1930 Topeka Home with Wired Shed, Big Deck, and Mechanicals Already Done — $144,900

The upper level is the most interesting thing about this house. It has a built-in dry bar, a liquor cabinet, and a mini-fridge. The listing calls it flexible, which it is — you could use it as a third bedroom, a hobby room, a place to disappear after dinner. Whatever it becomes, it already has its own infrastructure, which is more than most bonus spaces get.

The rest of the house is 1,126 square feet built in 1930 in Topeka's Oakland neighborhood. The bones are old. The floors are newer hardwood, and the exterior paint is fresh. More importantly, the mechanical work is recent: new furnace, humidifier, and sump pump. That stuff matters in a house this age because it usually means someone looked at the property and decided to take care of it rather than pass the problem along.

Three bedrooms, one bath. Tight, like most houses from this era, but the layout works. The main floor is straightforward. No big surprises, which in a house from 1930 is actually a relief.

Out back there's a 22 by 16 deck. That's a real deck, the kind you can actually put furniture on and use. The yard is fully fenced and has landscaping that reads as maintained rather than neglected. The shed is 12 by 10, wired for electricity, and has a workbench already in it. If you do any kind of work with your hands, that shed is a real thing, not an afterthought.

There's also a double driveway to the south that comes with the property. More parking than a lot of houses this size have, which is useful if you have more than one car or ever want to pull something in.

At $144,900, you're getting a 1930 house where someone already did the furnace and the sump pump and put down new floors. The remaining work is cosmetic and personal, which is the better kind of work to have left.