Is modernizing a old existing home worth it? And taxes..

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

Most discussions around these parts are about new homes, and I'm wondering if modernizing a old existing home is worth it? I imagine not, unless you DIY because my dad renovated a old farm house and later told me he could have built three! Maybe he was exaggerating. Or maybe it was the contractor he hired, who let his entire crew go so he could make it his full time job since he was my dads buddy, or was he? Anyway..

Ive read about people spending a ton of money on new windows fueled by pushy salesman tactics and skewed numbers, but they barely notice a change in their energy bills. That's why I removed, resealed and doubled my attics R-value instead, and applied seal 'n peel to the windows in my town house in Iowa City. This, after reading the attic is where most of the heat loss and gain occur. It worked, but I never analyzed if it was cost effective or paid for itself but it was "green", I think.

But if my dad would have bull dozed the 100 year old farm house and built a new home, his taxes would have tripled probably. Isn't that a factor no one mentions? A bill that's reoccurring and keeps rising.. My taxes in Iowa City have risen over 6% a year since 1995!

That's where I'm at with my new second bug out property out in the sticks close to Millersburg Iowa. It's a old homestead on top of a hill with a mile long view that leaves me in awe every time I look. You know, a place that screams live here! The old farm house has long been bull dozed, and a 1999 16x80 was placed there.. I originally thought I would build a new home there, but since taxes are only $380 a year compared to $4900 for my home in town, I'm starting to second guess my original plan since I'm a blue collar guy and not wealthy. But the energy costs are high since mobile homes were never intended to be energy efficient.

My latest plan and since the mobile home needs a roof anyway, is remove all the plywood, double the R-value and screw 2x4 rafters on top of each existing roof truss (3:12) which will extend past the side wall 18" creating a overhang, ventilated soffit and shade. The 2x4 would also add a air channel for a ridge vent to remove hot moist air. This will cost $4500, and then another $6500 to shingle it with Malarkey legacy's since I cannot take on a project this size alone.

So I'm trying to weigh the two different scenarios. Build a new home (cha-ching) and see my taxes jump 10X. Or retro fit a energy efficient roof on the essentially free mobile home. Then add 4" of foam board insulation to the 2x4 walls, extend the window bucks and replace the junk two piece inside and outside mobile home windows. My taxes wouldn't go up, and my utility bills might be half. But am I spending a dollar to save a dime, so to speak?

Thanks!

https://i59.servimg.com/u/f59/14/97/22/52/img_0516.jpg

Featured Answer

shead

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

It all depends on what YOU want OR can live with (or without) in life. If you are fine with a remodeled mobile home, who are we to judge? If you want something nicer and spend more money on it, again, who are we to judge? There are pluses and minuses to either approach. I can speak to this with some experience as well. We are currently living in a 1400 sf house on DH's family farm with four kids. We NEED more room. The most economical thing would be to pull our old "get away from the city" single wide up next to the house and build a breezeway.....lol. However, that's now how ***I*** want to live. Therefore, we are getting estimates on doing a large scale addition and remodel to the house which will cost upwards $300K versus a few grand that it would take to pull the trailer up and tie into the septic tank. It's definitely an investment that we'll never get back in our lifetime but sometimes life is about more than "investments" - it's about enjoying our homes and our style of living. YOU just have to decide what works for YOU and the life YOU want to live.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (30)

PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
4 years ago
Too many variables to supply worthy advice. What would your dad do?
rerod thanked Mark Bischak, Architect
PRO
Virgil Carter Fine Art
4 years ago
This posting sounds familiar. Have you posted on this subject in the past?

I guess the answer to your question is based on: 1) How valuable is it to you to have a second "bug out" property: 2) How often do you use the second property; 3) How do you use the property; 4) Who will do the work; 5) Can you finance both options for the second property?

Things like that.
rerod thanked Virgil Carter Fine Art
Related Discussions
Modern open kitchens vs Old house styled kitchens?
Q
Comments (35)
This topic stressed me out a bit since we are the middle of work opening our kitchen to the dining room in our 1906 house. I'm already worried about whether everything will turn out ok. We thought a lot about this, though, so I'll weigh in. I apologize for the length - brevity may be the soul of wit, but it apparently is not my strong suit. We moved to our current 1906 Arts & Crafts house from a Victorian farmhouse which had the kitchen isolated from the dining room and living room, separated by a bathroom. We found it hard when we had people over since they were either crammed in the kitchen without enough room to participate in the cooking or they were way at the other end of the house. We saw that we had a pattern of having people over in the summer when we could congregate outside by the grill, but not much in the winter. We have a very close community of friends and we enjoy sharing meals in a very casual, family sort of way with kids playing, adults talking and cooking. We also found the dining room more difficult to use for everyday meals. Additionally, it was not possible to carry on conversations when in the two spaces or moving between them for setting, clearing etc. I enjoy cooking, but also like interacting rather than being isolated. When we decided to move we were looking to resolve this split and have a more connected common space. We saw many houses (and almost bought one) with family room additions connected to the kitchen which left unused living and dining rooms. These rooms had become merely somewhere to walk through, heat and cool. Some had little or no furniture in the abandoned formal rooms. We realized that we did not really need this redundant space. There is an excellent book by Sarah Susanka (Taunton Press), The Not So Big House. It talks quite eloquently about using space in an efficient manner. I personally like having one place to eat all meals. I like eating at the dining room table for just the reasons mentioned in posts above - slowing down, sitting on a chair instead of stools, in a space designed for eating, around a table (preferably round) which facilitates a relaxed, shared experience. The truth is that since we do not have servants, we often need to go back and forth between the spaces. Houses at the turn of the last century were often built to fit a more formal way of living which placed servants (even modest homes) or the women of the house out of the way while the hosts entertained in formal rooms. They were also built prior to the use of refrigerators. When we moved into this new-to-us 1906 house it had a (tiny) butler's pantry for staging serving, while the refrigerator was crammed into the food pantry in such a way that required near-contortionist moves to get a carton of milk. The only storage was open to mice or around the corner in the butler's pantry cabinet. Counter space was limited to the two drainboards of the 1950's metal sink. This was not the room of efficient post-work cooking and cleaning, much less any pleasant shared time. One of us would quite frequently get trapped in the pantry by another trying to get something. The rest of the first floor of our beloved home showed signs of the revolutionary changes that were happening in houses at the time, shifting from formal double parlors to more flowing open rooms with wide framed openings between them. I am in Oak Park, home to Frank Lloyd Wright, though our home was part of a far more modest working class development. It is stunning to see the differences among the different houses being built during the first part of the century. As central heating and radiators allowed rooms to open up, a social shift away from formality and toward more relaxed, real connection was also under way. Now that the social and technological changes that have transpired over the last century have ushered in a time of shared cooking, I welcome kitchens and floorplans that facilitate that. There are other times in history and other cultures today in which the communal kitchen holds a significant place in a community. Our new kitchen provides inward facing space where people can prep around an island. In our open floor plan I envision friends and family cooking and talking together, either within the de-cramped kitchen or between it and the dining room next to it. We are also concerned about creating something that respects the house's history, fits in with the architecture and creates a sense of two spaces with different but related activities. The disfunctional pantries were ommitted in favor of refrigeration and dish storage near the new dishwasher (uses less water than hand washing). We removed the wall between the kitchen and the dining room and are replacing a portion of it with shallow (12 inch)cabinets that create a partial division and open to both sides. There will be a 6 foot visual opening on top,stepping in to a 3 foot walking space at the bottom in a sort of key hole shape. As much as we love the big pocket door in the large opening between the dining room and the foyer, I doubt that we will use it. I just can't see part of our family sitting in the living room smoking cigars while another part of the family or servants quietly set the table out of sight. It has been a delicate dance trying to mesh the eras. We are having a duplicate of the missing original built-in hutch along one side of the dining room built, but it will have some wood doors in place of the original glass to house some less aesthetic items that have no other storage on the first floor since the one closet was turned into a WC in the 50's. We got a picture of the original at an open house across the street and noticed gloves and scarves displayed where china and silver of another time once shone. Life is not static and it seems to me that a key component to navigating the ever-shifting impermanence is to be flexible. I cross my fingers hoping that my ideas about homes and people actually work out in this re-working of our lovely old house. I do not disagree with any of the prior posts, I just wanted to add some thoughts.
...See More
Tax Assessor Wants To Inspect House - WWYD?
Q
Comments (58)
Do you know what is bad etiquette bry911, being a know it all. Well then you are going to hate this next part. Most large states just raise prices based on sales for the year. I don’t think anyone needs a lecture on it. Well that is a lot of wrong in one sentence. States don't typically handle property assessments and most don't even collect ad valorem taxes, they simply set a maximum rate. Individual taxing authorities, which is typically counties but it can be multiple small counties or subdivided cities, decide on the local rate (up to the state's maximum rate) and handle assessment in their area. There are two revenue schemes for property taxes in local governments. The less common is a flat rate x the property tax base. The more common is property tax treated as a residual source of revenue. That means property taxes are used to bridge the gap between all non-property tax revenues and budgeted expenditures. Because rates are hard to change and there are state mandated limits, the most common way to make revenue goals is [the amount required from property taxes / tax rate = property tax base]. It is much easier to increase the property tax base than it is to increase the property tax rate and there is much less political fall out. If new sales are sufficient to increase the property tax base, assessors may not do additional assessment. If insufficient they will reassess. Generally, the more expensive your home the more likely they are to revalue the property. I have had two property tax value increases since I purchased my home in May of 2016. Although I study inefficiency in capital, I am an accounting professor. So yes, I happen to know quite a bit about government accounting. I don't know it all and I am willing to learn more about the subject I am a professor of. But Cody found a thread he could join in on. A college kid trying to work his way through college. I was trying to build the kid up. Well let's not worry about someone following advice into financial harm so long as someone feels good. I am one of those old fashioned professors, who marks incorrect answers, wrong. However, in this case I didn't say Cody was wrong, I simply gave a qualification of his answer to check your local area.
...See More
Energy Tax Credit: Is it worth it?
Q
Comments (2)
I am just starting to look into replacing my 22 year old windows. The bathroom will definintely be replaced as it is rotting. The others are probably decent efficiency wise so I may or may not replace them. As I understand it, the tax credit is 30% of materials (not labor) up to $1500 during 2009 and 2010. That sure seems like a good chunk of cash to me. I plan on buying at least one window that meets the 0.3/0.3 requirement. I may replace more windows to take advantage of the credit. In what case would it NOT be worth spending a little more to be sure you qualify? It's a win-win. You get the more efficient window plus a tax credit.
...See More
Using Existing Old House Roller Shade Hardware
Q
Comments (19)
Yes, reverse roller mounting placement. These old brackets are FAR better quality than one can get today. Just measure carefully. You can cover shades with fabric yourself if you have a big table, an outdoor space to work ( spray adhesive drift is impossible inside) and the patience to do them. Cover in a neutral and eventually get curtains for the windows.
...See More
rerod
Original Author
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Thanks. I have asked the question but not here.. I asked on a mobile home site but may have insulted people when I said mobile homes don't appreciate.

I didn't mention that I'm single and the house I own in town is a 4 bedroom my family used to live in before my divorce. I continue to live there because I'm a 10 minute bus ride away from work. But after I retire in 7 years, I don't want to live there. I may rent it out or sell, but I will eventually move to the bug out property with my GF who lives there now. I can do the remodeling and system maintenance or replacements. but I cant take on the roofing project by myself. Yes I can finance both options.
rerod
Original Author
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
What would my dad do? He passed away years ago, but considering he used to drive a old rusty fiesta while the head of the eye department at the U of I.. I bet he would rehab the mobile home.
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
4 years ago
I know my dad would.
rerod thanked Mark Bischak, Architect
rerod
Original Author
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Thanks.. I'm probably asking the wrong group. But when I ask mobile home owners and say I could afford to build a new house I get the sort of the same stand off reaction. Many people just take property taxes for granted or don't even know what they are paying since the bank owns their home. Me, I don't owe anything and I don't like paying $400 a month for the city to pick up my trash.

https://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/14/97/22/52/img_0211.jpg
shead
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
I'm not sure what's been said that you think is standoffish. I understand the property tax issue - we are debt free house-wise and we know EXACTLY what our taxes are. YOU have to decide what's best for YOU. I don't really think there's a right or wrong decision. You have to way all the factors pertinent to YOUR situation. If it were up to DH, I know what we'd be doing ;) Good luck!
rerod thanked shead
sandk
4 years ago
Nobody on a forum can tell you how you want to live. If you and your GF are happy in a mobile home, go for it. But there are real downsides to a mobile home in a place that regularly experiences severe storms and frigid temperatures. Crawling under a trailer to thaw out pipes is not my idea of a retirement lifestyle though.

Plenty of people consider the tax issue when buying property, but not usually to the extent of going from a four bedroom house to a mobile home. Your tax rate in Iowa county should already be lower than Iowa City, at least it was when I lived in the area. Have you looked on the county assessors site to get an idea what taxes would be on a modest home on similar sized acreage? There might be a middle ground out there if you decide against the mobile home long term.
rerod thanked sandk
BT
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Most of the time --- the answer is NO. Renovate all you want, only in few areas of the country a property would go up substantially in value after any renovation. Most places gain few k.

Sometimes you can reuse the foundation.... But who would want same shape house.

Foundation slabs can today be done very efficiently today...

Old houses not insulated properly. Not waterproofed properly, have bad windows, small windows, improperly positioned windows, the siding you never going to match, inferior electrical, plumbing, stinky drywall, 4:12 roof. Saving what?
rerod thanked BT
David Cary
4 years ago
Every area of the country has a different mix of appreciation and taxes.Sure renovating an old home generally isn't worth it from a resale standpoint but it is fantastic from a tax standpoint.

I am guessing in Iowa, the resale is more of a minor factor anyway. In town maybe, but out of town, probably not.

In the coastal areas, resale matters relatively more (and so do taxes but that varies).

Are rental house was $2500 and our new house is $11000. I expect $10k a year in appreciation on our rental (we bought a house for the build time and now rent it out) and $30k on our new house. So if I was debt free, then sure the appreciation would win out but then a lot of capital would be tied up in houses.

Every personal situation is different and the 2 strategies have different tax implications also.

Driving an old car is more of a no brainer financially.
rerod thanked David Cary
PRO
Virgil Carter Fine Art
4 years ago
Perhaps, until the upkeep and maintenance becomes both a financial drain and a constant inconvenience.
rerod thanked Virgil Carter Fine Art
Kate E
4 years ago
If I were you - I’d price out the cost to build a small & modest home on your beautiful property. Then I’d price out and compare the cost to improve the existing mobile home. Then consider the lifestyle each option affords you (cost, time, upkeep, possible repairs, etc.) then make a final decision on what’s best for you!

Personally, I would be really tempted to fix up the mobile home and live there. You’ve got time until retirement to decide which option suits you best.

One other factor to consider - are tornados an issue where you live? If yes, and you decide to stay in the mobile home, I’d invest in an underground storm shelter.
rerod thanked Kate E
rerod
Original Author
4 years ago

Its all about the money for me. I'd love to build and live in a new low maintenance energy efficient house. But the fact is, I have a blue collar five figure income and didn't start saving for retirement until 20 years ago. My GF's situation is even worse. Sometimes I feel like I really know how to pick em, but I love her dearly and need her by my side.

So I'm simply trying to save as much as I can for us.

I looked on the Iowa county assessor site and found a newer home close to me assessed at 250k but I doubt I could build new for that amount because I don't do things half way or take short cuts. It's taxes were 4k with a levy rate of 26.256, but I'm not sure why the bug out property's levy rate is slightly higher at 26.378. Anyway, my home in Iowa city has a levy rate of 38.600 so it maybe a wash if I build new considering I heat with propane, the 1 mile gravel to my home will tear up my cars and groceries are more compared to walmart in Iowa City etc etc. But I fell for the gorgeous view, current taxes and dream of building the big man garage Ive always wanted. I'd also love to snowbird RV after I retire but cant be a "fulltimer" as I need a home base.

So the difference between the current bug out taxes of $380, and what they might be of $4000 could buy allot of propane and needs to be figured into, or justified for investing in improvements for the mobile home. Maybe I'm splitting hairs here, but that's how Ive become living month to month trying to support my family.

Sorry for the long spill my guts explanation. But you folks are allot smarter and savvyer than the average mobile home owner and I respect and appreciate your suggestions.
new-beginning
4 years ago
the type improvements you are considering "might" cause your taxes to increase. I have no idea how tax assessments work in Iowa, but here in Texas even those kinds of improvements to a mobile home WOULD case taxes to increase.
rerod thanked new-beginning
roarah
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
I was just about to post that as I improved my 1920s house with electric, central air and add a master bath my appraisal went up and my home's relative age went from 90 years to a a " relative" age of 3 so my taxes have gone up to higher than the house across the street built in 2004. I will not lose money because I have been here long enough and my neighborhood is sought after.
rerod thanked roarah
runnem
4 years ago
We casually looked into fully renovating our old farmhouse with plans for an addition and were pretty much told best case scenario is if it burns down and we could rebuild.

Sawdust and dead mice for insulation on the first floor, nothing on the second floor because it all settled. Crumbling foundation. Unusable basement. Weird heating duct issues. Kitchen counters were built for someone 4 ft tall. The list goes on. This year we found two bee hives built inside our field stone walls...

I may or may not have passing thoughts of going away on vacation with family and pets and all of the prized possessions while a scented candle burns away unattended.

Sigh. One day the dream house will be built!

In your case, only you know what’s worthwhile or not. We aren’t handy, we have no construction experience, so for us beyond painting and hanging up light fixtures, we couldn’t do it ourselves and it would cost far too much to essentially still have an old house.
rerod thanked runnem
toxcrusadr
4 years ago
A few thoughts after skimming the thread.

If I understand 'levy rate' correctly, it's the percentage they multiply by the assessed value to get a taxable value. What your posts seem to have left out is the tax rate imposed on that taxable value. Presumably it's higher in the city than in the county.

Also, if you remodel a house, presumably it's going to get reassessed when that's done and your taxes will go up. Maybe not as much as if you built new, i.e. if the new house was more valuable than a remodeled mobile home. But either way the tax is based on the assessed value of whatever is there.

I have a house in town and a rural property with a shop. Tax on the rural property is at a much lower rate because it's considered agricultural and my shop is considered a barn with electricity for tax purposes. If I moved there it might go up, I don't know.

Make sure you are comparing the correct numbers. I don't know that you're not, just saying.
hollybar
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
As others mentioned,YOU have to decide how you want to live. Don't know if you are at all concerned with aging in place concerns or if they can be met in your mobile home? Other things I don't know...could you buy an already built house out there cheaper? does Iowa give tax breaks on property for seniors? a tax break for ag? won't that big ole garage raise your taxes? are you definitely building that big ole garage? could ya build that big ole garage with a small house attached? So many dunnos...here's a pretty picture.
Timby ADU · More Info
rerod
Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks again everyone.. One of these days I might feel my age, but as of now I feel 35. I don't take meds, doctors are impressed, and in my mind I'll never die and I think that attitude is one of the keys to longevity along with exercise. I know what its like crawling around under a mobile home because this is my third. I just re leveled it because it was 5" low on one end and tipping down the hill and also re plumbed the domestic water which would have frozen because the insulation fell off. I'm not afraid of spider webs and like physical labor because It keeps me healthy.

I may have made a mistake calling the assessor's office though. I asked a few questions about building the garage, so I'm now on their radar but you cant hide a big garage anyway. Iowa county has no building codes or inspections so I could renovate the interior into a palace, and no one would know.

Ive kept my eye on the market for years, but never found the small house with huge garage Ive been wanting. If I build something like that, my kids would have a hard time selling it after I pass. Ive come to the conclusion, I did make the right decision with this property and am researching the best way to add insulation to the roof before I re-roof it now. The only problem with the garage plan is all the good building spots already have buildings (old garage and barn) on them because its a hill top. I need this project because it keeps me busy working, researching thinking because my home in town has bad vibes..

Again, thanks for helping me make a decision everyone.
new-beginning
4 years ago
some of us 'older' folks have no problem getting around in a mobile home! I just turned 80 in June; lived in both a double wide and a single wide on the same property (my grandson lived in whichever I wasn't living in)! Even had my 100 yr old Dad living there with me for 8 months. Those are now a rental property and I am now living in a 900 sq ft (upstairs!) garage apartment. I will admit grandson put in a 'lift' so I don't need to climb stairs.
rerod thanked new-beginning
homechef59
4 years ago
As a real estate appraiser, we call this type of structure you are proposing a "Trouse". It's a trailer-house. For purposes of valuation, this will always be treated as a manufactured home. It will depreciate at the same rate as a manufactured home. It will always be insured and will not appreciate with inflation as a stick built home will. The money you save on taxes will be drained by this depreciation.

As a homeowner,, I can certainly understand the uses and value of a manufactured home on a bug-out or vacation property. It has a certain use. Still, they age very poorly. You will experience high rates of upkeep just as you would with an aging house.

I've lived in a manufactured home twice in my life. It was clean and safe in an area where new housing was unavailable. I have no problem with them as housing. They have their niche.

They are rotten investments.
toxcrusadr
4 years ago
A friend of mine built a 'Shouse', big shop building with part of it sectioned off into a nice insulated living area. A house within a barn if you will. They will eventually build a nice separate house on the property and turn the Shouse into a mother in law apt. or rent it out.
rerod
Original Author
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
I have to respectfully disagree with you homechef59. The property cost me 30K. I feel just the land is worth that to me and everything else, water electric septic the garage barn and mobile home were free. So the money I spend remodeling and making the mobile home more energy efficient is a fraction of what a new house would cost and would have been gobbled up in a heartbeat breaking ground for a new 1 bedroom house nobody would want anyway. Its not insured at the moment, but will be when I invest into it. But yeah I realize it wont appreciate. But at the price, who cares?

Yes toxcrusadr I like Shouses to. But I disagree building them in pole barns because they don't have foundations and the poles will rot off eventually and there goes you investment if you turned it into a house.

The garage I build will have a poured foundation and stick built so that I can justify using a portion of it for a one bedroom house if I do that.
homechef59
4 years ago
It's okay to disagree. I fully understand that you are looking at the utility of the arrangement. It's usefulness for you. There is no disagreement about that. It will be useful to you for a much reduced price up front.

However, should anyone try to buy the property from you, it will need to be financed as a manufactured home. That type of financing is more costly and limited than the financing available for conventional construction. This will reduce the potential value of the investment.

As long as you understand this, you should be very happy residing in your bug out home. I bet the views are wonderful.
toxcrusadr
4 years ago
I am not sure how my friends constructed their Shouse, I only saw it once from the outside some years back, but I am pretty sure in their case they knew what they were doing. Otherwise I agree, if it's not built right why build it. My shop building is on the concrete foundation of a former house and I love the solid concrete floor instead of gravel!
SapphireStitch
4 years ago
Rerod, it seems like you're not finding the information/opinions you need here to help you make your decisions, and it sounds like you ran into a similar situation on the manufactured housing board you tried. I think that's because as much as people really want to help, you are dealing with a niche issue that most of us haven't experienced. We welcome new and different dilemmas, but you may be frustrated because most of us lack the expertise you need.

I wonder if you've looked for any forums for the homesteading/back-to-the-land/prepper lifestyle. That lifestyle might be a little more hardcore than you're interested in, but I would bet those folks have wrestled through a lot of the decisions and issues you are currently considering. I wish I knew of a forum like that to recommend to you, but maybe someone else here does? If I were searching one of the places I'd look is Reddit. There are subreddits on just about everything, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's one for homesteading.

Anyway...just throwing that out for your consideration. I wish you all the best with getting settled on your property, and I hope you'll share your progress with us as you go along.
rerod thanked SapphireStitch
rerod
Original Author
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Thanks SapphireStitch.

Maybe the reason I'm not finding anyone who completely agrees with me is because I'm wrong.. Maybe it is a bad idea investing in a old 88 mobile home just for the fact Its fully functional and taxes are low. Even though the roof is in bad shape and had to be repaired after the last straight line winds, It might last long enough to build my Shome. I'm a indecisive person and this has to be one of the hardest decisions Ive had to make..

This morning..

[url=https://servimg.com/view/14972252/82][img]https://i59.servimg.com/u/f59/14/97/22/52/img_0610.jpg[/img][/url]

https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/resilience-ii?source=W20005EN&tp=i-H43-BC-GIt-n3j3B-1o-Rh5x-1c-n3grz-1KyxIM&sourcekey=W20005EN&utm_campaign=green-building-advisor-eletter&utm_source=eletter&utm_medium=eletter&utm_content=gba_eletter&cid=62675&mid=724928625
new-beginning
4 years ago
nope, you aren't necessarily wrong. Maybe consider the pros and cons of what you are considering with the older mobile home (the ones in my post further on up were new in 1997!) and then the 'possibility of what we here in Texas call a "barndominium"! Which version will be the best solution based on your financial situation?

Workshop down on the ground and yes, a concrete floor, living quarters upstairs. And then there are the 'barn' type but with a concrete floor and living quarters either at the front, the rear or along one side.

We kept the land with the mobiles strictly because the land is worth much more than the mobiles (well, septic, fencing, etc.) and the fact that the rents from the mobile homes not only pay the note on that property but also on the home grandson purchased the next town over (and yes it is an actual 'house', not a mobile home).
rerod thanked new-beginning
new-beginning
4 years ago
https://www.google.com/search?q=barndominiums+for+sale+in+texas&client=firefox-b-1-d&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=bhEb2_TFEGeQaM%253A%252CIslgmj-PWKAkfM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kRhcqD_qFEgUX6Ta0EZCoJm_GXevw&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj58prRmfTjAhWuna0KHW-gBAgQ9QEwDHoECAYQBg#imgrc=bhEb2_TFEGeQaM:
rerod thanked new-beginning

Is modernizing a old existing home worth it? And taxes..

shead

Comments (30)

Mark Bischak, Architect

Virgil Carter Fine Art

Related Discussions

rerod
Original Author

rerod
Original Author

Mark Bischak, Architect

rerod
Original Author

shead

sandk

BT

David Cary

Virgil Carter Fine Art

Kate E

rerod
Original Author

new-beginning

roarah

runnem

toxcrusadr

hollybar

rerod
Original Author

new-beginning

homechef59

toxcrusadr

rerod
Original Author

homechef59

toxcrusadr

SapphireStitch

rerod
Original Author

new-beginning

new-beginning

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Is modernizing a old existing home worth it? And taxes..

Comments (30)

Related Discussions

rerodOriginal Author

rerodOriginal Author

rerodOriginal Author

rerodOriginal Author

rerodOriginal Author

rerodOriginal Author

rerodOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

rerod
Original Author

rerod
Original Author

rerod
Original Author

rerod
Original Author

rerod
Original Author

rerod
Original Author

rerod
Original Author