Updating Home to Sell - How Not to Overimprove?? (Long - sorry)
gilmoregal
13 years ago
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brickeyee
13 years agoRelated Discussions
O - Odd and Octagon House - Long, Sorry
Comments (14)Heh, I'll bet some kids out some night will take a dip in that pond. I will try to find out more about that house. Somewhere I read it was once a part of the underground railroad. The view from there is not nice like it would have been when it was built, overlooking a relatively new commercial area and the river. Now it is ugly, the neighborhood is too bad for a bed and breakfast or restaurant. I don't think it is in danger of destruction, but you know where the money goes now, economic development a la first photo. I'll see if I can find out more about it. There are still some nice folks living in those bad neighborhoods, and it would sure make a nice home, if only to keep it occupied to ward off vandals and to preserve it from decaying again. Maybe we should have an old house thread. I go poking around looking for lovely old homes to photograph. Found one the other day that looks like it belongs in New Orleans, am waiting for the right lighting conditions to go photograph it and a couple more garden stops to photograph amongst my own gardening activities. As to my stories, I should put up a blog, I suppose, but who would read it? Thanks for all the nice comments. If there's any real news about the house, I will post an update. There are quite a few dotted around the country. There was a website devoted to octagon houses, don't know if it is still up; so many have been destroyed already, we had one other one, never saw it. A few local blighted areas are being settled by ordinary folks who are fixing up the properties. Some of the nicest gardens are there. Maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel. It is terribly difficult to restore even the newer older homes, so much work and hard to maintain architectural integrity. I'm fighting that with my 75-year-old craftsman bungalow. Can't find the right parts (locksets, etc.), molding and doors to repair things right. There are restoration hardware businesses for restoring those old Victorian homes which is a good thing, but the components are expensive. People with that kind of money want new homes. I like the older ones. Most of the new ones don't have much character. I read Martha Stewart's home in CT is for sale. That must be one gorgeous place....See MoreSell or stay? Are there any guidelines? Long, sorry
Comments (4)My guess is that the value is in the land. How does your tax assessment read? Here there are two components: land value and "improvement" value (your house and garage). If your neighbors are preparing to move out, could you all put your property on the market together? Right now there's a downturn in building, but builders often "bank" land for future use. I agree with the suggestion to talk to a couple of Realtors, but you might also contact some builders directly. I would virtually NEVER do a huge expansion of a 1400 sq ft house. (I'd do a teardown first, but only if the location was very special to me -- maybe my ancestors were buried there?) Not only would I not want to live through it, I'm afraid the result would never sell for what I'd invested. A buyer for a larger home wants an ALL-new house, not a cobbled-together one. Your DH needs to hear some financial facts and weigh "change" against "dollars"....See MoreHow do I deal with my step-father? (long, sorry)
Comments (35)PART 2 he has spread lies about me all over town, has people look out for me and call him when they see me like I'm some kind of criminal. I've never been arrested or in trouble with the law. never was dishonest with them. matter of fact my honesty has been anmd still is used agaiunst me. his son is a dope head, has been arrested,for domestic violence, grand theft auto, breaking and entering, drugs, u name it. I still deal with the abuse because I need my adopted mom for a place to stay. I feel like a pile of dung for having to depend on her. its impossible to be independent when your making 10.50 hr. With a growing boy in school and fiance is hashing out problems with SSI as he is unable to work. and because she is brainwashed into thinking she needs him, he has control and messes with me however he can, yet i cant think of a way to kleep him away from me and quit messing with me. He set the pool pump to go on for 5 hours everyday and locked it and did the same with the sprinklers so we cant change it. I pay the water and electric bill. He's got the whole world it seems like convinced I'm on drugs. that infuriates me because no one sees that he's being dishonest and unreasonable. they all know his son is a skrew up and a drug addict and that he's been in all sorts of trouble. and I'm not yet they believe him. I wanna know where did his credibility come from? y are his friend and he's so stupid to believe him and not question his mean nasty things he says in such a mean nasty way about a child (when I was) and when he still talks so bad about me now, and to mainly the same people, now that I'm an adult and doing my own thing y don't they ever question him? I mean come on, it's got to get old at some point, this crazy white hair man running around can't keep my name out his mouth. y he is so hell bent on proving to the world that im a skrew up??...See MoreHouse cost basis (sorry, long)
Comments (13)Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I forget who asked, but all this was done over many years. The patio was first, in 1998; the hardwood floors in 2001;bathrooms 2008, windows 2010; the kitchen a year and half ago. Oh, and we replaced our fence last summer, but if the deck is maintenance, I think the fence is, too. Regarding the patio, bry911, what was there before was just dirt. I couldn't grow grass under the deck (the deck is one floor above the ground, the patio is outside the basement level under the deck). Lucy, yes primary residence. I am guessing we could sell for the average closed price in the last several months in our development without a problem. Since we are in a townhouse community the homes are pretty similar. Some neighbors have made similar improvements over the years and others not.. Some recent sales still have late-1980s kitchens (based on realtor.com photos). So that average seems a good guess. With that average minus 6% for a realtor, minus my original purchase price (not even counting my original closing costs), the profit would be $202K. So maybe we won't have to actually do the other cost basis adjustments....See Morechisue
13 years agoCarol_from_ny
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