Then and Now - 206 East Mill Street, Beaver Dam

The last issue of Then and Now started out as a double mystery; I received a pair of pictures - bound together - of unknown origin and of unknown homes.   I was certain that if I could find one house, I’d find the other as it was obvious that they were located across the street from each other.   The mystery was solved when Margaret Schmitt figured out that our lost house belonged to 207 E. Mill Street, which made it simply a matter of looking across the street to find this week’s Now home at 206 Mill Street.

 If you look at the last issue of Then and Now, you’ll remember the fine wooden sidewalk and small tree that was directly in front of the home.  You will notice the same wooden walk and small tree in our current Then photo but from 180 degrees rotated.  This photo of the buggy and its occupants was taken as the photographer stood near the front porch of 207 E. Mill Street.   Notice the large distance between the Then gravel road, which was Mill Street, and the wooden sidewalk.   The road at that time doesn’t appear to be much more than a path of 12 feet wide.   The buggy apparently pulled up onto the grass – off of the road – to visit the occupants of 207 E. Mill Street.  The photo does have the names – May and Henry Baird – on it, but that does not relate to any occupants at the time.  Maybe you know who the Bairds were.

Speaking of streets, it may have been obvious to some, but even the subtleness of a street named Lincoln can be very interesting.  Since this area was plated in 1848 - well before Abraham Lincoln became president in 1860 - Lincoln Ave must have had a name change.  Street names are changed so seldom so as to imply a great honor when done so.  Prior to 1865, when Lincoln was assassinated, Lincoln Ave was better known as Division St  - as in a division between east and west.

I first tried to date this photo by dating the buggy, which I was fascinated with.  Did these folks live in Beaver Dam, or did they travel here by train and then rent a buggy at the livery so as to pay their respects on friends or family in style.  They each are impeccably dressed - he in a bowler, tie and leather gloves.    By most accounts, this two-seater was popular around the 1870 to the early 1900.  I could not find a definitive answer as to the buggy’s date or manufacture – although a trip to the Carriage House in Mayville was nonetheless interesting.  The horse appears to be of the thoroughbred breed (I only state that because I believe that certain breeds would have been more popular at different times).

We already covered the history of this area in the last issue, so I won’t go over the Ackerman story.  I noticed one very interesting (maybe only to me) subtlety while reviewing the abstract for this home.   Aside from the lawsuits and foreclosures, it dawned on me that every mortgage given on property at this time was not with banks but with private individuals.   Even after the first banks started lending money, it was still very popular to seek the financing from the current owners.

There is something so beautiful – so simple - about the Then homes that that I love them so much more than any Now home I’ve ever seen.  Those beautiful porches seemed to be the first thing to succumb to the harsh elements, which eventually lead to their replacement.  The Then porch was so ornate with its sculpted accents and hip roof.  You can see that the porch roof has now been extended over the left face of the home where a bow window has replaced the two symmetrically offset windows.   The wood clapboard siding of the Then home is still there, but it is well hidden under the current siding.  The outbuildings to the left are gone as are the little trees that got too large for the ever widening road.  Maybe the buggy’s wheels provide an accent in some Beaver Dam garden, but not much else is left of this time.

Writing the Then and Now issues has connected me with many of the resources available.  As you know, I rely on the Dodge Co Historical Society’s collection for much of my research.  What I did not realize is that the Beaver Dam Community Library has a wonderful genealogy and local history collection including a wonderfully cataloged cemetery record.  Margaret Schmitt helped me find Abraham Ackerman’s burial site, which is indeed in the City Cemetery on N. University.  You might consider donating your rare resources to one of these two groups so that all can benefit.

As always, please let me know if you have knowledge relating to our Then home or residents.  If you possess any old photos depicting a Beaver Dam property, please let me know.  You may contact Brian French at 920-356-0825 or frenchco@charter.net

Then and Now - 207 East Mill Street

Thank you to Margaret Schmitt, who lives on South Vita Street, for finding our “Now” home, which is located at 207 E. Mill Street.   She and Beth Milan – the neighbor to our home – were of great help.   Researching the history of this home started out with a dead end as the legal description did not provide a clear path as to its origins.  So, I owe much thanks to Robert and Dorothy Wright of Randolph who are the current owners.  They were able to locate the Abstract of Title to this home, which – if you are unfamiliar with this document – provides a chronological history – a summary of the original documents - of every recorded event affecting our property.

Now, we can literally page back through time to the beginning.  Robert and Dorothy bought this home from their friend Daryl Schwantes – who many of you may have know – in 1980.  Daryl bought it in 1969 and subsequently converted our small home into a duplex – with some help from Robert who did the plumbing work.  Daryl’s mother moved to the upstairs apartment.

For the sake of time and space, I’ll flip back through 15 pages of deeds, mortgages, and probate records to the first entry on Dec 9, 1841 when the United States granted Abraham Ackerman a patent to the land.   He didn’t arrive in the area until slightly later, and didn’t even record his patent until 1846.

As you may already know, Abraham – along with Jacob Brower and Thomas Mackie -were among the very first settlers of Beaver Dam.  Ackerman is related to Brower, and Brower to Mackie, and so it goes until each has drawn all their families, friends and business partners to the area.  The abstract in my hands indicates that Abraham was given 40 acres, but that is only a small portion of his original land possession, which included most land on Beaver Dam’s east side including today’s Swan Park. Abraham built his family a home at 310 South University Ave, which is there today.  Tracing the family tree of Ackerman would certainly be interesting, but unfortunately it would take volumes.  I do think – without a shred of evidence – that Ackerman originated for Holland, or Germany as would be expected.  The name “Ackerman” would translate nicely to “plow man” or “field man” in Dutch and German.   What would it feel like to own almost a third of the City?

Abraham platted out this entire east side along with all of the streets around 1855.  Abraham and his wife (Hannah) had seven children - two of which you’ve know on a first-name basis forever.   Can you guess their names?  On a side-note; I noticed that – according to the phone book, there are no Ackermans living in the Beaver Dam area today.  I also wonder where the family burial site is – Sabine and I spent a few hours on Sunday looking around the cemetery by Casey’s to no avail.

Upon his death, Abraham’s estate was divided among his children and wife Hannan in 1866.  James (second son) was given most of the land surrounding Swan Park and including our subject home.  James sold several of the lots to a Wilhelm Frenzel (misspelled ironically “French”) in 1869, who then sold our lot to Joseph and Maria Guttneder (misspelled several times as Goodnetter and Gudnetter).  Joseph Guttneder died in 1898.  He left behind his wife and five adult sons who resided in Watertown and Beaver Dam.  Incidentally, they finally must have given in to the easier form of their name spelling “Goodnetter” for this was used in subsequent entries.    Maria (Mary) sold her home to son Joseph in 1901 more than likely so as to move in with a family member. 

Our Then home was not shown on the 1867 plat of the area.  So, it would have been around 1868-1869 that our home was built as were many at that time.  People were moving to the area now by the hundreds as the woolen mills and area farms were sprouting up all over.   Maria and Joseph owned the home for over 30 years and raised five boys here.  From the Then photo, we can see that there is an entry on the left that has since been removed.  This entry would most likely have brought you into the living room or sitting room.  The entry to the right, which is still there would have been to the kitchen.  Notice the lovely wood sidewalks and that there is no driveway (why would there be).  There would have been a coal-fired, gravity furnace that heated this house – gravity furnaces work simply by heat rising up from the furnace without the aid of blowers - since there was no electricity at the time, there could be no forced-air furnace).  There is only one chimney on this home, so only a central furnace served the home.  Besides the front door and porch being removed, the siding has been changed to vinyl, the chimney removed, and that beautiful side porch has been removed.  When the side porch was removed, there was then an opportunity to have windows on that west side.

This photo came to me in a pair.  The other photo now makes perfect sense, which I will explain in a future Then and Now.   If you have any old photos from the Beaver Dam area, please allow me to take a look at them – I would hate for them to be thrown away.  I would love to find a photo of one of the original farms (within the city limits) or of one of our many corner stores (those located in just about every neighborhood).  As always, if you have any additional information to any story, please feel free to call me at 920-356-0825 or email me at frenchco@charter.net

Where is it NOW?

This is when you can really help out.  We have a great Then home, but I have little to go on to find the Now home.  So, your mission is to look at this home carefully, and then – look around your neighborhood.  This home could be disguising itself in many ways.  In past articles of Then and Now, we’ve seen where doors and windows have been moved.  We’ve seen were whole additions have been added and where the roof-line has dramatically changed.   Look at the neighboring home – in the picture - as well to verify your find.  I suspect that this home was built around 1850-1860.  Based on this information - if I were a betting man - I should think that this home will be found within just a few street of the city’s center – probably not north of Park Ave nor west of Spring Street.   Good luck with your search.  Get the kids involved.  Should you believe that you’ve found our missing home, please call me or email me the address so that I can complete the story.  Brian French (920) 356-0825 or frenchco@charter.net

Then and Now - 105 Wall Street, Beaver Dam

When this home was built around 1856, this tiny home was originally just over 600 square feet - about the size of a one bedroom apartment.  Since its birth, subsequent owners have managed to build-out the attic with 2 bedrooms - adding another 200 square feet of living space.  The original basement was nothing more than a root cellar used for storing food.  I wanted to use this home as this issue's project to show that not just stately homes with prominent residents are significant.

Well, let's start with this home's location, and then we'll try to figure out more about this home and why it was built.  It all started in 1852 with one of today's buzzwords - foreclosure.  Hard to believe, but many of the land owners back then were speculators who seeming had relatively poor speculation skills.   John Waldhier acquired the roughly 16 acres of land as a result of the foreclosure on James Conner.  The lake bound its western edge and Center St its eastern.  The land ran past Pearl St and  ended just north of Wall Street.   John plated this land in 1855,  which - like today's developers - allowed him to name the streets.  We should be able to learn something from that.  Chatham is a small port town north of Kent, in South East England, and Greenwich is just south of London.  I have to assume that Pearl was his mother's - or some relative's - name.   John died  in 1859 leaving the project to his wife Katharian.

If you look at the Then photo, you will see that there is a large home just west (to the right) of our subject.  If you look at the map of 1867, you'll see that both of these structures were part of a homestead, which spanned the entire block.  Indeed, our subject home was nothing more than a summer kitchen when it was first built.  The Then photo clearly shows that the door was made of a few wood planks.  Not much has changed with our home since.  The door was moved, and a porch was added.  There are some subtle changes with the roof-line.  The biggest change is that the original Waldhier home (the big house) is gone.  I found no record of its demise, but we can assume fire.  Our little house was subsequently divided off of the large lot and made into a residence.  This entire area (South Center and Madison Street) became popular for the mills and breweries of the time.  It wasn't until after 1903 that we started to see indoor plumbing and other amenities.

Some questions still remain.  There was a church on the corner of Wall and Madison St.  They land would have been donated by Waldhier.  Which church was it and what happened to it.  What happened to the main home?  Let us know what you know about this home and the area.

Then and Gone - 406 N. Spring Street, Beaver Dam

As far as I can tell, there will be no "Now" picture of this home.  The 400 block of North Spring Street is now the location of the middle school athletic field and the post office.

My only hope is that - as often happened at the time - this home was moved from this location to some other final resting place.  So, keep your eyes open for this home, or maybe you have first-hand knowledge of its fate.  Did you witness its demise?  Let us know.

As for the "Then" house; what a beautiful residence.  .  Whoever E.C. McFetridge (the surname is Scottish or Irish) was, it is apparent that he and his family loved trees.  The owner planted more trees on his property than I've seen on any other.  The picture was dated - 1880.  I believe that date is questionable, and here's why.  One thing that you can not see in this photo, but that I did using a magnifying glass, is a lady standing in the doorway. She is wearing a hoop style dress which would place the date pre 1870.  You might have noticed the large wood-pile to the left of the porch.  Coal became the preferred fuel in cities, replacing wood by about 1850. 

Then and Now - 608 Beaver Street, Beaver Dam, WI

Hard to believe that these are the same house.  Since 1856, when this home was built, much has changed - not just to the home, but to the entire area.  In 1856, Beaver Street was on the western edge of the city - no real streets were in existence west of Center Street nor north of Mackie Street.  This home was built, along with a few others, on unplatted land (land not laid out for city blocks).  There was probably a dirt road off of Center Street that was used to access this home and others in the area.  Notice in the "Then" picture that the people are standing where Beaver Street is now; also notice that it is at the same grade as with the house.  Now, the street is much lower than the house - you have to drive up an incline.

The most dramatic change to this home is to the roof-line.  The box front or commercial appearance was removed as were the two chimneys.  You can see - right above the stone lentils (above each window) on the left side is the old roof-line.  Obviously, the original brick has been painted over (maybe many times).  The shutters are original but no-longer functional (shutters back then were there to actually close, protecting the windows and damping light).  It is quite subtle, but notice that in the Now, we have electrical and phone  service on the left front corner where there was none.  The wood, double-hung windows have been replaced as you see - the mullions (the grids in the windows) are gone in the Now.

What other changes do you notice?    The front porch has been dramatically changed.  It was originally made of wrought iron; notice on the roof of the porch - there is a small wrought iron fence.  The entrance is also in the middle - not on the side as it is Now.  One other change is to the small screened area - Then (on left side of home).  The pitch of the roof is Now different, the room is Now enclosed.

The sheds to the rear and side of the home have been removed.  The hitching post for the horse and wagon are long gone as are the Thorp family members in the photo

Feel free to add your observations and historical notes.

I will add another Then and Now story in a few weeks

Melissa and Austin Kauth

I get a lot of satisfaction with helping people find the home of their dreams, but sure I like to know that they appreciated my efforts, SO when Melissa said "I Love You" in a misdirected email to me meant for her husband, I really felt great.  Even if you didn't mean it for me, I really appreciate the Freudian slip.

Kris over at Inlanta did a great job with the financing too.  Who else should get a shout out....how about uncle John (it was John right?) who travel in the snow to give his approval. 

It was great working with you both.  I truly enjoyed myself....let's do it again soon - just kidding

The Perfect Flip

The rules of buying a home do not change when doing a flip.  The important issues still remain; what is the marketability of the subject property (location, market appeal).  The mistake that I see most often made by the non-savvy buyer is that they try to buy the cheapest house they can find - forgetting that they will have to find interested buyers for it. 

The flipper should always work backwards into the flip - how much can you REASONABLY expect to sell your flip for on the open market, minus the expenses of marketing and renovations.  So, for example; if you determine (after consulting with your trusted real estate advisor)  that you can sell the subject home for $100,000, and that you expect to have 7%  in marketing and closing cost, and have budgeted $30,000 in renovation cost, then paying $60,000 for this property would give you a profit of only $3,000.  Don't forget your purchase expenses, holding cost, and your tax consequence for next year. 

Due diligence is a term that applies to all of the background investigations you do with the property prior to becoming obligated to buy it.  We'll leave the title investigation up to the title company, and we'll pass on the liability to them as well.  Performing a thorough inspection of the property is just good business.  Walk the property with your contractors.  Most importantly, consult with your Realtor to determine where you should place your renovation dollars.  He will help you with making the property more marketable to the largest number of buyers.  He'll also help you save money.  Some renovations will not increase the value of the property, but will make the difference between a marketable and unmarketable home.

Wouldn't it be great if you didn't have to pay any capital gains tax on your profits.  Well, you don't.  The best flip of all is the one that you hold onto for 2 years.  Move into it and make it your primary residence.  At the end of the 2 years, sell it and pay no capital gain tax.

The Foreclosure Freeze

You most certainly have been hearing about the massive "robo-signing" foreclosure scandal that is rapidly encompassing the biggest banks in the country.  Here are 4 things home buyers need to know about this breaking real estate news, and how it impacts them.  Here locally, we are seeing some of these large national banks pulling or suspending their foreclosure sale (literally pulling these homes off the market).  We (in our local area) have not been as hard hit as other areas of the state, but THIS WILL AFFECT US TOO.

1.  What is robo-signing is, and what all the fuss is about?  The phrase robo-signing refers to what we’re now realizing has been a very common practice in the banks’ foreclosure document processing divisions, where one person was essentially given the job of signing as many 10,000 foreclosure documents per month, by hand.  These individuals were supposed to be reviewing the files, making sure grounds for foreclosure actually existed, signing the docs in front of notaries. But because of the volume of documents, what they actually did was just sign thousands of documents at a time, without even reading them, and ship them off somewhere else to be notarized.

If you do the math on an 8 hour workday, you'll see that that only gives the staffer 1.5 minute to review each file and documents to make sure the foreclosure is warranted.  That's not humanly possible, which is how these staffers got the nickname “robo-signers”
   
Government regulators are very concerned that the banks may have been taking people's homes without following the proper legal procedures.  As a result, 40 states' attorneys general (including Wisconsin) are teaming up to launch a multi-state investigation, and the federal Comptroller of the Currency and federal attorney general may also get involved in investigating this issue.
2.  Will the freeze will make the banks cancel buyer contracts on REO properties? Currently, the freeze impacts bank-owned properties that are owned and/or serviced by Ally Financial/GMAC Mortgage, JP Morgan Chase, and some properties that were owned by Bank of America. Generally, contracts to buy these homes are being put on hold and extended for 30 days.  As well, the banks are often reaching out directly to buyers and offering them the option to cancel their contracts and recoup their deposit money.

3.  Is it safe to buy a foreclosed home? There's lots of talk right now about the "clouds" that this scandal will create on the titles to homes that were foreclosed by the banks' foreclosure mills. And that makes sense: if the home wasn't properly foreclosed on in the first place, then the legitimacy of the bank's resale can be called into question.  Normally, I'd say: Don't worry about it - that's why we have title insurance!  But last week, 3 of America's largest title company insurers declared that they will not offer title insurance on a number of the homes that may have been involved in this scandal.

In the vast majority of cases – when the foreclosure was justified and a bona fide purchaser, someone who was not involved in the bank’s wrongdoing, has purchased the home, courts will not reverse these foreclosures or their sale to buyers.  But if you’re in the market for a foreclosure, get clear on which bank owns the place as soon as you can, and run the property past your title insurer before you get too far into the transaction to make sure they can write a policy of title insurance on the property before you spend too much money on inspections and appraisals.

4.  How the foreclosure freeze will impact American home values.  In the short term, these freezes might cause prices to stabilize, as we expect to see the supply of foreclosures for sale start to shrink.  However, if these freezes stretch out for a long period of time, they could simply be delaying many inevitable foreclosures, which could delay the recovery of the housing market and home prices, over time.  I wouldn't expect to see the freezes cause prices to drop much beyond where they are now, but if they stretch out, they could keep appreciation flat for a longer period of time.

FHA 203k Program

Right now, with lenders being more frugal with loans than ever before, FHA loans are about the only way to get into a home with less than the 10-20% down payment being required by other lenders.  With an FHA loan, you will currently need 3.5%  of your own funds for a down payment, but even the origin of those funds have some flexibility, i.e. gift from a loving relative, your 401k program, or just your documenting that you have the ability to save the money prior to closing.

Well now, this sounds like FHA loans are the answer to mortgage scarcity.  There is a catch to FHA loans, and for that matter to any funds backed by the government, i.e VA, USDA.   The home that you are interested in must meet FHA standards, which include structural, mechanical, health and safety concerns.  The major components of the home (furnace, roof, water heater...) must have at least 5 years of live remaining.  The home must meet wheatherization minimum standards such as insulation, storm windows even a crack in the window can disqualify the home.  So, for many reasons, the home that you would love to buy may not quality for a loan, and if you are determined to buy this home, all of the issue MUST be corrected prior to closing.  Who pays for the repairs/improvements, and who is going to scrape and paint where the paint is peeling?

Don't give up hope.  FHA came up with the 203k exactly for this situation.  Essentially, you can get an additional $35,000 to cure any of the issues that would prevent the home from qualifying.  No; you may not fund a shopping trip.

The streamlined program is intended to facilitate uncomplicated improvements to a home for which plans, consultants, engineers, or architects are not required.  The program allows for improvements/repairs to roof, gutters, HVAC systems, plumbing, electrical, painting, weatherization, basement waterproofing, re-siding the exterior, and septic and well replacement just to name a few. 

You may not use the funds for new construction, repair of structural damage, landscaping, or improvements requiring a work schedule longer than six months.

The work does not have to be completed prior to closing.  There is a specialize home inspection (a home inspector that is approved for this program) required.  You will work with your lender on getting contractor proposals and an appraisal, which shows the value "as improved".

The biggest thing to remember is that not every lender understands the first thing about FHA loans let alone the 203k program, so ONLY work with a lender that has specific knowledge.

Let me know if you need a lender - I have one that I think is the best.  As always, please feel free to email me or I'd love to have you check out our website.



Home Being Sold with As-Is and Where-Is clauses

   Let's first understand what the term "As-Is" and "Where-Is" imply, then we'll look at what actions are necessary to protect yourselves.  As always, there are many tangents to this issue that can change or complicate your particular transaction.  You can also visit my website or feel free to email me with specific questions.

There are a few misunderstandings with these terms.  The first is the time-frame to which they apply.  As-Is doesn't technically take affect until you bought the home; as in, you bought the home as-is.  Once you bought a home as-is, your legal ability to return to the seller and demand that they make repairs for a undisclosed defect are removed or greatly limited.  When the legal term "where-is" is used, your ability to seek a cure - from the seller - for title issues and others blemishes on your rights of ownership are also limited (depending on the type of deed you received).

The second misunderstanding is that by agreeing to an as-is clause, you are giving up your rights to due diligence, which includes inspecting the home for defects, and investigating the condition of the title.  The opposite is actually true.  "As-Is" is a huge red flag that should alert you to the need for much greater investigation.

The third misunderstanding is that the seller will not fix defects that you identify.  In any contract, the seller can not be forced to fix anything (unless they agreed to do so).  The same is true with an as-is clause.  You can request that the seller fix a defect, and if they refuse, then you have to decide if you still want the home.

As always, there are many tangents to this issue which can change or complicate your particular transaction, so please talk to your agent email or call me.