Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can’t understand why you would buy a $4m house that needed work, was there nothing that was move-in ready no work needed?

DP:

Location is often the reason. We bought a 2nd home and had very specific requirements (water views, unimpeded by other homes, city water AND SEWER (75% of the homes are not on sewer for the place we wanted to buy), within 1-1.5 miles of the ferry and the "downtown area" so we could walk if desired.
When a 25 yo home that met all the other requirements came on sale, we purchased, knowing fully well that we would want to/need to renovate much of the home (the 8 year prior owner only did repairs when it was absolutely needed, which is not a good thing with a 20+ yo home). So we knew we needed a new roof, new hot water heater, new boiler system as everything was the original. Since we have 2 places to live, we went ahead and renovated everything as well, except the windows (which are still in good shape---will replace in 5-10 years when necessary). But we had given up on finding the right home, so when this came up, it had everything we wanted, just not a 25 yo home that hadn't ever had any renovations. So we purchased.

BTW, all of the "already renovated homes" in the area were not really to my liking, so I'd rather deal with renovations and get exactly what I want, not overpay for someone else's idea of how to fix a home. Also, I already had a great trusted contractor so I knew the process would not be too painful


But location, location, location. And getting exactly what you want in a home you plan to live in for 15-20+ years. Not someone else's half assed ideas of how to renovate

This!

- OP

Anonymous wrote:Can’t understand why you would buy a $4m house that needed work, was there nothing that was move-in ready no work needed?

DP:

Location is often the reason. We bought a 2nd home and had very specific requirements (water views, unimpeded by other homes, city water AND SEWER (75% of the homes are not on sewer for the place we wanted to buy), within 1-1.5 miles of the ferry and the "downtown area" so we could walk if desired.
When a 25 yo home that met all the other requirements came on sale, we purchased, knowing fully well that we would want to/need to renovate much of the home (the 8 year prior owner only did repairs when it was absolutely needed, which is not a good thing with a 20+ yo home). So we knew we needed a new roof, new hot water heater, new boiler system as everything was the original. Since we have 2 places to live, we went ahead and renovated everything as well, except the windows (which are still in good shape---will replace in 5-10 years when necessary). But we had given up on finding the right home, so when this came up, it had everything we wanted, just not a 25 yo home that hadn't ever had any renovations. So we purchased.

BTW, all of the "already renovated homes" in the area were not really to my liking, so I'd rather deal with renovations and get exactly what I want, not overpay for someone else's idea of how to fix a home. Also, I already had a great trusted contractor so I knew the process would not be too painful


But location, location, location. And getting exactly what you want in a home you plan to live in for 15-20+ years. Not someone else's half assed ideas of how to renovate

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe. What exactly does it entail?

Full house remodel: Flooring, kitchen, bathroom, windows, plus some reconfigurations to make it work better for us.

Hi OP.

I've found that approaching things in remodeling chunks over a number of years works well for me. It is less cash outlay each year and it gives you a lot of time to think through what you want.

Are the windows leaking? Leaking water? Leaking air? If not I'd do them way down the road. Reconfigurations will get pricey.
I'd live in the house for 4-5 years to make sure you want reconfigurations.

Are these simply cosmetic changes or do you have cracked drywall in each room and floors caving in? If these are just style/cosmetic changes I'd live with things for several years.

Is your husband handy? Can he do some of the work? Can he research products? Pick colors etc? Can he paint the interior rooms?

The chunk method worked well for me. It was less money each year. It reduces stress. It was more manageable.

On my house I remodeled one bathroom year 1. I remodeled the master bathroom year 2. I remodeled the kitchen, the entire flooring in the house and painted all walls in house in year 4. We moved out of the house into a 6 month apartment rental for the kitchen/flooring/painting of the house. It took about 4-1/2 months for the kitchen remodel, retiling the entire house (was wall to wall) and painting of the interior with the exceptions of the two bathrooms.

Also you don't mention any exterior work? How old is your roof?

Thank you for the thoughtful response, PP. Right now, we are leaning toward a remodel in phases as well. We hope that it will allow us to stay in the house and minimize the disruption for the kids.

- OP

Oh no, this will definitely maximize disruption. If you really want to do a $1m renovation, you should do it out of the house. It’s much more efficient for everyone.

You can live in the house through disruptive maintenance like replacing a roof or windows, redoing a bathroom, and that sort of thing. Not a gut renovation. It will be so, so painful and also really inefficient!

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t remodel. I probably wouldn’t buy a 4 million house either at 50 and then invest 1/3 of my retirement in it. Do you have kids? How old are they? Since you already bought the house, the only thing you can do is scale down on the remodel.

Especially with teens about to leave the house.

We know a family with one kid in college and one in high school who also bought a 4-5m house. It must be 10,000sf and is definitely livable but outdated for sure. Everyone else is downsizing and they bought this huge house where they will be empty nesters.

The wife talked about remodeling the kitchen, redoing floors and taking out some of the gaudy accents the previous owner put in. Husband wanted to do landscaping and add a deck and/or patio. Their remodel will easily be over $1m.

I wouldn’t remodel. I probably wouldn’t buy a 4 million house either at 50 and then invest 1/3 of my retirement in it. Do you have kids? How old are they? Since you already bought the house, the only thing you can do is scale down on the remodel.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why did you buy a $4 mil house?

Typical price for most upper middle class areas

This is delusional.

Unless you need to be in that specific location, I would just move to something that suits your needs better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe. What exactly does it entail?

Full house remodel: Flooring, kitchen, bathroom, windows, plus some reconfigurations to make it work better for us.

Hi OP.

I've found that approaching things in remodeling chunks over a number of years works well for me. It is less cash outlay each year and it gives you a lot of time to think through what you want.

Are the windows leaking? Leaking water? Leaking air? If not I'd do them way down the road. Reconfigurations will get pricey.
I'd live in the house for 4-5 years to make sure you want reconfigurations.

Are these simply cosmetic changes or do you have cracked drywall in each room and floors caving in? If these are just style/cosmetic changes I'd live with things for several years.

Is your husband handy? Can he do some of the work? Can he research products? Pick colors etc? Can he paint the interior rooms?

The chunk method worked well for me. It was less money each year. It reduces stress. It was more manageable.

On my house I remodeled one bathroom year 1. I remodeled the master bathroom year 2. I remodeled the kitchen, the entire flooring in the house and painted all walls in house in year 4. We moved out of the house into a 6 month apartment rental for the kitchen/flooring/painting of the house. It took about 4-1/2 months for the kitchen remodel, retiling the entire house (was wall to wall) and painting of the interior with the exceptions of the two bathrooms.

Also you don't mention any exterior work? How old is your roof?

Thank you for the thoughtful response, PP. Right now, we are leaning toward a remodel in phases as well. We hope that it will allow us to stay in the house and minimize the disruption for the kids.

- OP

You don’t seem like a person buying a $4m house. I assume you are paying these $1m renovations with cash. If you just bought this house, the normal thing to do is to not move in until renovations are complete.

We live in a $4m house and made some cosmetic updates to our house when we moved in. It was not a full remodel at all and it still took 3 months. We ended up remodeling our master bathroom and had to live in another room for almost a month and it was extremely inconvenient. Our house is over 10,000sf.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe. What exactly does it entail?

Full house remodel: Flooring, kitchen, bathroom, windows, plus some reconfigurations to make it work better for us.

Hi OP.

I've found that approaching things in remodeling chunks over a number of years works well for me. It is less cash outlay each year and it gives you a lot of time to think through what you want.

Are the windows leaking? Leaking water? Leaking air? If not I'd do them way down the road. Reconfigurations will get pricey.
I'd live in the house for 4-5 years to make sure you want reconfigurations.

Are these simply cosmetic changes or do you have cracked drywall in each room and floors caving in? If these are just style/cosmetic changes I'd live with things for several years.

Is your husband handy? Can he do some of the work? Can he research products? Pick colors etc? Can he paint the interior rooms?

The chunk method worked well for me. It was less money each year. It reduces stress. It was more manageable.

On my house I remodeled one bathroom year 1. I remodeled the master bathroom year 2. I remodeled the kitchen, the entire flooring in the house and painted all walls in house in year 4. We moved out of the house into a 6 month apartment rental for the kitchen/flooring/painting of the house. It took about 4-1/2 months for the kitchen remodel, retiling the entire house (was wall to wall) and painting of the interior with the exceptions of the two bathrooms.

Also you don't mention any exterior work? How old is your roof?

Thank you for the thoughtful response, PP. Right now, we are leaning toward a remodel in phases as well. We hope that it will allow us to stay in the house and minimize the disruption for the kids.

- OP

Anonymous wrote:Can’t understand why you would buy a $4m house that needed work, was there nothing that was move-in ready no work needed?

Location location location. That is typically the reason

Can’t understand why you would buy a $4m house that needed work, was there nothing that was move-in ready no work needed?