.

Here are the five cheapest homes currently for sale in Denver, with details from the original listings:

5. 1188 Quince St.

Price: $250,000
Bedrooms: 1
Bathrooms: 1
Square footage: 711
Year built: 1910
Days on Zillow: 22

Comparatively speaking, this house in the East Colfax neighborhood is pretty decent. It is old and tiny like the rest of the homes on this list, but it enjoys a spacious 6,250-square-foot corner lot that leaves room for expansion or maybe even an accessory dwelling unit. It’s only three blocks away from the construction and chaos of East Colfax Avenue, but it’s also walking distance to several parks, grocery stores and restaurants. Is it worth a quarter million dollars for a 700-square-foot box? Considering that the seller has dropped the asking price by nearly $30,000 in two months, probably not.

4. 935 S. Lowell Blvd.

Price: $230,000
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 1
Square footage: 833
Year built: 1945
Days on Zillow: 5

The listing says “top to bottom rehab [is] necessary” for this house and, boy, it is not kidding. From the cracked walls to the damaged hardwood floors, there isn’t an inch of this Westwood home that isn’t begging for help. Some highlights (or lowlights): the kitchen’s bright red countertops and hideous brick backsplash, the bathroom sink that looks like it hasn’t been cleaned in a decade, and the bedroom’s stained, discolored carpet that ranges from Circus Peanut orange to diarrhea brown. There isn’t even a paved driveway. Based on Google Maps images, the last occupant just drove right through the unkempt lawn.

3. 372 S. Stuart St.

Price: $219,900
Bedrooms: 1
Bathrooms: 1
Square footage: 494
Year built: 1929
Days on Zillow: 14

This minuscule Westwood home used to share a lot with another entry on this list, but the two residences were split into separate parcels. It shows. At under 500 square feet, this house is smaller than many studio apartments, and the sole bedroom is non-conforming without so much as a closet. Though it is legally on its own parcel, the other house is still spitting distance away, practically located in the front yard. If you go into the backyard instead, have fun ducking under the hanging power lines and enjoy the view of a collapsed shed and falling wooden fence. And, believe it or not, this is the better option of the two homes.

2. 315 N. Galapago St.

Price: $217,500
Bedrooms: 1
Bathrooms: 1
Square footage: 560
Year built: 1885
Days on Zillow: 225

Westword readers might recognize this dilapidated shack masquerading as a house. The Baker “home” earned the top spot on our last cheapest homes list from February. Shockingly, no one has purchased the 141-year-old 560-square-foot property that “needs it all,” as the listing puts it. It’s been on Zillow for more than seven months without any luck, despite slashing its asking price from $250,000 to $217,500. The seller is seeking “serious pros” to turn this pile of garbage into something livable. Prospective buyers aren’t even allowed inside until their offer has been accepted. Even when it’s rebuilt, it won’t be much. The property sits on a cramped lot measuring a claustrophobic 25 feet wide.

1. 370 S. Stuart St.

Price: $194,900
Bedrooms: 1
Bathrooms: 1
Square footage: 742
Year built: 1929
Days on Zillow: 14

For nearly $200,000, home hunters can buy this jaundiced safety hazard. The number-one cheapest house in Denver used to share a lot with the third-place home on this list — and man, did it get the short end of the stick in the division. Though this house is slightly bigger at 742 square feet, its lot size is around half that of the third-place home. The extra indoor square footage isn’t worth much considering the extensive structural damage, including “foundation cracks and movement.” The gravity of the problem is clear in the non-conforming basement bedroom, with cracks splayed across each wall that are sure to give any occupant nightmares. The listing calls it an “investor special.” That seems to be code for a “piece of shit.” And as the cherry on top: it’s cash or hard money only.