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136 Grouse Cir, Westcliffe, Colorado

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Added On:09/01/2025
Last Updated:04/17/2026
Strawbale Home, $275,000, Hard work is completed, Livable, Finish work required.
Green HomeHealthy HomeNatural HomeAccessible HomeSustainable HomeEnergy Efficient HomeGreenBuilt HomeRammed EarthStrawbale ConstructionAdobe Construction
$275,000Asking Price (USD)
$300Annual Property Tax
1,600Square Feet
2 / 1Beds / Baths
5.3 acresLot Size
2008Year Built
$800Annual Power Consumption
Single Family HomeProperty Type

Listing ID : 25906

Property Description

STRAW BALE HOME For Sale Colorado Rocky Mountains 5.28 Forested Acres - $275,000 Now! By Owner/Builder (After Water Well Upgrade - $300,000) The Hard Work is Done! While The Home is Livable, It Needs Finish-Work. $25K Sweat Equity Earns $55K Home Equity Cash Buyer, 7.5% discount (not the usual 5%) Owner Financing: $175K Down @ 2%, 30 years -$400 a month. Saving you $60K @6.5%), ($200K down after upgrade at $300K*) 136 Grouse Cir. Westcliffe CO 81252 https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZGsSutdPrKuJ1FrX8 [email protected] 719-820-0878 (pm) Jerry You can own this Straw Bale Home, valued at $355,000/Finished, for $275K! Appointment Required This is a Straw Bale Home, not a conventional home. Interested home buyers must request and read the full description before making an appointment. Contact me (via email is best) to obtain the detailed Straw Bale House Description (or if you have any questions), and I will send you the document. This will help you determine whether this home is for you. This is a summary of that document. Priority will be given to buyers with a letter of Pre-Approval Financing, Pre-qualification, and Cash Buyers who have read this Full Description of the house. I presently live in the home and require a few days or more notice to show the house. Alternatively, just added, you can read the full document here: http://jgsite.mysite.com/index.html Upon request, I will arrange an open house for the curious and SB builders. Please understand that I do not have time to show the house to every curious party, but feel drive by to look at it or to request the full description. Introduction The house is fully functional and livable. I am the builder & owner of this straw bale home and own this house outright. I have no mortgage; therefore, the property is not financially distressed or in foreclosure. I have built three straw bale houses in this area. This house was built as my home; this means I put in extra quality work and features. The heavy construction is about 80% complete, thus 20% finish/detail work remains. Since this house is fully functional and completely livable, as is, you can move in immediately and live in it as you finish it. Nothing immediate is required, other than to move in, so you can complete the projects when convenient. It would take a full-time person one to two months to complete the house. Equity-wise, you could hire out the work and still come out ahead with the proposed equity. While crime and rent prices escalate, buying a home in Custer County makes safe sense. Home prices in the country are lower, and our county jail recently closed due to too little crime. ____________________ Sweat Equity: House Completion Cost is Estimated at $25K. $25,000 in sweat equity investment gets you $55,000 in home equity. As an incentive for the $25,000 sweat equity, I subtracted $55,000 (not $25,000) from the ‘finished’ home price of $355,000 (detailed later*). This lowered the house's cost to $300,000. In effect, your $25,000 sweat-equity investment will not only earn back your initial $25,000 but it will also instantly add $55,000 to the home’s value, totaling $355,000. Some electrical, plumbing, and light construction remain to be completed, but does not require immediate attention. The home is set up with all the expected amenities making it livable as it is. The completion work can be performed at your convenience. The house document details the work to be completed. Essential plumbing and electrical wiring, have been installed and are operational. This includes kitchen/bath sinks, shower, and a new, large-capacity, Biolet composting toile, which is the top of the line. Most of the electrical and PEC plumbing materials required to finish the house have been purchased and are included with the house. Upon completing this work on the house, and adding your own esthetic touch, you'll have increased your home's value to $355,000+. The final expenses and earned equity would depend on your choices of added esthetics. Price *Note: Home Price Reduction to $275 Prior to Upgrade. An existing 2600 gal. water cistern system is in place and operational to supply water for this home. It is presently filled to the brim. A $15K water well is tentatively scheduled to be drilled up to 150 ft., at which point the price of the house will increase to $300,000. Wells in the area average 150 ft. at $15K. Here in the ‘Wet Mountains’ after a heavy rain, an artesian well tries to surface in road front of my house. However, I have discounted the price $25K from the $300K, should the new owner prefer to drill a deeper well than 150 feet. You will have to pay for the well at a time that is best for you; a well is not essential at this time. I will guarantee the cash buyer (at the listed price) will hit water within 200 feet or I will cover half the original $15K quote, $7500 cash or $5000 cash if financed when initiated within one year of the sale. When added to the $25K well allowance it totals 27,500 to $32,500 for a drill deeper well! (The possible need for a deeper well is explained in the next paragraph.) Well Financing: Government water well financing is available up to $15K at 1 % interest for 20 years, with no down payment, no qualifying, and no collateral (although, that amount may increase due to the national drought). Once I start drilling the well, this offer will be withdrawn. (Note: The cistern has a year’s supply of water for one person, 9 months for 2, (thanks to the composting toilet). A cistern is a vital safe-guard/back-up in times of drought. While the U.S. has been in a mega-drought, the worst one in 1200 years, for Colorado it has only been 132 years – still, it should not be taken lightly. One out of 30 shallow wells in arid areas (including Custer County) can temporarily go dry during a drought. Even so, Colorado is the best state to live in, as it is the major water source for several Southwestern States. The14,000’ Rockies 5 miles across the valley from this home will unlikely to go dry. It took two days of hauling water from the foothills of the Rocky Mountain streams to fill my water system, for free. And bulk water can be purchased from the town of Westcliffe/Water Dept’s deep well (for 6 cents a gallon, the last time I checked). So, this well proposal is a practical if not ideal approach for the home buyer. ____________________ How did I arrive at the $355,000 value for the house upon its completion? I took into consideration the regional Straw Bale Homes sold and presently on the market, which are commonly between $360K and $460K (and higher). I averaged four commercial estimates for my home: Chase's $381K ($480K High Range), FSBO's $342K ($420 High), and Rocket Homes' $346K – for finished ‘conventional’ homes. Most important was the recent selling price of a Customed Straw Bale House I had built for someone locally. It was listed at $375,000 and recently sold for $355,000. However, while his property has outbuildings and 11 acres, 5 acres more than my property, his house is 1100 sq. ft., one bedroom, and mine is 1600 sq. ft. with 2 bedrooms and it is in a greener, wetter area. Plus, my home has a few amenities his does not, like an interior adobe, heat retention wall, custom earth floors, radiant floor heating, etc. So, I adjusted his selling price to $300,000, and then I averaged all four estimates at $355,000. You can do a google search for his listed home: 533 Aspen Trail Rd, Westcliffe, CO 81252 Based on the averages, when my house is completed, the value of my home will be $355,000. Then I subtracted $55,000 (instead of $25K) from $355K for the work that remains to be done, and arrived at $300,000. Then I subtracted another $25,000 for your well allowance, arriving at the current listed price of $275,000. This is what it would cost today to build this home to its current level of completion. Keep in mind, building materials and real estate, in general, continue to increase in price – and this home will continue to increase in value as well. The Straw Bale Home industry states that building costs for SB homes are 15% above those of conventional houses. This strawbale home would have an added value of $51,000 over a conventional home. This could increase the completed home value to $396,000. However, since this is new to me and I have not yet verified the 15% increase in costs, I decided not to consider this increased value of the Straw Bale Home at this time. While it is more likely to be true than not, this would apply more to a completed house. I intend to pass on the 15% value to the buyer. Cash buyers at the listed price will receive a 7.5% discount, about $20,650 off the listed price, which is $7,000 more than the standard 5%. The added 5% discount, approximately $13,750, would require expedited closing and include taking possession of everything in the house and on the property, including power tools, left-over building materials, general tools, stereo and entertainment systems, and furniture. While you may end up discarding some things, you’ll save me a lot of time and work. For your effort, you'll also come out ahead financially and materially. I know it sounds a bit crazy to pay you to take everything, but the sooner we can close on the property, the happier I’ll be. However, you’ll have the option to forfeit the additional 5%, and I'll clear out everything. Creative Owner Financing: With $175K down ($200K down after the upgrade price of $300K), I will lock in the fixed interest rate of 2% for up to 30 years with fair credit and a mortgage payment of about $400 a month. This is far more economical than paying 6.5% saving you about $60,000 in interest over the life of the loan. Home insurance, of about $1K a year, will be required with financing along with annual book-keeping fees. The 2% financed sale will require expedited closing, and may include the following stipulation: The buyer will take possession of all remaining items in the house and on the property to do with as they wish. Items include power tools, appliances, stereo, entertainment system, and furniture, etc. The trade-off: Other items may include leftover building materials, pallets, or items that can be discarded. This saves me from having to sell or give away these items. Consider this as part of the sweat equity offer. Otherwise, we can increase the price of the house or the interest rate, and I’ll clear everything out. Summary: While the property is not in distress or in foreclosure, I am motivated to sell, and the following discounts and incentives demonstrate my intent to make it as affordable and attainable for the buyer while establishing the lowest practical price. However, if you prefer a different approach to this purchase, we can forego some or all discounts/incentives package in consideration of your alternate proposal. At the listed price, the following discounts and incentives will be provided: • $55,000 discount incentive, twice the value of for estimated $25K of sweat equity/investment. • $25,000 discount/allowance for you to drill a deeper well vs the $15K I planned. • Cash buyer receives a $7,500 cash guarantee of hitting water within 200 feet, $5000 if financed • I used the lower commercial estimated home values to assess the value of this home at $275,000. • I am passing on to the buyer the industry standard of 15% for Straw Bale Home Value over conventional homes. • Rural Water Well Financing can be arranged and available for up to $15,000, with 1% interest rate and a 20-year term, requiring no credit check and no collateral. • Cash Buyer receives a 7.5% discount instead of the customary 5%. • Owner financing at 2%, w/$200K down, @/$400 mo. (4.5% below the national rate) saving $60,000 over the life of the loan at 6.5%. The above Face Value of the Sweat Equity (w/o discounts/incentives) would total -$25K @ 6.5% bank financing (based on $100K for reference), or a discounted home price of $335,000 plus $94K in interest totaling $419,000. The Proposed Discounts and Incentives listed above add up to -$122,500K @ 2% interest (including savings $60K in interest), or a home price $272,500 plus $33K interest, totaling $305,000. Should it become a seller’s market, I’ll dispense with the discounts, incentives, and 2 % interest, and I will sell the home for $335,000 or more @ 6.5+%. Buy it while it’s the market is in your favor.

Home Energy Evaluation

Glazing: Dual-Paned Windows

Installed Appliances: N/A

Air Sealed: No

Energy-Star Appliances: Refrigerator

Tankless Water Heater Installed: No

Home Health Evaluation

Water Purity: N/A

Air Purity: no

Radon Test Date: ,

Wall Finishes: N/A

Energy Cost Breakdown

Gas$500
Wood$500
Electricity$800

Property Website

Website: http://jgsite.mysite.com/index.html

Mortgage Calculator

Purchase Price ($)Down Payment
%
Loan Amount
$220,000
Annual Interest Rate
%
Loan Term (years)
Estimated Monthly Mortgage Payment
$1,376.11

Listing ID : 25906