How can you tell when a property just needs some cosmetic repairs and when a property is beyond repair? What are some of the monster problems that you seasoned rehabbers know to stay away from?
Hello Gsrgirlie,
To honest if you have to ask this type of question, then I would strongly advise you to stay away from any rehab projects until you have developed the mind's eye to see the value in any property before you have spent one red penny.
Go to Home Depot, Lowes, 84 Lumber, Builder's Supply, Outlet homes goods or any place where you can get some cost on roofs, a/c unit, kitchen cabinets, bathroom units, flooring, windows, doors, well you get the picture. Knowledge of the business will take you a long long way. :-D
For $300 hire a licensed home inspector. Sometimes even the experienced rehabber wants the property so much that they need an objective second opinion as to the level of work involved.
Any house can be saved, but at what costs and time. Hell, they can raise the titanic and make it float again if they have enough money and time.
So the beyond compare mean compared to the cost of repair and the after repair value of the home when you are done.
Just saw a house this weekend that really looked bad, but structureally it seemed good. I was very excited. Then I learned that houses in the area only sold for 60k. Well, even cosmetic work can take 10k. Then I found a county lien for a faulty septic. Now I was probably looking at new septic and drainfield and under the watchful eye of the county. So that property become beyond repair for me. If the APR value was in the 100k, I would have been all over it.
I found the "deal of the century " once that was sold "as is" for 12K, but similar houses in the area were going for 79K...Well, luckily I told the seller that I would do an inspection to see what I was really getting into, and if it sold in the the mean time...my loss, their gain.
Well, thank god...the inspector came back and said that it was so structurally unsound and would need a huge list of repairs. I estimated total repairs to be around 55-60K. At that point, I would have about 70K invested on a house possibly worth not much more.
The moral of the story is to protect yourself.
Most sellers do not disclose everything.
Good Luck[ Edited by smallinvestments on Date 03/24/2004 ]
Brenda's mentioned structural soundness and i can't agree with that more. Foundation problems are what sends me running away, i've seen homes built on wood piers, crawlspaces that aren't below frost lines (big no no here!) and basements that literally bulge out (nicely painted inside and out but bulging outward as if it's squashed to death).
Vern's right too, it's best to get a professional to look at anything you're serious about but if a house is wrong at the bottom, then it's wrong all the way up, at least that's the way i've been taught by my hubby the happily retired firefighter who is now a licenced contractor. I figure he's pretty smart, after all, he married me, eh?
becki
[ Edited by lorien on Date 03/24/2004 ][ Edited by lorien on Date 03/24/2004 ]
Foundation issues, cracked drywall around doors, floors that run way out of level, windows that can't be opened, doors that have been plained repeatedly on the bottom to get them to close.
Separations of structures from each other, such as the driveway from the garage appron, decks from the house, fireplace chimneys separating from the house.
Roofs that are sagging in the middle.
Radon, mold, asbestos...
Basements walls with water stain marks half way up the walls...
I looked at a house once, it took me 3 times and the neighbor to finally point out to me that there used to be a fireplace in the house, the thing had actually fallen off the house and crushed the neighbors dog house (dog wasn't in it) the home owner had done such a good job of disguising the existance of the old fireplace both inside and out that even I missed it.
Hello Gsrgirlie,
To honest if you have to ask this type of question, then I would strongly advise you to stay away from any rehab projects until you have developed the mind's eye to see the value in any property before you have spent one red penny.
Go to Home Depot, Lowes, 84 Lumber, Builder's Supply, Outlet homes goods or any place where you can get some cost on roofs, a/c unit, kitchen cabinets, bathroom units, flooring, windows, doors, well you get the picture. Knowledge of the business will take you a long long way. :-D
For $300 hire a licensed home inspector. Sometimes even the experienced rehabber wants the property so much that they need an objective second opinion as to the level of work involved.
Any house can be saved, but at what costs and time. Hell, they can raise the titanic and make it float again if they have enough money and time.
So the beyond compare mean compared to the cost of repair and the after repair value of the home when you are done.
Just saw a house this weekend that really looked bad, but structureally it seemed good. I was very excited. Then I learned that houses in the area only sold for 60k. Well, even cosmetic work can take 10k. Then I found a county lien for a faulty septic. Now I was probably looking at new septic and drainfield and under the watchful eye of the county. So that property become beyond repair for me. If the APR value was in the 100k, I would have been all over it.
Brenda
I agree..
I found the "deal of the century " once that was sold "as is" for 12K, but similar houses in the area were going for 79K...Well, luckily I told the seller that I would do an inspection to see what I was really getting into, and if it sold in the the mean time...my loss, their gain.
Well, thank god...the inspector came back and said that it was so structurally unsound and would need a huge list of repairs. I estimated total repairs to be around 55-60K. At that point, I would have about 70K invested on a house possibly worth not much more.
The moral of the story is to protect yourself.
Most sellers do not disclose everything.
Good Luck[ Edited by smallinvestments on Date 03/24/2004 ]
Brenda's mentioned structural soundness and i can't agree with that more. Foundation problems are what sends me running away, i've seen homes built on wood piers, crawlspaces that aren't below frost lines (big no no here!) and basements that literally bulge out (nicely painted inside and out but bulging outward as if it's squashed to death).
Vern's right too, it's best to get a professional to look at anything you're serious about but if a house is wrong at the bottom, then it's wrong all the way up, at least that's the way i've been taught by my hubby the happily retired firefighter who is now a licenced contractor. I figure he's pretty smart, after all, he married me, eh?
becki
[ Edited by lorien on Date 03/24/2004 ][ Edited by lorien on Date 03/24/2004 ]
Foundation issues, cracked drywall around doors, floors that run way out of level, windows that can't be opened, doors that have been plained repeatedly on the bottom to get them to close.
Separations of structures from each other, such as the driveway from the garage appron, decks from the house, fireplace chimneys separating from the house.
Roofs that are sagging in the middle.
Radon, mold, asbestos...
Basements walls with water stain marks half way up the walls...
I looked at a house once, it took me 3 times and the neighbor to finally point out to me that there used to be a fireplace in the house, the thing had actually fallen off the house and crushed the neighbors dog house (dog wasn't in it) the home owner had done such a good job of disguising the existance of the old fireplace both inside and out that even I missed it.
thank you guys so much for the insight!