I like it. There is a lot you could do to add curb appeal to the front with some plants around the perimeter of the yard. The house sits so far back from the street that you don't need to worry about how it looks until you get some landscaping established.

If it's well enough priced that you can invest $10,000 in landscaping, then I'd buy it. It always shocks me how expensive a simple landscape can be...but well worth it, for sure!

What about re-painting siding, trim?

Thanks John!!!

I think this house has great potential. I like what you suggested John! I too would take out the 2 trees, I don't think they are adding much, just distracting. I too think the front door will need a strong color to make the front door more prominent. If you can paint the window trim, that will help as well. I would paint the garage door darker as well, to make it not stand out so much. Unless you really like the look, I would take down the tudor looking trim over the garage door, and paint that whole area something darker, not so whitish.

Is the driveway (in front of the rock wall that John added) paved or gravel? It seems to a lot wider than needed, and a true edge to it would sharpen things up. I like the rock wall idea, but you may want to widen that garden bed and make the driveway less wide. Since it is shady looking, you could put in some beautiful hydrangeas beside the shrub on each side for color and let the current shrub go more natural instead of trimming into a square shape.

As tjmoon suggested, I think that a bed down by the street will really get this house noticed from the street level.
I think a very big impact could be made for far less than $10,000 though. If you do the plantings yourself as many people do, you can do things in stages also. Best wishes if you do buy this!

Thanks handyman! I'm starting to see the potential now. Wish I could say the same for interior. It's been occupied by tenants who smoke. )-:

Eww. My home was too. It seems like we are still getting the yellow off the windows years later, as crazy as that sounds. But you will probably repaint and make other changes. And if you are buying this time of year, opening the windows will help a great deal!

5ft11in: Is there carpet inside? Most of the smoke odor will be trapped in it. If so remove the carpets. Also keep in mind, if there is still furniture and window treatments in the home - all of these will have absorbed the smoke as well - making it worse then it would be after that's all removed from the home. I noticed what looked like an A/C condenser outside. Change the filter(s) in the return vent right away. You might want to change them a couple of times. Fresh paint will help as well. If the house is still furnished a lot of the smell will go away once all this is removed.

Unfortunately, there is carpet and blinds. If I make an offer, I would definately ask for a large allowance for cleaning, re-painting, and new flooring. There's a large brick fireplace, too, and I'm wondering if the smell will remain since brick is porous.

Maybe you could paint the brick and then reface it with a natural stone. I wouldn't be too worried about that holding the odor as much as the carpets though. It's spring, so I would crack those windows open, rip out those carpets and blind, and run the A/C - fan only, to pull some fresh air in for a few days. I think it would work out for ya...