I'm looking at a 2 story 2990 sq.ft. farmmhouse built in 1895. It sits on 1.86 acres. Newsiding,beautiful lot. The heating bills are 270 a mo. year round. There's a furnance in the basement and one in the bath on the first level. Both baths are in the back of the house looks like it was an addition. No toilet upstairs but there are hot and cold water pipes in one room. Gravity heat for the second level.It needs a new roof, to be updated to 100 amp, heating system would need to be more effiencent with heat brought upstairs. One bedroom upstairs has cracks in the ceiling and walls and the floors crooked.The inside would nedd total updated as far as the floors kitchen. The floors are painted wood planks I think.Some walls would have to be knocked out. Does this sound like afinacial nightmare? Its priced below market for the area but how much can you spend fixing up an old house? gturner
COMMUNITY FORUM
- Forum >
- Miscellaneous >
- Old House
Have the house inspected by a reputable home inspection agency. With a house of this age, some systems may have reached their expected lifespans. Make doubly sure the the critical systems (foundation, structure, plumbing, HVAC, electrical, landscape drainage) are at least in working order so that you can live (in relative comfort) with the house.
Cracks and out of level/plumb floors and walls may indicate some serious structural problems. Foundation and structural work are typically expensive. To support a 2nd floor with bath that you'd like, the structure better be sound. Removing non-load bearing walls is not a problem if you're careful and don't mind getting dirty. Removing load-bearing walls will require more expense.
I've seen these costs for typical remodels in articles I've read from magazines:
Kitchens ($10K-25K)
Baths ($5K-8K)
Electrical ($2K-8K)
HVAC ($8K - $20K)
Roofing ($2K-5K)
If you plan to sell after living in the house a few years, I'd stick to those changes that will return the most money come time to sell. I've read a number of articles about ROI's (Return On Investment) for different types of remodels.
Hope this helped
