Trying to determine if renovation is worth it
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Anonymous
| DH and I recently looked at a house in Silver Spring in the lower end of the $400Ks. That price is well within our price range, but it would need a good deal of renovation work and I'm afraid it will drastically raise the costs out of our budget. The main projects would be to finish the basement, which is entirely unfinished, and also to add a second bathroom. It also needs new closets. How much would this work run? We'd get estimates from contractors, obviously, but we feel like we can't until we put an offer in on the house. |
Anonymous
|
So hard to say. Ballpark:
We did basement for $20K. Another bath might be $5K. Closets can be done cheaply. |
Anonymous
| Sure. But make sure you don't over renovate for the meighborhood. Unless you will be staying there a long long time to enjoy it all since you will not get it back at resale and don't want to price hurdled above the neighborhood. |
Anonymous
|
Can you do the basement bit by bit, and on your own for parts of it?
We refinished our basement and saved a ton. We did the demo, framing, wiring/lights, drywall, flooring and painting/trim/finishing. We contracted in hvac ducts, plumbing, moving the coolant line, and an electrician to inspect the wiring & outlets and to clean up and hook everything up to the fuse box. Since we were doing it on our own at our snails pace, we paid for everything in smaller bits spread out over many months. Doing this made the cost so much more manageable, on top of the tens of thousands of dollars we saved DIYing and managing subs ourselves. |
Anonymous
|
OP here. Our renovation budget would be about $60K. I would be OK doing parts of it bit by bit, but we'll probably never do it if we don't do it all at once, and we're not DIY'ers.
Real estate agent estimated basement would be about $20K to do, adding a bathroom about $10-12K, and didn't estimate the costs for closets. The rest of the house is in pretty good shape. |
Anonymous
OP again. We'd actually be renovating to be on par with the neighborhood. Not planning a tear down or major renovation by any means. But most houses in the neighborhood have finished basements and multiple bathrooms. |
Anonymous
| Is the basement a blank slate, as in concrete and beams witu exposed pipes? Or is it one of those green shag carpets/paneling specials? |
Anonymous
| How much does a newly renovated home with your renovations sell for |
Anonymous
Are you asking because a blank slate is less expensive ? |
Anonymous
Blank slate - no carpet, just beams and concrete flooring. |
Anonymous
| We are doing our basement now in a small house. I think we'll spend $25,000-30,000 including a new bathroom. Anything under that is very difficult in less you DIY all of it. We are DIYing parts of it. We are acting as our own GC and hiring for the specific need. |
Anonymous
Probably around $500K in the neighborhood. |
Anonymous
I am asking because a blank slate has fewer surprises. Our basement reno involved tearing out some 70s awesomeness. After we demo'd we discovered studs in a load bearing wall that had been cut through, incorrectly installed plumbing that had to be brought to code, corroded copper pipes that needed to be replaced, wiring that had been nailed through and was blackened at that point... It was like Christmas every time we tore something out. If everything is already open you shouldn't have the same level of expensive surprises. |
Anonymous
|
Those estimates sound on the low side to me.
OP, how old is the house? Bear in mind that there may be a reason why the basement is unfinished. It could be that the ceilings are not high enough, that there is a water issue, or some other reason. If having a finished basement is vital for this house to work for your family, I would explore this with a contractor. |
Anonymous
| OP here. The house was built in the 1940s. |