Dorchester Times: Dorchester's Hot Housing Market Continues

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Dorchester's Hot Housing Market Continues

You've heard about the great housing markets in Omaha and Lincoln. But those are nothing compared to the smoking hot real estate market in the small town of Dorchester.

Our village of around 600 cannot keep quality homes on the market for 24 hours. In recent months, houses on Dorchester's Main Street and near the school were sold in less than 24 hours after their listing.

We know of some private, non-listed home sales that have occurred since then. Even when the Dorchester homes were fixer-uppers, they have sold.

Look at some of the recent developments in Dorchester's housing market:

Remember the run-down vacant property on the corner of 9th St. and Jefferson? Thanks to a civic-minded family of do-ers (and the Dorchester Fire Department) who cleared the property, the over-sized lot is now vacant and will soon showcase a brand new home, according to information we've received. The new home could be up by fall.

Many in Dorchester were surprised to see the fixer-upper at 713 Jefferson go on the market recently for $40,000. However, we have learned that the sellers received close to what they were asking (very close, to be exact). This serves as an example of what happens when property owners who don't or can't take care of their homes put them up for sale. That home you don't have time and/or money for, someone else wants.

Another fixer-upper and longtime vacant home, this one at 508 Lincoln, was recently listed for $60,000. We've noticed that an offer is pending and the home is considered sold. More proof that homes just don't stay on the market long in Dorchester.

We don't know if it's the rising interest rates; the shortage of new housing; Dorchester's small-town appeal; the village's cozy feel; the quality community and K-12 school; the attraction of a safe and quiet town; or Dorchester school district's lower property taxes. One thing is for sure, good homes are moving very fast in Dorchester.

"Looks like Dorchester is in serious need of more housing," one of the recent home sellers said. "If you build it they will come!"

Going forward, we encourage Dorchester's village leaders and private citizens to look for new and creative ways to encourage new housing, and find ways to encourage owners of vacant homes to put their properties up for sale or rent.

The time is now.

3 comments:

West siderJune 3, 2018 at 7:45 PM
I'd just like to see speedbumps place at the stop signs near the school.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousJune 5, 2018 at 1:09 PM
Me too
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."