[shleesh]

I know this is a ridiculous question to most people because the cost varies SO much depending on what you put into it, but I also know cost varies from location to location... and I've searched the internet finding people in the city saying they've paid a quarter million dollars remodeling their house. THAT sounds ridiculous to me?? So, here's my situation...

My husband and I are looking at a house for sale in a very rural area. It's about 30 miles from Mt. Pleasant. It's on 8 acres of land with two huge beautiful barns in good shape. The house, however, needs A LOT of work such as...

- A new septic system
- All new plumbing
- All new wiring
- A new roof (trusses and all, as the roof is about to collapse)
- A new furnace

That's only counting the repairs it needs to make it livable. That's not counting what we WANT to do to make the space even remotely nice. The layout is absolutely horrible. We would want to knock down walls and create a new layout all together. This would include two new bathrooms AND a kitchen. I'm not looking for anything super fancy and expensive such as a 50K kitchen remodel with granite countertops and such. We were actually considering buying cabinets off craigslist that have been taken out of someone's house. We've seen whole kitchens (cabinets, appliances, faucets, etc) for $2500 or so. We also plan to do much of the work ourselves. We have talked to a family friend of ours who is a builder who is saying although it does need a lot of work, he doesn't believe it would be more than 50K for a complete remodel. I shouldn't be questioning a builder, but is this NORMAL price? If you live out in the country and have done a complete remodel on a house, how much did you pay all together? And also, do you believe this is worth it? I believe just the barns and land is worth 50K; I'm not sure whether the headache of remodeling is though. Help me out?

I might also add that the house is 1900 square feet, not counting the basement. The basement is a block basement, but it's not your typical Michigan dirt basement that's found in homes of this age. And we were told that foundation is good despite the structural problems with the roof and such...

[yorkee]

someone quoted for a 1800sqft house:

2.5 bathroom - re-title, new sink, new counter top, new shower or new bathtub, new toilet, new paint
4 rooms - new paint and carpet
1 kitchen - retitle, new sink, new counter top, new paint, new appliance
living/dining room - new paint and carpet

$20k - 25k including material.

[Bydand]

A lot for the re-wire depends on what style of house it is and just how far down you are going to strip the interior. 2 story is more than single story, and a total bare, down to the studs remodel is far cheaper to wire than fishing wire through closed walls. Ball park figure with bare studs and two story and nothing too fancy or elaborate would close in on $3000. But that is a very large ballpark without seeing the house and what needs to be done, could go MUCH higher than that, and if easy could be a bit lower.

[shleesh]

Originally Posted by Bydand

A lot for the re-wire depends on what style of house it is and just how far down you are going to strip the interior. 2 story is more than single story, and a total bare, down to the studs remodel is far cheaper to wire than fishing wire through closed walls. Ball park figure with bare studs and two story and nothing too fancy or elaborate would close in on $3000. But that is a very large ballpark without seeing the house and what needs to be done, could go MUCH higher than that, and if easy could be a bit lower.

Hey, that's making me feel a little bit better! The house is a one story and the interior definitely would be gutted. What kind of prices would you think for the rest? We're still really debating on this property... we just don't know if it's worth it.

Thanks for replying.

[Bydand]

Couldn't help on the rest. Haven't had Plumbing, roofing or anything like that in a while so don;t know what anything would cost right now.

[Driller1]

Which way from Mt Pleasant?? Is there a water well??

[Coldjensens]

You can get a really good efficient furnace for about $4,000. You can get a decent one for $2500. Plumbing should cost in the range of $4000 - $10,000 it is considerably cheaper if you use PEX instead of Copper. I like PEX better anyway. A tankless water heater will cost about $1800 - $2500 installed. Do you need a water softener? This is not including plumbing fixtures (toilets sinks dishwasher, etc.).

Wiring should be in the realm of $4500 - $10,000 for a 200 amp panel. Are you going to put in a generator? (add $3000)

The roof will really vary. Depends on the kind of roofing material you use. We used a 50 year shingle and all new sheeting on a bigish house with a complex roof. It was $14,000. You should be about a thrid of that. Less if you use cheapo shingles, but then they will not last very long. The structural work will depend on how far the failure goes. If it is an older house you will not use trusses. I would suggest that you use salvaged lumber. New lumber is garbage. You can get salvaged lumber at Architectural Warehouse of Detroit and the cost is about the same as the garbage lumber from a lumberyard. You may have to remove some nails though.

No idea on a septic field.

Do not forget to factor in the cost of permits. That can be a huge amount.

[merit1sje]

Prices vary depending on many things. The roof sounds like your primary concern. Without having several contractors look at it(and you really should have at least three bids), you really have no way of telling what it might cost and that goes for everything else that the house may need or what you would like to do with it. You could save yourself alot of money if you have friends or family who are knowledgable with what needs to be done and are willing to work for food and beer. You could also get around any permit and/or inspection issues by doing these things "inside" as you go. The roof however is one thing that you can't get around! Think in terms of visability. In other words, anything that you do "outside" will be seen and will more than likely be subject to a permit and inspection and require someone who is licensed to do the work. Anything inside is a different story. Look around. In this economy, there are individuals who will be more than willing to work with you. As an additional note: Before you sign on this home, make sure that you check the taxable value against the state equalized value of the home. There could be a wide gap between them and as I'm sure you know, it will jump to the state SEV upon the tranfer of ownership. If the condition of the home is need of some serious repairs, then you should most certainly talk to the local township tax assessor and get the SEV revaluated to reflect the condition of the home and the current market values.Moderator cut: advertising is not allowed

[magellan]

Originally Posted by shleesh

I know this is a ridiculous question to most people because the cost varies SO much depending on what you put into it, but I also know cost varies from location to location... and I've searched the internet finding people in the city saying they've paid a quarter million dollars remodeling their house. THAT sounds ridiculous to me?? So, here's my situation...

My husband and I are looking at a house for sale in a very rural area. It's about 30 miles from Mt. Pleasant. It's on 8 acres of land with two huge beautiful barns in good shape. The house, however, needs A LOT of work such as...

- A new septic system
- All new plumbing
- All new wiring
- A new roof (trusses and all, as the roof is about to collapse)
- A new furnace

That's only counting the repairs it needs to make it livable. That's not counting what we WANT to do to make the space even remotely nice. The layout is absolutely horrible. We would want to knock down walls and create a new layout all together. This would include two new bathrooms AND a kitchen. I'm not looking for anything super fancy and expensive such as a 50K kitchen remodel with granite countertops and such. We were actually considering buying cabinets off craigslist that have been taken out of someone's house. We've seen whole kitchens (cabinets, appliances, faucets, etc) for $2500 or so. We also plan to do much of the work ourselves. We have talked to a family friend of ours who is a builder who is saying although it does need a lot of work, he doesn't believe it would be more than 50K for a complete remodel. I shouldn't be questioning a builder, but is this NORMAL price? If you live out in the country and have done a complete remodel on a house, how much did you pay all together? And also, do you believe this is worth it? I believe just the barns and land is worth 50K; I'm not sure whether the headache of remodeling is though. Help me out?

I might also add that the house is 1900 square feet, not counting the basement. The basement is a block basement, but it's not your typical Michigan dirt basement that's found in homes of this age. And we were told that foundation is good despite the structural problems with the roof and such...

I'd say at least $50K. The roof alone on a 1900 square foot ranch is probably $30K (if you're talking about a complete rebuild of the trusses and everything). I would say whenever you want to do MAJOR structural changes to a house, add at least 50% to your estimate. You never know what other problems you will run into (and you will run into other problems). Do you plan to live in this house until you die? If not, I wouldn't do it.

Also, 30 miles from Mt Pleasant? In which direction?

Your response about thinking the house, barns and land are probably only worth $50K probably means you already know the answer to your question.

[Coldjensens]

By the way, do not try to replace a framed roof structure with trusses. It will look terrible and may not have sufficient strength. Besides, trusses are dangerous in a fire. Stick with framing.