Home Remodeling

[CableChick]

How much? I'm seriously considering this.

Only $26,000.00

 

[pixiegirl]

Only $26,000.00

No way! If I'm gonna potentially drop $100K into a house. You could rent it to me for 6 months. I have some plastic plates I could use as a down payment.

 

[Pete]

The sagging roof would cause me concern. It would require truss replacement and a whole new roof.

 

[pixiegirl]

That movie cracks me up. I got caught up in a Flip This House marathon on A&E yesterday, which was fascinating. Flipping homes is something I've always wanted to get into (in the far future, like after D retires), and it was interesting to see the process from start to finish. I was amazed at how much money it costs to renovate...tiny homes for $30k +. And in almost every case, there were a ton of unforseen problems once demo/construction started. It definitely takes dedication and a tight wallet.

Well the problem is (and selling the idea to him) we're getting it so cheap we could "afford" to drop $300K into it. But that's not what we want to do. For the total of the property and an additional $300K we could afford to buy something brand new and just as nice. It's not a matter of affordability but of if it's worth the time and effort. The PITA factor is so high we won't consider it unless it's under a lateral move pricewise. There's nothing wrong with where we're at and if we can make this happen for about what we're paying now then the PITA factor is mitigated. When we start going above where we're at now it's just not worth it. We've gotten very use to where we are financially and the amount of disposable income we have it'd be a tough sell for us to migrate from that.

 

[Chasey_Lane]

Pix,

My stepdad gutted his house in Waldorf and gave it an entire makeover. He even added a small bedroom back where the washer/dryer used to be, which now makes 6 bedrooms.

I believe it cost him in the neighborhood of $10-15K with him (and a few of his friends) doing all the work. He installed new flooring in the kitchin/dining room, upstairs living room and hallway, downstairs bedrooms (all of them) and family room. New cabinets, countertops, tiling in two bathrooms and little odds/ends. This included paint and any additional hardware, too. There's nothing from the "old" house that he kept.

 

[pixiegirl]

The sagging roof would cause me concern. It would require truss replacement and a whole new roof.

Us too. That's why we're taking someone back who knows better than us. The magic number is $100K. I look at it as a whole and can't imagine it taking that much, B on the other hand is Professor Doom and Gloom and doesn't think $100K will cover it. I just don't understand how you can not gut and fix a house for $100K.

 

[Magnum]

The sagging roof would cause me concern. It would require truss replacement and a whole new roof.

I have passed up a few places just for that reason. I have found alot of places that are in my price range and are what I'm looking for. Nothing has jumped out at me yet. I am one of those guys I know what I want when I see it, and then I have to have it right away. So far no house has jumped out to make me want it.

 

[pixiegirl]

Pix,

My stepdad gutted his house in Waldorf and gave it an entire makeover. He even added a small bedroom back where the washer/dryer used to be, which now makes 6 bedrooms.

I believe it cost him in the neighborhood of $10-15K with him (and a few of his friends) doing all the work. He installed new flooring in the kitchin/dining room, upstairs living room and hallway, downstairs bedrooms (all of them) and family room. New cabinets, countertops, tiling in two bathrooms and little odds/ends. This included paint and any additional hardware, too. There's nothing from the "old" house that he kept.

The old house on Garner? Ohhhhh, memories.... Like the corner of my mind.

You looked fabulous on Saturday by the way.

 

[CableChick]

No way! If I'm gonna potentially drop $100K into a house. You could rent it to me for 6 months. I have some plastic plates I could use as a down payment.

Well I tried. I guess we'll hold off on that 5th wheel for a year or so now.

And they are hefty plates, not that plastic crap!!

 

[Pete]

Us too. That's why we're taking someone back who knows better than us. The magic number is $100K. I look at it as a whole and can't imagine it taking that much, B on the other hand is Professor Doom and Gloom and doesn't think $100K will cover it. I just don't understand how you can not gut and fix a house for $100K.

Would have to see it and price out what it needs. :shrug:

 

[Nickel]

Well the problem is (and selling the idea to him) we're getting it so cheap we could "afford" to drop $300K into it. But that's not what we want to do. For the total of the property and an additional $300K we could afford to buy something brand new and just as nice. It's not a matter of affordability but of if it's worth the time and effort. The PITA factor is so high we won't consider it unless it's under a lateral move pricewise. There's nothing wrong with where we're at and if we can make this happen for about what we're paying now then the PITA factor is mitigated. When we start going above where we're at now it's just not worth it. We've gotten very use to where we are financially and the amount of disposable income we have it'd be a tough sell for us to migrate from that.

If it were me, I'd sit down and delineate all the costs. Include the new car you'll need, and get estimates on labor and materials and all that. Be anal about it, include everything. Don't just go on what you think it would cost, because you've never done this before. Then, double the figure. If it's still a worthwhile venture, then consider it. :shrug: That's just how I'd approach it. :shrug:

 

[barncat]

I guess not just remodeling but total renovation. Here's the deal; we have the opportunity to buy a property at an unreal price (cheap, that is), the land itself is probably worth what the price is. That being said, the house that sits on the land will likely need to be gutted all the way down to the bones. I mean there's not a lick of drywall in it that we'd even consider trying to salvage, there are hardwood floors that have been underneath carpet that look to be capable of being restored BUT we only pulled the carpet back in a few places. When it's completely taken up it may be that they're not salvagable at all. There's nothing to salvage in the kitchen or bathrooms at all. And the roof is sagging in one spot. So to sum it up this would be a major undertaking but possibly potentially really worth it. We'd likely contract out 90% of the work because he's handy but simply doesn't have the time to do the amount of work that needs to be done.

Has anyone ever gutted a house and renovated it? Is it worth the aggrivation?

Hubby and I were considering this on a house if the price was right, but it ended up the price was $150,000 more than we were told so we passed. The house had a lot of possibilities, 4200 s.f., 3 acres and it sounded like so much fun to design my own home. O'well, we are still looking but haven't come across anything that we like yet.

Good luck if you choose this route, it sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

 

[pixiegirl]

If it were me, I'd sit down and delineate all the costs. Include the new car you'll need, and get estimates on labor and materials and all that. Be anal about it, include everything. Don't just go on what you think it would cost, because you've never done this before. Then, double the figure. If it's still a worthwhile venture, then consider it. :shrug: That's just how I'd approach it. :shrug:

That's pretty much what we're planning to do. Right now I've made a spreadsheet that indicates everything we've seen that needs to be done with a column for high and low price. I'm pricing out all the things that I can myself, such as appliances. If the family friend says it's structurally sound and worth further investigation we plan on getting at least 3 contractors in to bid on the renovations.

 

[pixiegirl]

If it were me, I'd sit down and delineate all the costs. Include the new car you'll need, and get estimates on labor and materials and all that. Be anal about it, include everything. Don't just go on what you think it would cost, because you've never done this before. Then, double the figure. If it's still a worthwhile venture, then consider it. :shrug: That's just how I'd approach it. :shrug:

I almost forgot. The new car is a mute point since we already decided that this winter will be it's last with us regaurdless of where we live. She's got about 140K miles on her, is small and sucks butt at the first snow flake.

 

[Nickel]

I almost forgot. The new car is a mute point since we already decided that this winter will be it's last with us regaurdless of where we live. She's got about 140K miles on her, is small and sucks butt at the first snow flake.

Moot.

 

[pixiegirl]

Moot.

 

[pixiegirl]

And to my karma giver who thinks it must be nice to be me....

As a matter of fact it's great to have the common sense to not get in over our heads. The reason we are so financially stable is because we live within our means. We didn't go out and buy a $500K house just because we could "afford" it. We bought a house that we liked well enough and that offered us the financial freedom we wanted.

 

[itsbob]

I think your timing is bad.

You haven't been in the house you're in now to make it to a break even point in a fair market. If you sold it today for what you paid for it, you'd actually be losing a considerable amount of money, and if that's the case you might want to consider renting out your current house until the market rebounds.

Might be a perfect time to buy, but not so much to sell.

The housing bubble hasn't totally burst, but you're not going to see a 25% increase in a house value over the last year, at least I don't think you will. You might see 4 -6%, or a break-even.. which means you havent recovered your closing cost/ Real Estate commission costs yet.

Just something else to consider..

 

[Oz]

I'm still amazed that you are still driving the old hoopty...

 

[pixiegirl]

I think your timing is bad.

You haven't been in the house you're in now to make it to a break even point in a fair market. If you sold it today for what you paid for it, you'd actually be losing a considerable amount of money, and if that's the case you might want to consider renting out your current house until the market rebounds.

Might be a perfect time to buy, but not so much to sell.

The housing bubble hasn't totally burst, but you're not going to see a 25% increase in a house value over the last year, at least I don't think you will. You might see 4 -6%, or a break-even.. which means you havent recovered your closing cost/ Real Estate commission costs yet.

Just something else to consider..

100% wrong. We've had a market analysis done on our house and we still away with profit (and a decent amount) after all fees and taxes. Not the $90K we made on the last house but still several thousand dollars and that's pricing ours on the very low end for a quick sale. I pick good houses. Houses are still moving and if you're not greedy you can move one fast.