I wouldn't encourage you to buy a house you are not sure of, and
certainly not one you "can't" have inspected. But... you seem to be a
bit picky he

1) The kitchen, bath, and laundry room are in the cellar.

In other words, the house has a unique design. So? Do you like it or
not like it? Is it a good design, or will it just be annoying and hard
to resell?

the street. On the lower floor, new tile flooring, a new (raised)
bath, and inexpensive berber carpet on the (raised) dining area make it
impossible to see the subflooring and/or concrete and/or stone this
major part of the living area rests on.

I don't know what kind of house you want to buy that you will be able
to see what is beneath the flooring. Do you expect a sell to tear up
the floor so you can see the concrete or subfloor?

2) The square footage of the home is so small that the upper story (or
street-level floor) has no access at all to the crawl-space attic.

So? Many houses have no access to the attic. Is this a problem for you?
Did you want a bigger attic so you can store things up there? If so,
then this must not be the right house for you.

The
roof is not architectural but shows no stain, and there are new vinyl
soffits and gutters.

This description fits about three quarters of the houses in this state.
You seem to be looking for something else though...

3) The interior of the home is entirely clad in cheapo composite
panelling.

And I take it you want a house that doesn't have cheapo composite
panelling, right? For 50K I can't image you are going to get much
better though.

I asked the seller if a pest or home-inspector would be
allowed to remove a piece of the panelling in an unobtrusive part of
the home, perhaps the laundry room in the crevice at the front of the
lower/cellar. He said no.

If I were the seller, I would say no too. Tearing up the walls is not
part of the home selling process.

4) The breaker box is 25 years old

Again, completely normal. Most houses are 25 years old, and few will
get a new breaker box ever, or at least not in the first 40 years or
so.

--an I.T.E.

I don't know anything about I.T.E. But you apparently don't want a
house with and I.T.E. box.

I noticed what seemed
an unusual amount of outlets for a home this size and this age. There
were all grounded,

So the house has a good number of correctly installed outlets. But you
wanted fewer outlets. Or maybe ungrounded ones?

but the wiring is all hidden behind the panelling
and/or dropped ceilings.

.... and you must have had your heart set on exposed wiring.

5) This FSBO seller does not realize that I know he owns a major strip
mall in a well-trafficked, high-income area. He also does not know
that I'm aware he's affluent.

So? How does the sellers income, lifestyle, or occupation affect the
house? Are you trying to say he doesn't deserve a fair price?

He will not give me his home address,

I wouldn't either. Why should he until you make an offer or start
negotiating?

but because our local newspaper makes public the property tax records
for the county (something I think is an invitation to disaster in the
wrong hands, BTW), through a little sleuthing I was able to find out
who "(Blank) + (Blank) Realty" really is.

And unless there is something shady about who "(Blank) + (Blank)"
really is, what is the problem? Are you buying from the mob? Was it
"really" owned by someone of an ethnicity or religion you don't want to
be associated with? When I bought, I certainly didn't ask the sellers
for a home address (they had already moved out), and didn't ask for
their realators home address either. And when I did a little sleuthing,
I found out who "(Blank) + (Blank) Realty" really was: a company that
sells and buys houses, owned by some people that live in a nearby city.
So what?


From the next-door neighbor to this bungalow, I learned that this
enterpreneur purchased this home as a Fannie Mae foreclosure in August
for 48K, laid the berber carpet, redid the bathroom, and is selling it
for a price in the low 60s.

Which seems like reasonable fair thing to do. Put a few thousand in
materials and labor, plus time and risk, and ask about 10k more than
you purchased it. In fact, sounds downright entreprenurial.

The neighbor has told me about past owners and has assured me the home
was always well-maintained.

And you were hoping for...?

I am always suspicious though of homes

I can tell.

Well, thank you for reading this. The seller is almost strangely
reluctant to continue with the sale,

I would be too, especially since "the sale" doesn't exist and won't
exist until you make an offer and begin negotiating.

having twice cancelled scheduled
"pre-sales-agreement" walk-throughs by my electrician.

How many walk-throughs have you had? And why did you schedule a
walk-through for an electrician, but not a home inspector?

I have concentrated on the questionable or negative aspects of this
property, and I'm not sure they are questionable or negative at all.

Yes you have, an no they are not.


I
don't intend to offer what he's asking, but the size of the lot alone
would make the property desirable;

Desirable in what sort of way? You want a big house with ordinary
layout, exposed wiring, architectural shingles, no flooring, a few
ungrounded outlets, and previous owners that didn't maintain the place.
So this house isn't for you. I might like it myself, it sounds pretty
good for the price.