Extreme Homes

[DWhittles]

Am I the only crazy one out there (wait till I finish my sentence before saying yes!) who loves the idea of converting a building not meant to be a home into a home?
Like taking a church or an old bank building or an old warehouse and making it a home?
I've recently come across an old church for sale. It's 5,000 square feet for around $70,000. It's beautiful and has good bones but needs a TON of work. It's still designed to be a church and would need to be redesigned to live in.
What would you guys do?

 

[kaylajr]

Sounds like it would be a great project and a beautiful house when you got it done

but how much $$$ would the renovations cost

would it be worth it

and house issue aside you are not the only crazy one
i think I qualify too

 

[DWhittles]

I'm glad I'm not the only crazy one!!!
I've written the realtor asking if the church is on the landmark list and if it's potentially applicable for any loans or grants.
I'm thinking about a slow renovation. Not to be done in a year or even two or three. Here are photos...

 

[Blondy876]

Wow! What an incredible idea. If you can afford it I say go for it. From the pictures I can imagine what it might look like as a home and I'm betting it would be awesome!

Would you keep some of the original building? The stain glass windows or the arch for example? It think including them into the new architecture would be beautiful.

 

[DWhittles]

Wow! What an incredible idea. If you can afford it I say go for it. From the pictures I can imagine what it might look like as a home and I'm betting it would be awesome!

Would you keep some of the original building? The stain glass windows or the arch for example? It think including them into the new architecture would be beautiful.

I'd try to keep as much of the original building in tact as possible. I'd keep the arch and the stained glass for SURE! Those details are the draw for me! They are so beautiful!

 

[lovetheparks]

If you do it you should definitely keep a progress journal - and of course you'd have to share! I saw not too long ago a show where they made condos out of an old Roman Catholic church and they turned out gorgeous.

 

[2angelsinheaven]

Go for it, it's beautiful, is there more to it... other than the photos show. It looks like there is a lower roof building attached to the side, perhapes you could turn the large area into a Formal living area, maybe put in a loft... and then use the rest of the building as bedrooms, kitchen, etc. For only 70,000 it seems like a steal. Here 3/2/1's go for $150,000 or more now.

 

[Tinkerbelles]

that is done all the time! you just need a ton of money! Money makes the world go round

 

[DWhittles]

that is done all the time! you just need a ton of money! Money makes the world go round

LOL, yes yes it does doesn't it?
Here is the other photo that the realtor sent to me.

I have no idea what the ductwork is but I'm thinking this room might make a great kitchen.
I'm off to spend the rest of my day figuring out how to do this and get my darling husband on board to the project...

 

[Crankyshank]

A friend of my parents' did this. The Church cost about $100,000 to purchase and $200,000 to make the structural changes, add the plumbing, etc..

 

[jipsy]

Where is this church? New York? The Berkshires?

 

[DWhittles]

Where is this church? New York? The Berkshires?

Upstate NY.

 

[binny]

I would love to do that too but it IS expensive. You would have to bring a building like that up to code with electricty and plumbing and then hen theres the remodel.


If its a church it has a kitchen...

You will want to look into that too.

 

[DWhittles]

I would love to do that too but it IS expensive. You would have to bring a building like that up to code with electricty and plumbing and then hen theres the remodel.


If its a church it has a kitchen...

You will want to look into that too.

Right, which is why I'm saying I'd really take my time with the renovation. There is no way I could afford the purchase and the renovation all at once. I'm in no rush though.

 

[meandtheguys2]

We spent 6 years working on restoring a 150 yr old log cabin. Every weekend (just about.) Put about $40,000 into it already, and it still isn't complete. It's pretty hard to remodel with little ones underfoot! With the youngest now 6, it is just now possible to work without them being a HUGE isssue.

EVERYTHING costs 5x what you think, and takes 5x the estimated time!

 

[Feralpeg]

I saw something similar recently on Extreme Homes on HGTV. When they finished, it was absolutely beautiful. It looked like they were living in a castle.

 

[Crankyshank]

I'll ask my Dad if his friend still has the online album of their renovation. It's wicked cool to see the changes. This was over 5yrs ago so they might not.

 

[DWhittles]

We spent 6 years working on restoring a 150 yr old log cabin. Every weekend (just about.) Put about $40,000 into it already, and it still isn't complete. It's pretty hard to remodel with little ones underfoot! With the youngest now 6, it is just now possible to work without them being a HUGE isssue.

EVERYTHING costs 5x what you think, and takes 5x the estimated time!

LOL,
I know that whatever my budget, I'm going to about triple it and then some! I'll have a better idea when I see it myself. I'm aware I'm going to have to hire folks to do most of the work because of the extremely high ceilings and that sort of thing...

 

[ducklite]

I was a mortgage loan officer for a banker/broker for quite awhile. This property actually looks familiar to me. Back in early 1995 I was approached by a couple who wanted to purchase a church in upstate NY to renovate into a home, I want to think somewhere maybe in the Catskill area? Could be wrong there. At any rate, they had 25% down, plus most of the cash they would need for renovation. They had good income with low DTI rates, and flawless credit.

I shopped that loan package to no less than 15 mortgage companies, plus portfolio products at another 5-6 banks, and came up empty. With the borrowers permission I had a friend who worked for another mortgage company shop the loan as well to a different set of lenders, and again, she was unable to secure the financing.

There were a couple of problems. Getting comps for the appraisal was impossible, and banks want to know the clear cut value of a property before they lend on it. Another was it can be difficult to sell a property like this if the buyers default. Bottom line, unless you've got the cash to purchase it outright, or are able to secure a private mortgage with an individual, forget it. It's nearly impossible to secure an institutional loan on a property like this.

Anne