Dorchester Times: Home For Sale: 908 Washington Ave. For $36,700

Sunday, March 24, 2019

Home For Sale: 908 Washington Ave. For $36,700

Dorchester's real estate market is red hot! As we've reported before, with demand for small-town life growing, reasonably priced homes are typically sold in just hours in our village.

It's no surprise quality Dorchester housing is in hot demand. After all, our community has a lot going for it -- that is, if you prefer living in a safe, friendly and affordable community that has much potential for the future.

Consider what Dorchester has to offer:

TOP-NOTCH SCHOOL: A 10-year-old K-12 school with some of the state's best educators. The lowest school tax levy in the county -- and one of the lower property rates in southeast Nebraska. (And not constant property tax hikes like some of our next-door neighbors.)

SAFE COMMUNITY: With a new water system and sewer system.

LOWER COSTS: Affordable cost of living with lower property taxes compared to surrounding school districts.

KEY BUSINESS: Headquarters for one of the state's largest agribusinesses (Farmers' Cooperative) and is situated on the thriving Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail line and along two major highways.

GEOGRAPHIC ADVANTAGE: A quick drive to many employers in Crete, Milford, Friend and Seward, and just 30 minutes to Lincoln and 10 minutes to Interstate 80. Yet all the advantages of a rural small town.

However, one challenge facing Dorchester is available housing. So today, we are showcasing the latest Dorchester home available. If you're ready to call Dorchester home, we encourage you to not wait, but instead make a timely offer. (Again, things are moving fast in this market.) Make Dorchester your home and enjoy a great small-town way of life.

908 Washington Ave.: We're not going to candy coat it -- this is a home in need of serious TLC. But for the person who is willing to taking on a big project, the payoff will be huge. This downright cheap, two-bedroom, one-bathroom home sits on Dorchester's main street, Washington Ave. This once-proud, distinct home was built in 1924; it's just waiting to get back to its former self. At $36,000 and some change, the asking price is well below the assessed value. Spacious kitchen and dining area. Sit on the enclosed front porch with open windows and enjoy the freedom and serenity of small-town living. Partially fenced back yard leads to detached two-stall garage with alley access. For more information, click here.

5 comments:

AnonymousMarch 24, 2019 at 8:21 AM
That's the purchase price of my home in 1989!
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AnonymousMarch 24, 2019 at 7:53 PM
The house on 208 east 7th is for sale on Zillow
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AnonymousMarch 25, 2019 at 12:35 PM
It is sad that this home is in such disrepair. Hope it has good bones and that there is an investor out there looking for a big project.
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AnonymousMarch 28, 2019 at 2:52 PM
"the asking price is well below the accessed value" is incorrect. IT's ASSESSED NOT ACCESSED.
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AnonymousMarch 28, 2019 at 2:54 PM
"the asking price is well below the accessed value" is incorrect. It's ASSESSED value, not ACCESSED.
ReplyDelete
Replies

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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."