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Thanks for the inputs everyone. The house prices in our surrounding area goes from $170-$225K. We bought our 1800 sq ft house for $195K so the most I'd like to spend is no more than $15K for remodel. The house is located in a good neighborhood, with good schools.
The house is a little out dated with low end materials was used when it was built. The reason we bought this house was because it was affordable. We can actually live on just one income owning this house if we have to. My wife and I never liked the floor plan, we just settled. Our biggest issue is having the stairway in the middle of the house, taking up about 20% of the floor space in the first floor. The stairs was built in the middle, acting as a divider between the living room, family room, and kitchen. Rebuilding the stairs to a smaller structure even if I don't move it, would definately open up the floor plan and allowing more space to use.
so the most I'd like to spend is no more than $15K for remodel.
The stairs was built in the middle, acting as a divider between the living room, family room, and kitchen. Rebuilding the stairs to a smaller structure even if I don't move it, would definately...
Center Hall Colonial?
would definitely will cost CONSIDERABLY more than your $15,000 budget.
Carpets, curtains and paint will pretty much exhaust a $15,000 budget
That is a big job and if you don't get a good set of drawings by a professional and a good contractor you could regret the investment. I would take a look around at available homes and see what is on the market. If you find something you like and can sell you home, you might be better off in the long run.
Is it possible that your price range is not suffcient to support what you really want?
I only ask that because it seems this house was priced right within the range of homes in the area (suggesting it is not sub-par), and you are only willing to spend an additional 15K.
So, you're not looking at increasing your purchase price (say up to $250). So I wonder what the likelihood of finding something significantly 'better' on the market is.
Still, if you can find something you like on the market - I think your better off selling than remodeling. 15K is not going to do a lot for you in structural remodeling.
Is it possible that your price range is not suffcient to support what you really want?
I only ask that because it seems this house was priced right within the range of homes in the area (suggesting it is not sub-par), and you are only willing to spend an additional 15K.
So, you're not looking at increasing your purchase price (say up to $250). So I wonder what the likelihood of finding something significantly 'better' on the market is.
Still, if you can find something you like on the market - I think your better off selling than remodeling. 15K is not going to do a lot for you in structural remodeling.
Yeah, $15K is not going to cover the Bath, kitchen remodel, along with extending the exterior walls in the front of the house and rebuild the stairs. My feeling is I won't be to sell my house for much more than what I bought it for so spending anything above $15K is just tossing money out the window. Anything more than that, might as well save it towards a new house.
But, $15K might be enough to redo my stairs to smaller structure to open up my floor plan, even if I can't relocate the stairway. To relocate the stairway, I will need to extend the exterior walls in the front of the house. I also have this feeling, somewhere in my stairway structure, there are beams holding the 2nd floor together. I might have to just call a few contractors and see what they say. But than I need to ask myself is it worth $15K to just redo a stairway?
Right now, the market is very thin in my area. Seems like banks are controlling the flow of houses that are currently being short sale or forclosed. My house was a short sale as well when my wife and I bought it.
As far as moving my purchase price up to $250K, I might just do that if I renovation is too much.
That is a big job and if you don't get a good set of drawings by a professional and a good contractor you could regret the investment. I would take a look around at available homes and see what is on the market. If you find something you like and can sell you home, you might be better off in the long run.
Agreed. I would definately want to hire people with a lot of experience and knowledge. One bad judgement could send my 2nd floor down to the first floor.
Agreed. I would definately want to hire people with a lot of experience and knowledge. One bad judgement could send my 2nd floor down to the first floor.
Based on what you described, I wouldn't think the stairwell itself would be load-bearing. Ever consider a spiral staircase on one side or the other and just rail off where the stairs ended up top.
Just remember - even if you could do a spiral (which is certainly space saving) - its a pain to get furniture up/down a spiral, and if it were the only access to the 2nd floor (a full liveable 2nd floor as opposed to an unused attic, or rarely used loft) - that could really negatively affect future resale.
Just remember - even if you could do a spiral (which is certainly space saving) - its a pain to get furniture up/down a spiral, and if it were the only access to the 2nd floor (a full liveable 2nd floor as opposed to an unused attic, or rarely used loft) - that could really negatively affect future resale.
Many local codes and ordinances only allow spiral staircases as secondary ones (unless they are so large as to be better described as a curving staircase). Not only are they a pain to move furniture up and down but they are notoriously tricky and sometimes dangerous to navigate; one slip and fall on the inside of the tread will send you all the way down in a hurry.
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