skip to main content

Home Decorating

sort of x-post would $150K be enough? 200K?

14 years ago

This house is structurally sound, and had a new roof in 2008. Inside it is clean and dry as a bone. It was being prepped to be sold as 3 units of raw space (I think) before the market went south. It has three functional bathrooms, *no kitchen, and *no furnace, although the hot water radiator system is in place.

Understand that I am just thinking out loud at this point and any offer would be contingent on inspections and if there is anything major wrong with the structure, the deal is off.

Here is the immediate needs picture: new heating system, new electrical system, a kitchen, and two out of three new baths. I've done a number of kitchens and never topped $50K, but I am assuming $90K would go into kitchen and baths.

The facade should be restored with 5 appropriate windows, which would involve re-opening partially bricked in fenestrations.

House is in urban Northeast, construction has a multiplier of 25-30% above national average. Size approx 3500 sq ft.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (8)

rockmanor
14 years ago
Based on my fairly limited remodeling experience (several previous homes in the southeast), I think that your $150K estimate is reasonable. However, understanding that inspections cannot reveal all problems, I would want at least $30K, and preferably $50K, in a contingency fund. In better times, I might have been content with a personal credit line or HELOC that could provide additional funds to cover hidden problems, but these days I operate on a cash only basis.

I think the project looks interesting, and I hope you'll post lots of photos if you take it on.
cooperbailey
14 years ago
Is that moisture in the cracks in the floor in the basement? and waterstains next to the foundation wall on the right?
But other than that I have no idea. I know that things always seem to cost more than planned. I like it though- it looks like Baltimore!
Related Discussions
20 3' X 4' old posts-what would you do with them?
Q
Comments (3)
Oh Debbie, that is something I had not thought about and even have some great new roses I got in some trades in a holding bed that really need to get moved out this year. Well the offerer finally returned my call Thurs PM after I I had almost given up hope of getting them, thinking someone beat me to them. I went to pick them up yesterday PM, and there must be 50 of them! I got about 1/2 or more on my little truck and will go back today to get the rest of them. With 50 of them, I can use them for numerous projects. Whoo-Hoo! Come on Spring. Sue
...See More
Building on a Budget $150K or less
Q
Comments (73)
I am a huge fan of a fixer upper. I feel you get the most bang for your buck with one. If you are not a visual person and if you are the type to reject a house because it's dirty or the paint color is wrong, or you don't like the carpeting, then find someone with vision who can help you to "see" the possibilities. I have done that with three different places. Our first place back in 1987 had wall to wall mustard colored carpet, mustard walls, ceiling and trim. Underneath the floors were gorgeous hardwood floors. We painted, wallpapered, redid the kitchen, replaced the nob and tube in that house, had a gorgeous bungalow and sold it for a small profit during the recession in 1993. Our second house had half the house turned into a doctors office. We removed the doctor's suite of offices including his "lab", and created a wonderful family home, updated the appliances, updated the wiring, painted, papered, tiled, etc and sold for a profit during this last recession back in 2010. In fact ours was the only house to sell during a 6 month period in our neighborhood. 6 years ago, my new DH and I bought a condo in a good building in FL. The building was built in 1982 and everything in the condo was original! We (meaning I designed the changes and the GC did the work with his crew. I'm getting too old to do the work myself now, but did when I was young,) gutted the condo, redid everything including moving non load bearing walls and just sold it this past spring for a hefty profit. Here's a link to the condo listing. Here are a few pics of what the condo looked like originally. This was the original kitchen. I didn't move the appliances but updated them all and donated these and the kitchen to Habitat for Humanity.This was the original view looking from the kitchen to the dining room. I opened the wall up and made a walkway into the dining room instead of having to walk around the foyer. This is the view toward the front hallway and into the kitchen from the living room. This was the view from the living room to the dining room.This was the original guest bathroom. The red one in my redone pictures.And this was the master bedroom looking towards the closet and the bathroom. In my redone condo photos, it's where the chinese chair is. The closet blocked the balcony door.And this was the master bath originally. Yes you could sit down while brushing your teeth. And finally one more of the master bath. We switched the shower with the bathtub to open up the room. Funny thing is I walked into the condo and knew it was right and with some work could be perfect because the bones were there. The layout was good, the view fantastic and it met our needs at the time. My point being that with a little sweat equity if you're handy and some vision you can turn what Vanilla Ice calls a Dud into a Stud. And if things like the kitchen are workable such as the one in my picture above, you don't have to do it all right away. You can live with the kitchen as is, and update as you have the funds. We did that in both our houses.
...See More
x post granite seam acceptability
Q
Comments (27)
forboystoo, you are so right. It takes a toll on me to stand my ground, but it would have been a bigger toll, and a daily one, to look at the crummy seam they originally did. Obviously, they are capable of doing a much better seam than they originally did. Do they have so little pride in their work that they were willing to let it go? Do they not have some level of ethics that says someone who has paid for a product deserves to get the best product they can deliver? Climbing down off my soap box before I start talking about the moral decay of granite fabricators...
...See More
Mounting a sconce to a 4x4 ipe deck post? (w/ inspiration photo)
Q
Comments (5)
Thanks aidan_m, hopefully that will be helpful to others! As it turns out, I had emailed the builder of the deck pictured above (Delta Decks (http://www.deltadecks.com/), a Canadian company), and they were kind enough to email me back last week. The lights pictured are made by In-Lite, and are available in line and low voltage. They are shown above with the optional LED light kit. See http://www.in-lite.com/us/f120_product-type/wall.html They are available for purchase from http://store.deckstoronto.com/ They get quite pricey when you factor in Canada tax, international shipping, and the LED light kits (~$600 USD for three), but it's worth it for me. Hope this helps the next person.
...See More
My3dogs ME zone 5A
14 years ago
Just to get the correct picture - You'd be making this into a single family with one kitchen, no rental property as part of it? The 5 windows would need to be custom made and trimmed out, wouldn't they?
palimpsest
Original Author
14 years ago
Yes the plan would be single family. However, the neighborhood is mixed use, so I was thinking of renovating from the top down, putting the kitchen on the second floor and possibly leaving the entire first floor untouched, and then deciding whether to go back to commercial or rental property on the first floor as previously existed.

I would like to replace the front windows with appropriate looking windows (they wouldn't be full custom...Marvin or Norwood could fit the bill) , and it would involve enlarging the openings again--ideally, with cast lintels that replicate tne Eastlake style. They don't have to be actual stone, nor do I have to address the window problem at all (its that kind of neighborhood)--but I would like to.

My gut feeling is that the house is just too big.
boxerpups
14 years ago
WOW, if this outside Boston.
Grab it! You can do it, you can make
it beautiful.
~boxer
igloochic
14 years ago
Personally, more in the 250 plus range IMO. New electric and plumbing...I just did a 2100 sq ft town house in a high cost area and the electrical came in around 50K, plumbing about 20K. And it probably was easier to deal with than what you have there because there was no removal of old stuff (nothing not up to code).

Bathrooms, are you going to do them right, or just do them? Between 5 and 50K depending on the side and materials (five would be if you could save flooring and existing features in place so no major plumbing moves).

Kitchen...I suppose 50K could do it

The floors need to be sanded and refinished don't they? * to 10 grand???

I'm afraid of the signs of water damage near the new windows and what it can do to the brick...

Ok all that said, can you get it at a price to make that make sense? If so, cool property :) If not....well maybe the next one

(for the record I like the pink tub LOL)
palimpsest
Original Author
14 years ago
My gut feeling is that this house is probably too large by a third for how much I would like to spend. I could probably afford to rehab it, but I don't *want to be so tied into that IYKWIM. Other than that, its exactly what I am looking for: relatively intact, and habitable during the process. This becomes rarer all the time...some awful rehabs or gut-partial rehabs I've seen.

I feel for these houses. I missed out on a smaller one, and the chance is about 90% that it is going to go from a charming, if run-down, 19th c. house to a drywall box tricked out with the cheapest off-the-shelf materials from Home Depot, in a matter of months. Its unnecessary and I see it happen again and again.
sergeantcuff
14 years ago
I am sorry to read that this may not work out for you. The massacre of the window area (I had to look up "fenestrations") should be a crime. I hope charm isn't dead.

There are a few wonderful houses in my town owned by elderly people. One in particular is so lovely, I always wished I could live there. The owner inherited it from her parents and no one had done anything to it since the 1930's. She's in a nursing home now and I suspect her heirs are "fixing it up" in order to sell. It's so heartbreaking - I try to avoid looking at the place.(I also miss the owner, she would be furious!!) I wonder how someone could come across such a property before the renovating began?

Related Stories

MOST POPULAR A Fine Mess: How to Have a Clean-Enough Home Over Summer Break

By Alison Hodgson

Don't have an 'I'd rather be cleaning' bumper sticker? To keep your home bearably tidy when the kids are around more, try these strategies

KITCHEN DESIGN Trending Now: 25 Kitchen Photos Houzzers Can’t Get Enough Of

By Mitchell Parker

Use the kitchens that have been added to the most ideabooks in the last few months to inspire your dream project

ARCHITECTURE Houzz Tour: Sturdy Enough for a Tsunami

By Mary Jo Bowling

Storms don't scare this Washington state home; breakaway features and waterproof finishes let it weather high winds and waves

HOME TECH If ‘High-Def’ TV Isn’t High Enough, Maybe You Need Ultra-HD

The ultra-luxury next generation of TV, called Ultra-HD, is finally here. And so is the first content, if you know where to look

We Simply Can't Get Enough: The Sunburst Motif

By Kerrie Kelly Design Lab

New Interpretations of the Sun Still Add Fire to a Room

HOUSEKEEPING Dishwasher vs. Hand-Washing Debate Finally Solved — Sort Of

By Mitchell Parker

Readers in 8 countries weigh in on whether an appliance saves time, water and sanity or if washing by hand is the only saving grace

LANDSCAPE DESIGN How Low Can Hedges Go? Discover Unusual Garden Borders

Short enough to step over, high enough to be a stretch ... check out these radically different hedge styles and tell us your opinion

MOST POPULAR 8 Ways to Get a Handle on the Junk Drawer

By Laura Gaskill

Don’t sweat the small stuff — give it a few drawers of its own, sorted by type or task

BATHROOM DESIGN The Family Home: 8 Easy Tips for an Organized Bathroom

By Danyelle Mathews

If your bathroom has that hit-by-a-hurricane look that tends to come with kids, sort things out with these tried and true ideas

FARM YOUR YARD Houzz Call: Show Us Your One-of-a-Kind Chicken Coops

By Annie Thornton

Do you have a fun or stylish backyard shelter for your feathered friends? Post your pictures and stories in the Comments!

Sponsored

More Discussions

Powder room by the kitchen

253

Colorful Rug + Colorful Throw Pillows

3

Feedback on spraying grasscloth with water repellant.

8

What do I put on walls or mantle to help this space?

15

Need help with a dining room table?

0