Sold!!
#273 Shelburne Line Road, Colrain, MA is for sale! See photos directly below.
For sale by owner. Please call (413) 624-8858 to arrange an appointment to tour the house and land. Viewers will be scheduled one party at a time. Windows will be open, and please wear a mask . Showings begin Saturday, June 27.
This is a passive solar home in Colrain, located 5 minutes from Route 2 and 6 miles from Interstate 91, in close proximity to both Greenfield to the East and Shelburne Falls to the West.
Purchaser will be leasing a 1+ acre piece of land that the home sits on. This 1+ acre leasehold is part of a 69-acre parcel owned by VCLT that includes four other leaseholds situated on both sides of Shelburne Line Road. Lessees on all leaseholds share equal access to 60+ acres of woodlands for hiking, cross-country skiing, and firewood. Monthly Lease Fee is approximately $70/month covering land use and admin costs but not taxes. Please explore this web-site for additional information about VCLT.
Built in 1994, this 2,432 sq. ft., wood-frame, two-story house includes 3 bedrooms, one full bathroom, and an accessory apartment with separate kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, working woodstove, and outdoor deck. The house is well-insulated, with hot-water baseboards heated by propane gas.
The overall structure is partially built into a hillside, ideally positioned for rooftop solar collectors. All 3 downstairs bedrooms have south-facing glass sliders that open onto a grassy area, flower gardens, and a one-acre field that includes a large vegetable garden surrounded by mixed woods and, on one side, the Hinsdale Brook. The upstairs kitchen and living area, as well as the dining area in the upstairs apartment have large, south-facing windows.
The main entrance (shared with the apartment) is on the north side of the house where the driveway (approximately 80 yards off Shelburne Line Road) is located. An insulated studio cabin and a woodshed with ample room for stacked firewood, garden tools, etc. are located near the house.
Drinking water comes from a deep well. Installation of a new leach field, paid for by current owner, will provide Title V septic system certification.
Mortgage financing from the Five College Credit Union may be available.
Asking Price: $240,000 less $15,000 subsidy=$225,000; subsidy to be “repaid” at next sale. See pricing details below
About the asking price for 273 Shelburne Line Rd
All homes on VCLT land are subject to a resale restriction to ensure that the value of the land the homeowner, who leases rather than owns the land beneath and around their home, doesn’t benefit from the land value when they sell their home. We do this by setting a maximum sales price, using a market appraisal of the house with its land, and then subtracting a market appraisal of the land valued separately. That becomes the maximum sales price of the home. The VCLT has an option to purchase at that price, but even if it passes on that option, the seller is limited to that price when they sell on their own. The maximum sales price for 273 Shelburne Line Rd is $240,000. This figure also includes an allowance to cover selling costs.
Two other conditions concerning the asking price are unique to 273 Shelburne Line Rd.
The first is that this house was built with a subsidy from VCLT of $15,000. The conditions of this subsidy are that it run with the house for perpetuity. So $15,000 of the sales price at each sale do not go to the seller, but return as a subsidy for the next buyer. Think of it as a no-interest loan that doesn’t need to get paid back until time of sale. So the $240,000 asking price (or whatever price below this it ultimately sells for) for this house will be subsidized by $15,000. The buyer will have the option to pay only $225,000, (or eventual sales price less $15,000) and when they sell, whether next year or 50 years from now, $15,000 of their sales price will be deducted as a subsidy for the next buyer. The buyer does have the option of prepaying the “loan” if they prefer.
The second unique consideration is that this house was built with an accessory apartment which was afforded no extra value in the home appraisal used in helping determine this home’s asking price. The VCLT board concluded that this appraisal didn’t reflect the actual market value of the home, and rather than restrict the asking price to the appraisal amount, they allowed an additional amount to be added to reflect some value for the accessory apartment. They made the decision to do this as part of their considerations in waiving their option to purchase the home at its assigned value. The buyer should be aware that their new VCLT lease (unlike the older lease under which the current lessees are selling) has legal power to restrict the asking price to the appraised value even if VCLT waives its option to purchase. Appraiser standards may change in the future to allow value for accessory apartments, and short of that, the VCLT board may again approve an allowance over the appraisal, but that is not guaranteed.