|
Post by nomorewirehanger on Dec 17, 2015 16:06:08 GMT -7
Has anyone ever LIVED through a full home renovation?
So there's this house. Been on the market close to a year.
6 bedrooms. 4 baths. 4000+ square feet. Sitting on an acre in the country in a desirable school district for us. (By comparison to others)
Priced damn well.
It's a gut job. And I mean I hate everything about the interior I would have it taken to the studs. Looking at 100k in Renos (which would bring it back to its actual value) but that's assuming (ha) there is no structural shit. Like if we are gonna do this mama is getting the dream kitchen and master bath and the family areas need ...serious work. Bedrooms are just cosmetic.
I'm terrified of a project this big but I feel for the size we need we are just gonna have to suck it up and take on a project.
|
|
|
Post by nomorewirehanger on Dec 17, 2015 16:08:08 GMT -7
It's the only thing we've seen in our budget that not only touches the size we want but exceeds it and means the kids don't have to share rooms
|
|
kissy
OG
I want a new drug...
Posts: 855
|
Post by kissy on Dec 17, 2015 16:29:08 GMT -7
Never ever done a reno but have always wanted to. It would be a lot of work and if you can figure out what's cosmetic (that can wait) as opposed to structural things that have to be done right now, I think you can do it. Cosmetic can take time and that's ok. It's just looks.
We have friends that bought a home on 3+ acres, it was a foreclosure, they got it for $350K and it's easily worth $500K. It needs updates but they're doing things slowly but surely. It's an amazing home on a great piece of land. They have horses and chickens. I love it.
If you can afford to mortgage the extra amount you'll need for repairs, go for it. Like I said, the cosmetic stuff can always wait!
|
|
|
Post by nomorewirehanger on Dec 17, 2015 16:33:53 GMT -7
I'm seriously considering trying to get him to go look at it with me. If we start with kitchen and bathrooms and just throw paint in the bedrooms... I can live with the uglier family areas. I'm currently living with ugly family areas. They would be much more bearable if I had separate bedrooms to send each child too.
|
|
|
Post by nomorewirehanger on Dec 17, 2015 16:42:21 GMT -7
I guess for me it comes down to.... Everything else we've seen in our price point is smaller and I've hated all the kitchens and would gut them too.
Go big or go home right?
|
|
kissy
OG
I want a new drug...
Posts: 855
|
Post by kissy on Dec 17, 2015 16:51:59 GMT -7
I mean, if you can see if from a long term perspective and if the short term issues can be fixed then the cosmetic will come. It may take 10 years, but who cares!
|
|
|
Post by nomorewirehanger on Dec 17, 2015 16:53:15 GMT -7
I'm thinking mama gets her dream kitchen and bath then I could give fuck all that the living room is ugly Lol living room is ugly now. I live in it
|
|
kissy
OG
I want a new drug...
Posts: 855
|
Post by kissy on Dec 17, 2015 16:55:26 GMT -7
J and I looked at a LOT of houses for me when we decided I needed to move out. Most of the homes in my price range were older and needed cosmetic updates, which meant it put me in a higher price point than I wanted. This house was redone and in the right price point, wrong school district, but since J still lives in the other house it worked. It still needed $4500 worth of work in the crawl space but that came out of the final price.
The fact is, this is a 90's house, there was a lot of gold/brass in here and they attempted to redo it by spray painting--that doesn't last. But you know what, I don't care! And I'd have been more than happy if they hadn't have spent the money and put fucking stainless steel and granite everywhere. But whatever. They did a great job and they lived here for a year while they upgraded.
|
|
|
Post by nomorewirehanger on Dec 17, 2015 18:00:23 GMT -7
I'm just looking at that square footage like....
I could make a baby nursery. Like a real one. And decorate it. For the first time since L. The kids rooms have no personality or style unless filth is considered an abstract art or something
|
|
|
Post by smokinghorse on Dec 17, 2015 19:55:11 GMT -7
I have always kind of wanted to do the house rehab thing, too.
I'd be too worried about the money pit effect. Floors, drywall, cosmetic stuff wouldn't be bad, but plumbing, wiring, foundation, sewer/septic stuff? No. And I'd be the person who found that out after I'd closed on the house. Like for every $1 I spent, I's find $2 worth of problems.
And Hangers...I'm gonna be blunt. Can your marriage withstand a rehab project? It's hugely stressful, and you guys, BOTH would really have to be all in the marriage, with the understanding that there will be arguments over money AND design asthetics. Like, if he's gonna poo poo your dream kitchen, because he wants a man cave, or if everything you want costs more than he thinks it should, can you guys deal with that? It's a stressor even in the strongest relationships. I don't wanna see you guys splitting up because you took this on before you got a chance to fix some things in your marriage.
I just think it would be heartbreaking to have your dream house, but a nightmare marriage.
|
|
|
Post by nomorewirehanger on Dec 17, 2015 20:08:50 GMT -7
It's something we've discussed at length. But ... The other end is we can't stay here and maintain our sanity either.
7 people. 950 square feet. Baby has no place to live currently other than our bedroom.
He's not picky about a man cave thank God. Lol and I'm pretty thrifty even with my kitchen needs/ wants. (I don't want granite. Etc. Too much maintenance. I'm all about function and good appliances and Stainless is nice but white is strangely easier to keep clean. Etc etc. ),
I AM terrified of a Money pit. Our current house has so many hidden issues I know for a fact we are gonna have trouble selling it. Wiring. Plumbing. Mold. Possible foundation issues he swears dont exist (they do. We have a massive oak tree in the front with a huge root system that I'm convinced has screwed it up)
He thinks we can slap some vinyl siding and new windows on the place and call it good.
This house is not going to pass a home inspection. Ive been telling him that for years. I'm done wasting my breath actually. When it fails it and we can't sell it maybe he will listen and spend money where it needs it. I don't see us moving for another year or two. That's me being realistic. It's not happening. But if this is a legit prospect we may need to take it seriously. Because 43/ square foot....
That doesn't come along every day
|
|
|
Post by smokinghorse on Dec 17, 2015 20:40:12 GMT -7
After I posted that, I was like, "I'm sure she knows this. Duh."
I have a really bad habit of assuming that everybody has the same weaknesses that I do. So I was reading, and getting excited, and then immediately reigned myself in. Because if I don't, I make emotional decisions rather than rational ones. A couple of times we've gone and looked at houses that we really, really wanted. It was the wrong place at the wrong time, and we had no business even trying. We crunched the numbers, it wasn't do-able and it just made where we live seem even more depressing. And BOOM! Now we're talking about me! See how I did that?
Your situation has completely different variables, so I don't know why I felt a need to warn you. It's weird.
|
|
|
Post by nomorewirehanger on Dec 17, 2015 20:50:43 GMT -7
It's OK. Its all.hypothetical.
We logistically aren't going anywhere. He brought up two MUCH smaller more expensive houses he spotted today online and I brought his attention back to this place. "We don't have 40k for a renovation C"
But we have an extra 35-40k for a "move in ready" house I dislike the same rooms in equally as much?
I told him earlier. Just shit or get off the pot. If we are staying here let me go finance some damned decent furniture for the girls room so we can fit four kids in there. End of discussion. Let's get two good sets of bunk beds and resign ourselves to staying.
He doesn't want to buy a house at all because he doesn't want to deal with selling this one. Same ole story for the last seven years. We've been able to "afford" to move for years now. Hasn't happened because he backs out of doing the grunt work to put ours on the market. And my hands are tied. My name isn't any where on this house.
|
|
|
Post by smokinghorse on Dec 17, 2015 22:57:06 GMT -7
You're not on the mortgage or the title? Mortgage is nbd, but you guys might want to look at getting your name added to the title. If L dies, there are all kinds of red tape and nutty rules to wade through if you don't have joint ownership. You are not automatically awarded the house, even if you're the spouse. Especially since he has children from a previous relationship. It's ridiculously complicated. I saw it happen a couple of times when I worked in insurance. It is awful to have to watch people who are already dealing with so much grief to be forced to jump through legal hoops. Heartbreaking.
|
|
|
Post by nomorewirehanger on Dec 17, 2015 22:59:02 GMT -7
His ex wife is still on both. Just to sell it we have to get her fucking permission.
He dies I'm homeless dude.
|
|