anyone build a home

[luvmyfam444]

on the land where the other home exsisted? or is it just cheaper to ad on? OUr homw is ANCIENT (buile in the 50's) and not updated at all (circuits, etc) so we're discusiing what to do...my folks suggested just building behind our current house & tearing it down - is that better or completely gutting the other??? (it's only 1056 sq ft on a lot of 100x 150')

 

[720L]

Personally I'd build new, because rates are low right now and you'll spend a lot just fixing up your home because its so old. Plus you don't have to buy a lot. But beware: make sure you can get the water/sewer etc back there for a cheap/fair amount. And get everything ok'd by the city you live in before you start. And get it in writing that its ok to build there. Get EVERYTHING you do in writing.

 

[FroggyinArk]

same boat,, our house is 60 yrs old,, and we are goingto use the vacant lot we own next to it to build a new one, then tear this one down,, our biggest problem is since i am a contractor,, getting banmks to allow me to hire myself to build it

 

[shelly3girls]

We built our first two houses and are currently adding on/ remodeling our current house. Our house is only 20 years old and it is still a financial nightmare. Everything that could possibly go wrong has. We budgeted 20% more than estimated and we are well over it. We definitely would have saved money by tearing down and building new and we would have exactly what we want. We love our house and will be happy when it is done but we are 9 months into the project and still looking at plywood walls and no siding.

 

[CajunDixie]

Houses with really old wiring are horrible to update. And think about the age and condition of your foundation, windows, doors, insulation, roof, siding.... It's much easier and possibly cheaper to build a new house than to live in a very old house that has to be first remodeled then added on to to make it large enough to please you.

our biggest problem is since i am a contractor,, getting banmks to allow me to hire myself to build it

If you have a residential contractor that you personally know see if you can "hire" them to be your general contractor for a small fee with the understanding that you'll be building the place yourself. The bank will also want proof of the progress in order for you to receive the draws as work is completed.

 

[C.Ann]

If your foundation is in good condition and you were able to do all the work yourself, it would be cheaper to gut the whole thing top to bottom and make it "brand new".. My son-in-law is doing that at my house right now (the house is 64 years old) and EVERYTHING has been replaced except the foundation and the outside walls.. He has years of experience doing this kind of work and for the past 7 years has worked as a project estimator for a large commercial construction company.. He priced the whole project out ahead of time and it was definitely the cheaper way to go.. I just can't wait until it's done so we can get it on the market and SELL it!

 

[canwegosoon]

From a building stand point your 1056 sq represents 100,000(1000*100per sq foot, natl avg)...depending on the style (colonial, ranch or capes are easy to add on to ), condition, and area (how much would a house go for that you would like to build where you live). In most cases it is cheaper to add on, and might not require moving(which is hard to do). It might take longer to renovate than rip and build. Our home has 6.5' ceilings, which can not be fixed...so for us, it needs to be ripped down(our house is 140+ yrs old).
Also it is hard to double+ your square footage (in my case from 1200 up to 2800 is not able to be done). So it really depends. Another factor if you tear down you will generally have to meet current building codes and setbacks.

In my case we purchased the house for 70K, the lot alone is now worth 150K, and a new home 2800 sq feet would go for 650-750K on my block. To rip and build it would be about $300,000+ cost of orig house=370,000...so in our case it does make sense number wise.

 

[Kitty 34]

We built on twice to our old house (it's 60 years old!!) but sometimes I wished we had just torn it down and rebuilt but I think at the time that would have been WAY more expensive.

 

[shelly3girls]

Atleast in our area one good thing about keeping the foundation is taxes. As long as you keep atleast one exterior wall the whole project is taxed as a renovation. If you start from scratch it is priced as new construction which in our area could nearly double your tax bill (which is outrageous to begin with).