"1. Extend the house 15 feet into the backyard, Extend the upstairs as well,"

This will cost more than the value of the home. Buy a bigger home.

You might be in a neighborhood where that would be worth doing. This sort of thing is really dependent on location. It might be helpful to look at the homes nearby and see how much they've sold for (if you can find something sort of similar to what you'd have).

As long as 95K is the lot value and you plan on doing a teardown and new build, buy the house. Or, if local regs prohibit that, there are going to have to be comps that support a 200K+ expenditure. 35K wouldn't do 1/6 of your ideas. It wouldn't even cover materials. And labor is the bigger share.

There is a reason that the owner wants to sell you his white elephant.

We have a 1940 home that is about 1250 sq ft, and chose something similar to option 3, but more extensive. Even this option was complicated, because the wall we took out was load bearing and had to be replaced with a manufactured LVL beam. We are in a high cost area, and that 1st floor renovation and kitchen conversion cost about $100k.

When you start removing walls and plaster ceilings, refinishing floors so that the new room transitions are smooth, and adding all new cabinets and appliances, it will get expensive. We are extremely happy with the renovation of our 1940 home (which had never been renovated before), and we are in a neighborhood where it should pay off in increased value. However, it was extremely disruptive (we had to move the kitchen to our unfinished basement), and ended up taking much more time than originally projected.

Doing a careful renovation instead of a compete tear-down and rebuild takes time and money. However, if you looked at our 1st floor area you would have trouble figuring out what was the original design of the house and what was a renovation.

Bruce

I guess I should have been more specific, real estate and construction in my area (NE Wisconsin) are a lot cheaper than most areas of the US, the median house price is $132.5, so there you go. We like the house, and we're not at all planning to tear it down. It's only my husband and I, with family or friends coming to stay, and I don't really want to hinder our resale value by removing a bedroom.

And I wasn't clear, my ideas were 1 OR 2 OR 3, not all three, certainly, as I know we'd never get that done with our budget of $35-40k

@Sophie, the house is not remotely a white elephant. The foundation needs a little work, but it's not anything major, as I stated above. We've lived in the house for 2 years, and minor plumbing issues are all that have had to be fixed. And our landlords aren't trying to unload on us. Land here usually runs about $29k for 1/3 acre, and we wouldn't dream of demolishing the house to build new, the neighborhood wouldn't support it. It's an older, more close-knit community, and the house ranges are all over. Further down on my street, there's a house for sale for $60k, and two streets over there's a house for sale for $300k. It's an island and has been built up pretty much since the mid-1900's. The only new house is a Habitat for Humanity house with a tiny little corner lot the original owner has donated (and still lives next door, I think).

@Fori Thank you! We see houses with additions being added all the time. It's pretty common around here, particularly with older homes and such.

@bcarlson Thank you! I've wondered about maybe changing the floorplan. I thought the extension might make more sense and be simpler in the long run, without really changing too much of the footprint of the house. I want to keep the old charm, and not make it super modern. I'm planning to reuse as much of the existing woodwork and cabinetry as I can.

@Klem I do excel at biting off more than I can chew! I don't really want to do a major overhaul, just make things a bit more functional and increase our equity/resale value.

I live in a high Cola area and we added a masterbath above an existing first floor sunroom. I picked mid to high range finishes and it cost more than double what you hope to do. So one 104 ft bath addition will,even in a low Cola region, eat up a bulk of your hopeful budget.

One thing we were lucky to have had the foresight to realize was that the addition would cause other needed fixes too. The roof needs to all be done to blend seemlessly between the old and new additions. The electric was upgraded while walls were open anyway and central air was put in then too.

the walk way, yard and driveway needed to be redone too due to the plumbing, trucks and wear and tear that happen with extensive remodels.

Your work scope will creep once you start work so have a contingency plan and budget.

If you do not think you can live in the house as is for a bit then you should be prepared to pay more than you think it will cost. Also, if you are on a limited budget than you should wait and live a while in the house, do the important repairs like the foundation and all systems than when you can afford the pretty stuff and additions do it down the line or look for something in your budget that meets your purse and your wishes.

i am very happy to have lived with my old house and glad that we have improved it but ten years after buying it the reality of how much I thought it would cost to make it my dream house and the actuality of what it cost were off by tenfolds. You either need lots of money or lots of patience when renovating old houses and from what I am reading about your house and budget you will need patience.

Wisconsin is not a low construction cost area. In fact Wisconsin is around the 11th highest state for construction worker salaries in the nation.

I don't know how much it will cost you, but I can tell you that a $35,000 budget is not going to get anywhere near complete. I would be surprised if materials alone come in under that amount.

You should also note that structural remodels very rarely have any return on investment.

When looking at your first house, my advice is stay away from any remodel other than cosmetic. After a few years in my first house my list of wants and needs had completely changed (based largely on things I didn't know until I owned a home). I feel like getting into a large scale remodel on your first home is simply a bad idea.

With a $35,000 budget and "not our forever home" in mind, I don't think I'd go for 1, 2 or 3. Instead I'd remodel the existing "atrocious" bathroom in keeping with the style of the home (you will get a lot of enjoyment out of a new bathroom while you live there) and start working on the other things on your list with anything left over, starting with the foundation work, painting and refinishing the floors.

What you describe sounds like a great starter home.

If you're planning a move in the next few years, do keep in mind that remodeling projects typically cost more than they return in added market value. Remodeling Magazine publishes a cost-versus-value report for various U.S. markets that you can review on the web:

http://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/2016/

Best wishes.

The house sounds great for a rental. Put a little money in cosmetic issues, the foundation, and anything unsafe, and live in it while you are looking for your next home. Then rent it out. Don't plan on sinking non recoverable funds into it to change its basic layout and nature.

While #1 might indeed increase your home's value by the most, it would also come at the greatest cost, and probably not be within your $35K budget, even in a low COL area (I live in one too, so I know of whence I speak). And it may not be very feasible considering existing roof lines. Post a photo if you want some specific feedback on that.

Most remodeling doesn't yield you a return greater than your investment, and this would especially be true of houses in your lower price range. That doesn't mean you shouldn't remodel, it means you should focus on what will make it more livable for you (instead of making money off if it), while minimizing the cash outlay.

We spent ~$18K on a 192 sf room addition that probably increased our home's value by $10K. We hired out the shell and finished the interior ourselves. While the math doesn't technically "work," our calculation was based on this math: Spending the extra $8K allowed us to stay in this house, which we bought for cheap and has $800/year taxes. The alternative would be to move to a larger house, with the transaction costs that entails, and higher taxes. So our housing costs over the next X years will be less than if we moved. Looking at the larger picture (not just "will spending X earn us X+Y in the home value"), this was the right decision for us.

So if I were you, I'd spend my money thus:

1. Fix the foundation

2. Gut the bathroom

3. Refinish the floors

4. Remodel the kitchen. There may be some solutions the Kitchens forum can help you out with to better use the space. Our original kitchen had 10' of linear counter space, including stove and sink (so 5' counters). By moving 2 doorways and reducing a window, we made it into a galley with 20' of counters (15' net counters).

Hold off on anything that moves walls or adds on. Do the above and then see how it lives for you before undertaking anything more drastic.

I'd get a professional estimate (and pay for it) as to foundation work needed before buying. I suspect that even in a low COL area that can eat up the $35k on its own.

(I stopped reading at 'addition,' as the budget just seems too tight unless you are DIY.) Have you checked about whether the town will even let you add on - we have strict set back requirements. A neighbor was denied in their request to expand their kitchen a small amount, because they are non-conforming (too close) by inches on a different side of their home, to the property line (the house has been this way since it was built 90 years ago). Seriously - they bought assuming they could expand and cannot.

I could see #3 if you can keep the kitchen simple. This is where you spend your waking hours. An additional toilet will help sell the house one day. Can you spruce up the main bathroom without moving plumbing?

Hard to sell a 2BR house.

Do not 'add on'.

What's the land value? The improvement (house) probably doesn't add a whole lot to that price tag. Have you shopped for a new (to you) house?