Your advice for me to buy home in East Liberty 15206 (Pittsburgh: how much, home builders)

[nguyennguyenngoc]

Hi everyone,

I am looking for a property in East Liberty 15206 to build a 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms home. I plan to invest $150k. Please advise me if I can buy a property and build a new home with that amount? Any suggestion for a reasonable home builders? I really appreciate your help!

Nguyen

[Goodjules]

Do you want a vacant lot, or do you plan to tear down an existing home and then build a new one? That seems like a tight budget. How much to you plan to spend for the property and how much will you have for the build?

[eschaton]

My understanding is in Pittsburgh it's basically impossible to build a detached house for under $250,000. If you have a lot of free time and can DIY you might be able to shave off a little bit, but not enough to get in the budget you're looking for.

It will be much, much cheaper if you find a wrecked shell of a house and due a gut and rebuild. Just having a solid foundation alone and the utility hookups saves a great deal off of construction costs, to say nothing about four solid walls. Of course, investors have been picking off and rehabbing run down/abandoned houses in East Liberty for a decade, so your pickings may be slim.

[Goodjules]

Another thing to consider is the cost of demolition of any existing home or large parts of an existing home. Demolition and the disposal of what you have demolished is not cheap. Many people fail to consider this when they are budgeting.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Goodjules

Another thing to consider is the cost of demolition of any existing home or large parts of an existing home. Demolition and the disposal of what you have demolished is not cheap. Many people fail to consider this when they are budgeting.

I dunno. I'd say demo is by far the cheapest thing, provided you're keeping structure intact.

When we first bought our house, we rented a dumpster. We tore out all the old carpets ourselves, and I also removed the wood paneling in the living room and took the plaster off the chimney. The dumpster plus the permit cost a few hundred.

When we gutted the attic down to the studs, we didn't even use a dumpster. We had probably 30 contractor bags full of lathe and/or plaster, and put out around five of them a week, leaving some at neighbor's curbs so as not to rouse suspicion. In retrospect, we should have had a dumpster. But the cost to us was zero.

Of course, if you actually knock down a house, it could easily cost $20,000. But unless a house is structurally unsound there's really no reason to knock it down.

[Hopes]

Gutting a house is cheap. All it requires is a dumpster and a backbone.

You could probably buy a vacant lot from the city for a reasonable price.

[Goodjules]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I dunno. I'd say demo is by far the cheapest thing, provided you're keeping structure intact.

When we first bought our house, we rented a dumpster. We tore out all the old carpets ourselves, and I also removed the wood paneling in the living room and took the plaster off the chimney. The dumpster plus the permit cost a few hundred.

When we gutted the attic down to the studs, we didn't even use a dumpster. We had probably 30 contractor bags full of lathe and/or plaster, and put out around five of them a week, leaving some at neighbor's curbs so as not to rouse suspicion. In retrospect, we should have had a dumpster. But the cost to us was zero.

Of course, if you actually knock down a house, it could easily cost $20,000. But unless a house is structurally unsound there's really no reason to knock it down.

True, but dumpsters cost money. You'd be surprised how many people don't take demolition into account when budgeting. Also, if there's asbestos or other toxic materials you can't just dump it. It requires special handling and that costs money. His budget is tight. I wanted to be sure he had factored it in if he was planning to demolish an existing home. That's a much bigger demo than just a wall or two.

[I_Like_Spam]

We just had a thread here about someone else who wanted to build a home for resale in Pittsburgh 15206, where he had a lot in Morningside.

Thinking of building new house for resale

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Goodjules

True, but dumpsters cost money. You'd be surprised how many people don't take demolition into account when budgeting. Also, if there's asbestos or other toxic materials you can't just dump it. It requires special handling and that costs money. His budget is tight. I wanted to be sure he had factored it in if he was planning to demolish an existing home. That's a much bigger demo than just a wall or two.

Dumpsters don't cost much, just a few hundred dollars.

If he bought an existing house with a solid foundation for a great price and renovated it himself, 150k is definitely possible. My house was completely gutted and rebuilt inside. There isn't one thing we contracted out.

It's unlikely he's planning to completely demolish an existing home. Pittsburghers don't typically do that. It's more common in high cost of living areas. My girlfriend was from Montreal where this happened all the time. She was terrified someone was going to buy the house next door and tear it down. She didn't want to live next to construction. I couldn't convince her that it wouldn't happen in Pittsburgh, and she bought the house next door!!!!

Since he is planning to build a very small house, I wouldn't discourage him. My advice is to get quotes from contractors prior to buying land. That way he'll know if he can stay within budget.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

We just had a thread here about someone else who wanted to build a home for resale in Pittsburgh 15206, where he had a lot in Morningside.

Thinking of building new house for resale

They didn't discuss costs though.