The cheapest house in the East Bay is this $32,000 1,100-square-foot houseboat at Lighthouse Landing Marina in Brentwood. It’s three bedrooms, one bath and if you like the water, then why not? I’m sure there’s a docking fee and a whole list of other rules, but that’s the price you pay for a life of a river pirate. And that price? Could be worth the risk? (Anyone know anything about houseboats? Feel free to comment.)

In Oakland, this $199,900, 703-square-foot home offers two bedrooms and one bath and “needs improvements and repairs.” If you need any proof, look at all its available photos. The first few are unexceptional featuring an adequate coat or two of white paint, but the last few with the peeling pain and disrepair tell a different story. I have to applaud the real estate agent for including unflattering photos, no one going to visit that house will be surprised at what they see.

Today’s cheapest house in Solano County is a burned-out, shell of a home with an asking price of $150,000. “Fire has gutted home and back garages,” the listing says and I think you should take that literally. Rarely do real estate agents use that much honesty, so you know it has to be true. I salute you, Century 21 Schutjer Realty, for telling it like it is.

Since the cheapest house in Contra Costa County is a houseboat, I decided to throw in another land-locked one. Not everyone likes water, but I hope they like the sound of trains!

This three-bedroom, one-bath, 1,003-square-foot home in Pittsburg, aside from a view of the railroad tracks is sold “as-is.” It’s also a bank foreclosure, but maybe you can overlook all of that if you like it’s price, it’s been reduced four times — from a high of $230,000 in June to $190,000 only this week.