Anybody here ever ENTIRELY rehab a house?

[Papa Deuce]

We're looking at a house to use for my mom, and possibly rent out half to someone else. The thing is, it needs MAJOR work. The property is very nice, and the school system is good, and the neighborhood is good.

But I could see an easy 100 - 150K in rehab work.

But when complete, the house would be ideal for what we want it for. The house and property could be had for 250K. I'm guessing it is 3/4 of an acre, all flat.

But I'm not sure it makes sense to rehab a house like that, or knock it down and put up a new home. A brand new house could probably be put up for 200K, or maybe even a lot less.

 

[LiteBrite]

Well, when we bought our house 10 years ago, we:
- replaced/recovered every inch of flooring
- completely redid the kitchen (new cabinets, new appliances, new floor plan, new counters)
- moved some walls to repurpose some spaces
- repainted every wall
- changed all bathroom sinks, toilets, tub, cabinetry, hardware, and most of the tile on the walls (only left the tile inside the master shower)
- redid the roof
- vented a room that had been an unvented addition a previous owner had added

So, I guess you could say we entirely rehabbed the house. Not one inch of space in the house was left untouched. We bought the house for $98K. By doing almost all of the work with our own hands we did all of the rehab for about $20K (we paid people to lay the carpet, and do some of the plumbing/gas work, the electrical, and the roof repair), and the house is now worth about $300K.

On the other hand, it just about killed us and I hope never to do such a thing again. Still, we got a beautiful home out of it, and we stand to make a nice profit when we're ready to sell, so it was worth all the hard work.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Who is going to do the work? You? It will be a time sucking vortex that robs you blind. I would keep looking. Then again we are not rehabbers and do not like fixer-uppers.
{{{shudder, shudder}}}

Are you always putting in flooring, painting, landscaping, etc...in your home now? If not, I would seriously consider this project a "mpina" (think major pain somewhere).

Tons of homes are for sale, it peaking right now. DH and I go out daily just to look and compare.

Do you look daily? It really can get you going as far as comparsion. Get your wheels spinning. Good Luck!

 

[Catzeyes]

My ex husband I bought an old Victorian house in 1998 for dirt cheap. Over the next 4 years we completly gutted the house. I loved remodeling it back into what is was 100 years ago even though it was very costly. We divorced in 2002 and could not bare to sell it. LOL So we still own the home which neither of us can part with. Some day we do hope to sell it for tons more then what we paid.

 

[sajetto]

When you say rehab...do you mean cosmetics such as cabinets, fixtures, carpet, wall paper, paint, etc, etc


Or do you mean electrical, plumbing, taking down plaster and replacing with dry wall, jacking up settled floors, brick work etc...

 

[Papa Deuce]

When you say rehab...do you mean cosmetics such as cabinets, fixtures, carpet, wall paper, paint, etc, etc


Or do you mean electrical, plumbing, taking down plaster and replacing with dry wall, jacking up settled floors, brick work etc...

For SURE all of the former. And I'm guessing LOTS of the latter. Tomorrow I will get a whole tour of the place. The people who live there now have been there for 50+ years. And I have lived in my neighborhood for 7 years. The only work I know that they have done is replace the roof, which they did last week.

My next door neighbor is friendly with them and said that most of the inside looks like nothing has been done in 25+ years.

I would be willing to do the work I knowhow to do by myself, which isn;t much. I can paint and do minor carpentry. I can landscape. Beyond that I can't do much of the work.

There is a 3 car garage which has been partially converted into a living area. It is WAY bigger than my mom's condo. It even has a sun room. My mom has spinal stenosis and has a hard time walking on some days. She could drive right up to the garage after it gets finished and have a 10 foot walk to her home, as opposed to the 300 - 500 foot walk she currently has.

And the daughter of the owner said that she thinks it could easily be converted into 2 apartments ( the house ). So it could be rehabbed and rented out. There are about 4 rental properties on the block already.

 

[sajetto]

My DF flips houses all the time, that's why I was asking.

Yesterday we went to look at a brick 2 story home built in 1953 and I swear nothing looked like it had been done since then on the inside. However the outside structure was in great condition. Regardless, it had the old screw in fuses, poor wiring, settling floors, plaster walls and celings, lead paint, settling floors, terrible cabinetry, and a myriad of other things.

My DF's verdict was a flat out no. The reason for this was due to the fact that the majority of work would have to be contracted out. My DF can do everything but wiring, jacking, and plumbing. He said that he wouldn't mind buying the house to level it and build on top of it.

So, maybe you're in the same boat. You'd probably be better off starting from the ground up with a new home as far as cost is concerned. Good luck!

 

[L107ANGEL]

For SURE all of the former. And I'm guessing LOTS of the latter. Tomorrow I will get a whole tour of the place. The people who live there now have been there for 50+ years. And I have lived in my neighborhood for 7 years. The only work I know that they have done is replace the roof, which they did last week.

My next door neighbor is friendly with them and said that most of the inside looks like nothing has been done in 25+ years.

I would be willing to do the work I knowhow to do by myself, which isn;t much. I can paint and do minor carpentry. I can landscape. Beyond that I can't do much of the work.

There is a 3 car garage which has been partially converted into a living area. It is WAY bigger than my mom's condo. It even has a sun room. My mom has spinal stenosis and has a hard time walking on some days. She could drive right up to the garage after it gets finished and have a 10 foot walk to her home, as opposed to the 300 - 500 foot walk she currently has.

And the daughter of the owner said that she thinks it could easily be converted into 2 apartments ( the house ). So it could be rehabbed and rented out. There are about 4 rental properties on the block already.

Wow, good luck with that!

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

I worry when I hear you talk about the number of rentals in the area. It could make purchasing for a long-term investment a mistake.

Would you be getting the house for substantially less than market value?

 

[Papa Deuce]

I worry when I hear you talk about the number of rentals in the area. It could make purchasing for a long-term investment a mistake.

Would you be getting the house for substantially less than market value?

Probably 50K less. We would do it without a broker. And the ladie's daughter said the owner would take less since she really likes my daughters. Quite honestly, I thought the price was WAY LOW to begin with. Yes, the house needs a TON of work. But the property is twice what we have, and they have the nice 3 car garage and a built in pool. The house is probably close to ours in size 2500 - 3000 sf.

And we were told that we can easily get 390K for our home, maybe 425, and we live right accross the street from this house.

As far as rentals, well all of the ones on the street always seem to be rented out. However, all those places are MUCH smaller than this place, so I assume they wouldn't rent for even 60% of what this place could rent for if it gets fixed up. There are about 30 -35 houses on the street, in an EXCELLENT school district. People move here just for the school district. I know, because we did!