Can’t Afford a Home in Historic Fairmount? You Can if You Don’t Mind a Project (or Two)

You know when you find a neighborhood that would be perfect for you and your family? The homes are the right age and style. The neighborhood is filled with beautiful tree-lined streets and has amazing proximity to shops, restaurants, and your other favorite places. Plus you hear the community is welcoming and second-to-none when it comes to hospitality and vision.

Then you realize the neighborhood is in such high demand that the asking price of homes that are move-in ready and all fixed up is way beyond your budget. Like a lead balloon, your spirits, joy, and hopes are sunk.

Such is the realization of many when it comes to the historic neighborhood of Fairmount in Fort Worth. We have featured this neighborhood several times throughout the years of Tarrant County Tuesday. Fairmount is like no other in Cowtown.

Established in the late 1800s, Fairmount is minutes from the greatest local restaurant street in Fort Worth, Magnolia Avenue, and is filled with historic single-family American Four Square and Craftsman homes.

Inviting porches, narrow streets lined with mature trees, and wide sidewalks help create a community of neighbors that are not shy about introducing themselves as you walk by.

Fairmount is truly a nostalgic neighborhood — and people have taken notice.

Not long ago, homes could be scooped up in Fairmount for a reasonable price. Now, because of its allure and overall lack of housing inventory in the city, some homes in Fairmount are creeping closer and closer to $1 million.

Historic Opportunity

The key to buying a home at a “reasonable price” in Fairmount is to be willing to buy a home that has tremendous potential but needs a little TLC.

I’m not talking about flipping a home — those days are long gone in this real estate market. To be a successful flipper you have to buy a home around 20 percent of market value and put as cheap of materials as possible in it to look good and sell for a high price.

Historic neighborhoods are not a good place for flippers.

Because it’s a designated historic district, in order to fix up a home in Fairmount you must be willing to use quality materials and period-appropriate appointments. If you want to be cheap in your updating and restoration, then Fairmount is certainly not the neighborhood for you.

However, opportunities like this one in Fairmount are great for buyers who love the neighborhood, the architecture, and the bones of these old homes. It is impossible to build a pier-and-beam home with a deep front porch and plenty of character in a newer neighborhood. Buying a solid home that needs a little — but not impossible — amount of work and updating is the key to living in Fairmount at a good value.

Four Beds And One Bath

I get that people in the early 20th Century didn’t have dozens and dozens of shirts, pants, dresses, LuLu stretchy pants (that all look the same but still you need a plethora of them?), and shoes, but how did they manage with such small closets? That’s an easy update. Plus, the home has 1,812 square feet so there’s definitely room to add more storage.

This home has four bedrooms but only one bathroom! Can you imagine what that must have been like growing up? But it’s perfect for getting a good value in Fairmount because a bathroom can easily be added thanks to the pier-and-beam foundation and the home immediately becomes more attractive when you go to sell it.

Historic opportunities — to live in a tremendous neighborhood in a classic home — don’t come around often. Get your “TLC hat” on and hurry on over.

Noelle Slater of TDT Realtors has listed 1935 Hurley Avenue for $350,000.