This will be long, but its not a hard read, so please hang in with me 
We are about to put our house on the market so our kids can get into a better school district.
We bought in our late teens (10 years ago) on a 15 year loan.
Its a 1600sqft modular built in 2001 on 1 acre.
When the house sells we should be walking away with $30-40k cash and we've been pre-approved for $145,000 loan.
Im a stay at home mom, who works 2 nights a week and not only sells antiques but restores them, so I have a special affection for older fixer uppers. Im not afraid of putting in hours of sweat and tears on a home that Im passionate for..
You put me in front of an older home with original hardwood floor and I melt.help
Craftsman is my utmost favorite
Honestly (and I dont mean to offend anyone) I can not stand tract homes.
The 10-15 year old tract homes in our district run about what weve been pre-approved for and are about 1500-1700sqft.
I just feel like in 10-15 years the value of these types of homes will be about the same or depreciate due to the way they have been built, much like the current housing situation we are in now.
Id like to move into something I can customize with nicer upgrades (as time goes on) and it actually count towards the price of the home.
Id like to move in town rather than stay out in the country. The county is still pretty rural, but has grown in the 10 years weve been here and in another 10 should be booming.
I want to stay in the same city, which has many historic homes (school districts are divided right down the middle of the historic downtown).
New builds in the county are starting around 2000sqft and in the mid $200,000s.
My SO is very hesitant about buying a fixer upper and living in town.
He wants a move in ready home and not have neighbors.
Im on the other side of the fence, though Im not a big neighbor person. I dont care that they are there, but I dont want to be best friends either..
We are going to have to find a happy medium, but quickly. Homes get snatched up sometimes in days in this district.
So, there are 2 homes I have found.
The first one I really like.
Its in the historic district (and no, there are no crazy codes for updating older homes)
It was built in 1909, 2102sqft, 3bed 1.5ba, has a detached garage with a green house and a nice patio area under large shade trees on 0.26 acres. It has vinyl siding with foam board underneath.
The roof is 14 years old and looks to need replacing sooner than later, the AC units are supposedly only 14 years old (but look much older) the upstairs heating (gas) unit is 14 years old.
The upstairs bathroom window is leaking, causing some of the bathroom floor to become soft, and visible damage to the ceiling below. I spoke with the listing agent and they said they are actually having someone come out to fix the problem within the next couple weeks.
There is weird natural light in the attic with a tote underneath (leaky sky light probably), one of the bedroom walls are warped (the whole house is drywall), the plumbing in the kitchen is original, the gas lines to the fireplaces have been cut (no chimneys are visible anymore, they had furnace type things in them), there is knob and tube wiring in the attic but the breaker box is updated so electrical has been updated at one point, but someone said it still looks older to them.
There are a few different plug types throughout the house, ranging from old to modern day. The 1/2 bath and laundry room I think were added around 2000 and there is a slight sloping in the floor of the hallway of these rooms.
Still though, I love this house. Im not sure if Im being blinded by charm.
Id like, for my sanity, to hire out and redo all the electrical and plumbing, put a new roof on, re insulate if needed, and update the ac and heating elements, and redo the upstairs hall floor and kitchen floor (has old checkered linoleum flooring) with hardwoods, and update at least the kitchen counter tops (currently midnight blue laminate)
Im thinking all the updating would cost around $90k
Their asking price is $145,000 ($69/sqft) and its been on the market for over a year (via zillow) with no price budges. The realtor I looked at it with kept insisting its only been 3 months and said zillow will manipulate dates(?), but I KNOW its been at least 6 months because it was up for sale when I was interested in a house down the street.
The house down the street was 1805sqft, 3b/2ba, wrap around porch, new roof, on .33 acres and didnt seem to need the half the work this one did and sold for $133,000 ($74/sqft)
The one next door to it sold for $97k ($49/sqft) (1 year ago) 3br/2ba, 1976sqft, and on .26acres
When asking the realtor what she thought about realistically offering on this house she said shed probably go as low as asking $137,000 if they pay closing costs.
I looked into the house at the court house, the woman who owns it now bought it in 1986 and has since moved to another state.
Her son and wife (who is the listing agent that I have been in contact with) are actually renting the house from her while theirs is being built.
My agent told me they are "extremely motivated to sell".
$137,000 doesnt sound right to me.
Heres pictures of this house.. Which I only added the "troubling" parts.
http://s276.photobucket.com/user/Faircloth9945/library/B house?sort=3&page=1
The next house just came on the market today.
It is a all brick 3br/2ba 1742sqft (which includes 581sqft of basement) built in 1962 with no heating or air on .39 acres.
I rode over on the way to the grocery store (which it was only 3 minutes away from, but still not on the more historic side of town). Its definitely not in the greatest location, but no where near the worst either.
It had an "abandonment" sticker on the window of the door. Tax records show someone bought it in 1990 for $56k and the bank took possession in 2012 for $52k(?), swapped to another bank in 2013 and later that year became a HUD home.
They want $40k for the house ($30/sqft)
The carport seems to be leaning on one side (you can see the metal support on the left is bent), something either fell on the roof above the kitchen sink or it just collapsed in and it is disastrous inside. I couldnt get really good pictures of the kitchen from peering in the windows but it looks like the kitchen floor is going to collapse in soon, mold is growing all over the ceiling and walls, mold is growing in the basement, and who knows what is going on in the attic.
I mean, yeah, that can put someone off, but Id want to open some walls and replace that kitchen floor anways. Obviously going get a new roof...
Im reading mold issues can cost up to $30,000 to deal with. Meh.
Id have to install a HVAC system which Im thinking will cost $10-13k..
And that is just the stuff Ive seen from looking in the windows.
The neighborhood is kept up nice by neighbors, but the houses are only selling around $40-73/sqft.
My thought process is if we can get the bank to come off this house even more, we can have an address in this school district, move in within a few months, and sell it when the time comes and reinvest in a nicer place.
http://s276.photobucket.com/user/Faircloth9945/library/E House?sort=3&page=1
I dont know if these houses are just too much work to be realistic "investments", aka money pits..
The first one I could live in the next 10-15 years happily, the 2nd one I wouldnt want to stay long.
I dont really know where to turn.
What are yalls thoughts on these homes and this situation??
We are about to put our house on the market so our kids can get into a better school district.
We bought in our late teens (10 years ago) on a 15 year loan.
Its a 1600sqft modular built in 2001 on 1 acre.
When the house sells we should be walking away with $30-40k cash and we've been pre-approved for $145,000 loan.
Im a stay at home mom, who works 2 nights a week and not only sells antiques but restores them, so I have a special affection for older fixer uppers. Im not afraid of putting in hours of sweat and tears on a home that Im passionate for..
You put me in front of an older home with original hardwood floor and I melt.
helpCraftsman is my utmost favorite
Honestly (and I dont mean to offend anyone) I can not stand tract homes.
The 10-15 year old tract homes in our district run about what weve been pre-approved for and are about 1500-1700sqft.
I just feel like in 10-15 years the value of these types of homes will be about the same or depreciate due to the way they have been built, much like the current housing situation we are in now.
Id like to move into something I can customize with nicer upgrades (as time goes on) and it actually count towards the price of the home.
Id like to move in town rather than stay out in the country. The county is still pretty rural, but has grown in the 10 years weve been here and in another 10 should be booming.
I want to stay in the same city, which has many historic homes (school districts are divided right down the middle of the historic downtown).
New builds in the county are starting around 2000sqft and in the mid $200,000s.
My SO is very hesitant about buying a fixer upper and living in town.
He wants a move in ready home and not have neighbors.
Im on the other side of the fence, though Im not a big neighbor person. I dont care that they are there, but I dont want to be best friends either..
We are going to have to find a happy medium, but quickly. Homes get snatched up sometimes in days in this district.
So, there are 2 homes I have found.
The first one I really like.
Its in the historic district (and no, there are no crazy codes for updating older homes)
It was built in 1909, 2102sqft, 3bed 1.5ba, has a detached garage with a green house and a nice patio area under large shade trees on 0.26 acres. It has vinyl siding with foam board underneath.
The roof is 14 years old and looks to need replacing sooner than later, the AC units are supposedly only 14 years old (but look much older) the upstairs heating (gas) unit is 14 years old.
The upstairs bathroom window is leaking, causing some of the bathroom floor to become soft, and visible damage to the ceiling below. I spoke with the listing agent and they said they are actually having someone come out to fix the problem within the next couple weeks.
There is weird natural light in the attic with a tote underneath (leaky sky light probably), one of the bedroom walls are warped (the whole house is drywall), the plumbing in the kitchen is original, the gas lines to the fireplaces have been cut (no chimneys are visible anymore, they had furnace type things in them), there is knob and tube wiring in the attic but the breaker box is updated so electrical has been updated at one point, but someone said it still looks older to them.
There are a few different plug types throughout the house, ranging from old to modern day. The 1/2 bath and laundry room I think were added around 2000 and there is a slight sloping in the floor of the hallway of these rooms.
Still though, I love this house. Im not sure if Im being blinded by charm.
Id like, for my sanity, to hire out and redo all the electrical and plumbing, put a new roof on, re insulate if needed, and update the ac and heating elements, and redo the upstairs hall floor and kitchen floor (has old checkered linoleum flooring) with hardwoods, and update at least the kitchen counter tops (currently midnight blue laminate)
Im thinking all the updating would cost around $90k
Their asking price is $145,000 ($69/sqft) and its been on the market for over a year (via zillow) with no price budges. The realtor I looked at it with kept insisting its only been 3 months and said zillow will manipulate dates(?), but I KNOW its been at least 6 months because it was up for sale when I was interested in a house down the street.
The house down the street was 1805sqft, 3b/2ba, wrap around porch, new roof, on .33 acres and didnt seem to need the half the work this one did and sold for $133,000 ($74/sqft)
The one next door to it sold for $97k ($49/sqft) (1 year ago) 3br/2ba, 1976sqft, and on .26acres
When asking the realtor what she thought about realistically offering on this house she said shed probably go as low as asking $137,000 if they pay closing costs.
I looked into the house at the court house, the woman who owns it now bought it in 1986 and has since moved to another state.
Her son and wife (who is the listing agent that I have been in contact with) are actually renting the house from her while theirs is being built.
My agent told me they are "extremely motivated to sell".
$137,000 doesnt sound right to me.
Heres pictures of this house.. Which I only added the "troubling" parts.
http://s276.photobucket.com/user/Faircloth9945/library/B house?sort=3&page=1
The next house just came on the market today.
It is a all brick 3br/2ba 1742sqft (which includes 581sqft of basement) built in 1962 with no heating or air on .39 acres.
I rode over on the way to the grocery store (which it was only 3 minutes away from, but still not on the more historic side of town). Its definitely not in the greatest location, but no where near the worst either.
It had an "abandonment" sticker on the window of the door. Tax records show someone bought it in 1990 for $56k and the bank took possession in 2012 for $52k(?), swapped to another bank in 2013 and later that year became a HUD home.
They want $40k for the house ($30/sqft)
The carport seems to be leaning on one side (you can see the metal support on the left is bent), something either fell on the roof above the kitchen sink or it just collapsed in and it is disastrous inside. I couldnt get really good pictures of the kitchen from peering in the windows but it looks like the kitchen floor is going to collapse in soon, mold is growing all over the ceiling and walls, mold is growing in the basement, and who knows what is going on in the attic.
I mean, yeah, that can put someone off, but Id want to open some walls and replace that kitchen floor anways. Obviously going get a new roof...
Im reading mold issues can cost up to $30,000 to deal with. Meh.
Id have to install a HVAC system which Im thinking will cost $10-13k..
And that is just the stuff Ive seen from looking in the windows.
The neighborhood is kept up nice by neighbors, but the houses are only selling around $40-73/sqft.
My thought process is if we can get the bank to come off this house even more, we can have an address in this school district, move in within a few months, and sell it when the time comes and reinvest in a nicer place.
http://s276.photobucket.com/user/Faircloth9945/library/E House?sort=3&page=1
I dont know if these houses are just too much work to be realistic "investments", aka money pits..
The first one I could live in the next 10-15 years happily, the 2nd one I wouldnt want to stay long.
I dont really know where to turn.
What are yalls thoughts on these homes and this situation??
