Home Remodeling

[SD1492]

I would say, get the land, sell your place, deal with the in laws for a short time and call the local fire dept. and have them burn it down for you. I've done new construction, rehab construction, gutting and a whole lot more. I've changed carriers for the better, but none the less you'll spend a tone of money on some thing in the long run you'll not be happy with. If the foundation is good, try to keep it. That's a tone of money to rip out and replace. But make sure you get a good, reliable contractor that's been around for a while. Stay away from Empire Homes, they suck!!!
What ever you decide, remember you're the one living there not any of us

 

[itsbob]

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.

Like I said, hope you are right, just something to consider..

I'd ask another agent from another company to do one too (a market analysis) to see if they are in the ballpark.

Realtors will do them for free, and it won't hurt to get a second opinion.

 

[cattitude]

Houses are still moving and if you're not greedy you can
move one fast.

Keep in mind that where you are there are a TON of homes for sale and now winter is approaching, houses aren't moving that fast. You may have to price really low to move it quickly.

Just something to keep in mind.

 

[Oz]

Be careful that you have met the 24 month occupancy test on your current home to avoid capital gains taxes.

 

[pixiegirl]

Like I said, hope you are right, just something to consider..

I'd ask another agent from another company to do one too (a market analysis) to see if they are in the ballpark.

Realtors will do them for free, and it won't hurt to get a second opinion.

I've spent a lot of time looking at what's on the market now at what price and how mine compares to it. I did the same with the last house and in 9 months made almost $100K because I knew what I had. I set the price on the last house and it was several thousand above the market analysis. I remember the realtor telling me "We'll go ahead and ask that for it but if after a month we haven't gotten a contract on it we may want to consider dropping the price." It had a contract with in the week. The 3rd people to look at it.

The bottom line is just like last time this is a "want" and not a need. I'm certainly not going to take a loss on my house. The property we're looking into isn't moving at all. We have time. Interest rates are dropping which is good for the housing market. Good sense is what has enabled us to be in the position we're in. I'm not going to compromise that for some pipe dream.

I appreciate your concern.

 

[pixiegirl]

Be careful that you have met the 24 month occupancy test on your current home to avoid capital gains taxes.

Our mortgage broker is looking into things for us. I've heard about a program/loop hole/something or other where you can avoid capital gains if you roll 100% of your profit into a re-hab property. If we're not eligible or whatever we'll just pay it. It's not that much. We're not looking to make ungodly amounts of money off our house so it won't hurt that bad to just pay it.

 

[Chasey_Lane]

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

You looked fabulous on Saturday by the way.

Yep, that one. You wouldn't even recognize it now.

Thank you and likewise!

 

[itsbob]

I've spent a lot of time looking at what's on the market now at what price and how mine compares to it. I did the same with the last house and in 9 months made almost $100K because I knew what I had. I set the price on the last house and it was several thousand above the market analysis. I remember the realtor telling me "We'll go ahead and ask that for it but if after a month we haven't gotten a contract on it we may want to consider dropping the price." It had a contract with in the week. The 3rd people to look at it.

The bottom line is just like last time this is a "want" and not a need. I'm certainly not going to take a loss on my house. The property we're looking into isn't moving at all. We have time. Interest rates are dropping which is good for the housing market. Good sense is what has enabled us to be in the position we're in. I'm not going to compromise that for some pipe dream.

I appreciate your concern.

Looks and brains... impressed!!

 

[FastCarsSpeed]

Pixie,


Guy I worked with just sold his house down the street from our under construction house in 2 days. He put it up with a realistic price for a quick sale and I think he ended up walking away with like 35k on it and being in it about the same amount of time you have. Just like you said. If your not ignorant with your price you can walk away clean.

 

[BadGirl]

Looks and brains... impressed!!

Don't act so surprised...you get to see those same qualities whenever you look at me! and

 

[pixiegirl]

Don't act so surprised...you get to see those same qualities whenever you look at me! and

Not to mention your fabulous skills!

 

[SamSpade]

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?

I've done it while actually LIVING in the house - of course, it was summer most of the time (but I remember winter mornings peeking out of the covers to see my breath in the cold freezing air). We even dug a basement out underneath it while we were still in it.

I guess it depends on how much aggravation you can take. For me, I was 22 years old and it was kind of fun.

You live in the Ranch Club, if I recall correctly? I do remember at least a handful of those kinds of renovations near my house when I was there. One house on the corner of Short Cut was a mess - even BEFORE a tree fell on it and smashed through the roof. It looks halfway decent now - kind of. A house diagonally in back of mine had the same type of renovation. It looked largely abandoned or someone's summer house that they never visited - and someone decided to gut the thing and rebuild it.

 

[pixiegirl]

I've done it while actually LIVING in the house - of course, it was summer most of the time (but I remember winter mornings peeking out of the covers to see my breath in the cold freezing air). We even dug a basement out underneath it while we were still in it.

I guess it depends on how much aggravation you can take. For me, I was 22 years old and it was kind of fun.

You live in the Ranch Club, if I recall correctly? I do remember at least a handful of those kinds of renovations near my house when I was there. One house on the corner of Short Cut was a mess - even BEFORE a tree fell on it and smashed through the roof. It looks halfway decent now - kind of. A house diagonally in back of mine had the same type of renovation. It looked largely abandoned or someone's summer house that they never visited - and someone decided to gut the thing and rebuild it.

I don't think the process will be fun by any means. But the results would be worth it. I LOVE my current house but there's a ton of stuff to be done if we stay and some things I'd like that can't be done without major work. This presents me with an opportunity to start from scratch and have things done my way. I really like that. We live in CRE now but the property I'm talking about is off a private road in St. Mary's.

 

[SamSpade]

I don't think the process will be fun by any means. But the results would be worth it. I LOVE my current house but there's a ton of stuff to be done if we stay and some things I'd like that can't be done without major work. This presents me with an opportunity to start from scratch and have things done my way. I really like that. We live in CRE now but the property I'm talking about is off a private road in St. Mary's.

Can you still make the house you want? I haven't read right through this thread, but I gather you want to LIVE in the new house.

Two of my best friends bought inexpensive lots in the county (one, south of the base, the other, a lot off McIntosh road) and otherwise designed the entire home from top to bottom just the way they wanted it. Granted, my buddy south of the base had to build his own basement and put in all his own tile - but they each got the items they wanted. My wife has sometimes brought this up - that starting over can mean actually getting the house you want rather than figuring out how to make do with what's in place. We're pretty much locked into our own house now, so if she wants that country kitchen, it means major renovation.

I don't think I need to tell you that even having someone totally build it from scratch - at least, in this area - is headache enough. It never works out the way you want and always costs more than they say and always takes longer than anyone says.

 

[kwillia]

Some good articles HERE regarding remodeling

 

[Oz]

Our mortgage broker is looking into things for us. I've heard about a program/loop hole/something or other where you can avoid capital gains if you roll 100% of your profit into a re-hab property. If we're not eligible or whatever we'll just pay it. It's not that much. We're not looking to make ungodly amounts of money off our house so it won't hurt that bad to just pay it.

You need an accountant to tell you that - not a mortgage broker - seriously. I say that because many people still think the old law of a replacement residence still exists.

That rule where you can plow your profits into your next residence was replaced by the one that can be used once every 2 years for the first 250K up to 500K per couple.