Couple buys home before TikTok showcases property

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
One couple was lucky enough to purchase the cheapest house in Wyoming, located right here in Newcastle — before a TikTok user chose to highlight the cheapest house in every state. 
Andrew and Roseanne Schroff received a call from Jim Perino, a real estate agent, roughly one week after purchasing their home earlier this year, informing them that their new property had been featured in a TikTok video. 
“We are very blessed and lucky,” Andrew said of their finding the home before the Tik Tok video
went viral. 
Their desire to move to Wyoming had grown over the years as their love for the Black Hills and surrounding areas grew every summer they visited. 
“We go to Custer State Park every year, and we love it up here. We were looking for a home in the Hills and were fortunate to find this property in Newcastle,” Andrew said. “It just happened to be the cheapest house in the state.”
With a listing price of $29,000, the home was the perfect fixer-upper for the  couple. Roseanne, who works from home, is able to keep her Colorado-based job,  while Andrew works to improve the home. 
“It is exactly what we wanted. We were planning on being up here part time, but it might be all the time,” Andrew said. “For the first time I mowed my own lawn and Roseanne wants to plant a garden specifically for the deer.” 
But the scenery isn’t the only thing that has bolstered the couple’s love for the area. According to Andrew, moving to Newcastle was like moving back in time, to a friendlier time, when everyone knew everyone. 
“Colorado was just getting too big,” Andrew said, noting that the small-town feel was more the couple’s pace than the hustle and bustle of city living. 
He chuckled.
“We are actually going to Colorado this weekend, and Roseanne doesn’t think we will make it the full amount of days we have planned to be gone,” Andrew said. “She has a feeling we will hit the traffic, and I will be ready to come home.”
Both Andrew and Roseanne expressed how fortunate they feel to have found a home in Newcastle that fits them, especially during a time that, according to Perino, there are more calls than properties for sale. 
“We had showed this house a few times, but not one jumped on it until the Schroffs,” Perino said. “Then the TikTok led to more calls.” 
But the TikTok house isn’t the only property sparking interest in several buyers. According to Perino, homes across the area are in high demand as prospective buyers are lining up to put in offers, some well over asking price. 
“We just keep getting more calls from prospective buyers than we have real estate,” he said.