New Vs Old Homes (Austin, Howe: hardwood floors, countertops, how much)

[ASJL]

We've been looking at a LOT of homes in many different parts of Austin...and came accross a beautiful home in Steiner Ranch in a very leafy, well established street that I fell in love with from the curb appeal as soon as we drove down the street. Its different from most of the other homes, and its the only one that really stands out in my mind from all the other homes we saw. THe problem is, its an older home, and although it looks great on the outside, inside, its a 1980s disaster.

The kitchen, laundry room, bathrooms and carpets need to be updated badly. And the price of the home reflects this, because its half the price of a lot of the other homes we looked at. I was wondering if any of you out there had any advice on buying a fixer-up home, My husband is very aprehensive about buying it due to the amount of work we would need to do to it, (he thinks it will cost a fortune for the renovations and we'll get more value for money if we buy a newer home) but on the other hand, I am quite optimistic, because we would be able to renovate with our own tastes, and make it a bit unique, compared to most of the other homes in Steiner, which many all seem to be built pretty much the same. Not only that, we get the benefit of a lower tax rate on a cheaper home.

So my question is, Would we be better off buying a new home - or renovating a home that I really love, aside from the 'original' interior. If anyone has any experiences with renovating older homes, and can give any advice, I'd really appreciate it. My husband wants to make an offer on a newer home for twice the price, which needs nothing at all done to it, but I can't help to keep thinking about the charm of this older 1980's house, which really did have a breathtaking garden and street appeal....

[Raskolnikov]

Just remember, you can never change the "lot" but you can change the insides of the house. I think mature trees, landscaping, all those things which take decades to establish are worth more than a new house. Having said that it all depends on how hopeless the old house is. If you hate the floor plan, that's very hard to change. If it's just flooring, paint, cabinets, carpet, etc... then it's not that big of a deal. But IMO you have to do it before you move any of your stuff in. Otherwise it becomes very difficult to do.

[TexasHorseLady]

Is the "disaster" merely cosmetic, as opposed to structural? If so, my personal inclination, if I had the funds and the time, would be to buy the house I love and renovate to my tastes.

If, however, the layout of the house is such that you'd need to be knocking out walls, in essence, redoing the entire inside, not so much.

[ASJL]

The layout is fine, and its a huge house (5 bedrooms) It just needs new bathrooms, kitchen, and carpets. They attempted to upgrade some things before listing the house (downstairs has hardwood floors and marble tile) I'm just concerned that renovating 3 bathrooms and a kitchen is going to cost a fortune. Nothing structural needs changing, and the garden doesn't need any landscaping. The street appeal of this house is amazing...its just a tad dated. I think renovating it would be fun - but on the other hand, i'm listening carefully to my husbands concerns and trying to weigh up the options....

[TexasHorseLady]

It sounds like your husband might be the kind of person who needs facts and figures in front of him.

Do you have the measurements of the rooms that would need renovating? Ideas for what you would do there? Some idea of what would be essential and what's just "nice to have"?

You might be able, with that information, to get a rough idea of what it would cost to do the renovations and have your agent do comps on what the same house with those renovations would go for. That might either ease your husband's mind or confirm that it wouldn't be feasible.

[Topaz]

If the bones of the home are good, you could create a jewel of a home by renovating it. But you both have to want to do this...if he hates the idea, he will not be happy as you live through the work. I'd make sure he wasn't going to be dreaming of the new home the whole time.

[Moonlady]

So, we redid a kitchen and a bath. The kitchen was painting the cabinets and replacing the coutertops with granite. It was relatively easy, not too inconveneint and not too hard on the budget (it took about a week and a half). The bath was a whole different story. Gutted it and moved a wall and plumbing. First estimate came in at $36K and I was finally able to find a contractor that did it for $22K. Seems like you could do carpets and painting before you moved in and it shouldn't be too difficult or expensive.

I'm like you though, if you truly like the way the house looks it seems like it would be a much better deal to fix-er-up yourself. However, from your husbands point of view, managing contractors is LOT of work and I guess you need to decide if you can handle it all (since he doesn't seem to want to) or if it's worth all that trouble.

Oddly enough, we've been considering moving and I find myself looking for fixer-uppers because I know I can get a better deal and now that I've done it, I'm more comfortable in handling it. It's a good experience!

[MJinAustin]

Originally Posted by ASJL

It just needs new bathrooms, kitchen, and carpets. They attempted to upgrade some things before listing the house (downstairs has hardwood floors and marble tile) I'm just concerned that renovating 3 bathrooms and a kitchen is going to cost a fortune.

Are you able to keep some elements? Like what do you mean when you say it needs new bathrooms?...are the toilets, sinks, tubs ok? You can make a huge visual impact by changing faucets, mirrors, paint, floor tile without costing a lot as long as the bones are ok.

A total bath gut and remodel on a smallish-medium bathroom may run you $15K if you don't do any of it yourself and get a few upscale embellishments. However, if you keep the major plumbing fixtures and just do the tile, lights, etc. you could do it for as little as $1K maybe? or if you want to upgrade to granite countertops and replace all the cabinetry in addition, you may be looking at $5K?

A total kitchen gut can range, but a pretty normal 10x10 with an island with standard upscalish cabinets and a few upscale elements could cost $40-50K. If you do some of that yourself, you could cut the cost in half. You can do really basic cabinets, laminate countertops, and standard fixtures for about $20-25K depending on the size of your kitchen.

These are total ballpark guesses because I don't know your personal taste or budget or how much needs to be done. You're going to have to take that element by element.

My suggestion is to either:
1) do everything before you move in if you have the budget to do that - 3 baths and a kitchen gutted and some nice carpet, a little painting, sounds like about $90K?
or
2) do the most annoying things before you move in...replace ugly carpet for instance and paint the stuff you hate. Then take one project at a time if you are ok with living with remodeling.

MONEY SAVERS:
1) If you like the style and layout of the kitchen cabinets, you can get them painted or refinished at about a third or half the cost of replacing them.
2) If the cabinets are ok, just change the countertops and add a nice backsplash.
3) Keep plumbing fixtures in place if you can...a good plumber can cost $60 to $80/hour...if you're on a budget, best to use them to a minimum...like changing faucets.
4) If bathroom cabinets are a standard size, buy prefabbed cabinets at HD or Lowe's.
5) If you do need to replace kitchen cabinets, IKEA carries them too and they discount installation by 40% if you put the cabinets together yourself - then their guys will come and install them.
6) For the sake of the long-run and resale, don't choose anything that is too wacky in color or style so that it won't appeal to a future buyer. I paint walls myself, so I ignore this when it comes to that just knowing that when I get ready to sell, I will have to put neutrals on the walls. Don't invest in anything expensive that doesn't have mass appeal, like don't buy pink toilets or orange countertops. Keep the expensive stuff neutral and accent that with the colors you like in things that you can easily change out.
7) Hire an interior designer for half a day or so...that person can help you decide what REALLY needs to be changed out and what you might be able to live with if you paint it, alter it, or accessorize it. I know a few if you'd like a recommendation.

[ASJL]

Thanks for everyones advice. I've heard kitchen installs range from $20K - $50K and bathrooms similarly...but I am sure if we did some of the tilework ourselves, and installed our own vanities we would save even more. I don't think the baths need replacing, I think just re-tiling would freshen it up enough. Currently the bathrooms are all carpeted !!! But even if we spent $100K on top of the line renovations, it would be like a brand new home, and after spending all that, it would still be $200K cheaper than the other homes we've looked at buying....So I think I'm going to go for it, and hope for the best !!! I priced out the Kraftmaid cabinets and bathroom vanities at homedepot...it you install this stuff yourself, you save thousands. Its all pre-fabricated, and you can order the granite counter-tops and vanity tops also...so I may be able to save a lot of money if I hire a handy-man and do some of it ourselves...Its amazing what little changes make...updating light fixtures, coat of paint and some new cabinetry will make the world of difference....

[ASJL]

MJ in Austin, I'd really like if you could email me the interior designers you can recommend. We had someone give us color ideas on our old house, and they came up with a color scheme I never would have thought of, but it made the house look fantastic. So I'd be very interested in getting ideas from someone!! Thanks !!