Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We are in the process of buying our first house in Floral Park area. The house is a cape and only had 2 owners us being the 3rd if everything goes well (signing contract tonight). The house is in original condition but very outdated. The owner never updated anything in the house, unless it was absolutely necessary. Everything the engineer went over with me during the home inspection was related to maintenance stuff that was never done by the owner.
We knew the house required work but not a complete gut, as the layout is the way we would like it. The location, low taxes (I know this will go up when adding space to the house) and the price was the key selling point for us. The only gut job would be the kitchen and bathroom on the main floor, and maybe the small wall between the kitchen and living room. We also plan to do a full or half dormer on the 2nd floor, this all depends on our budget (75k-80k).
Basically, since this is our first reno, we are looking for any advice with renovations and recommendations on contractors that is reliable.
Thank you in advance!
P.S. I did use the search for some contractor info which I will reach out to for estimates as well.
Some people have used Cusumano and have been happy with them. We used them once a few years ago for a small roof repair and they did fix the issue. The problem is that you never know which workers are going to do your job so it's a crap shoot. But they do dormers and siding and that type of work, as well as bathrooms and kitchens.
If you want to reno a kitchen and bath, I can recommend someone who works on his own. He never advertises so shoot me a DM for the name and number. He doesn't do any major exterior work, but does gut interior spaces.
Did you see the new assessment for that property? The county reassessed all homes for year 21-22. If the prior owner grieved every year, prepare for a large increase.
Even if it's outdated, your assessment will be updated from nearby sold homes that are similar to yours.
We are in the process of buying our first house in Floral Park area. The house is a cape and only had 2 owners us being the 3rd if everything goes well (signing contract tonight). The house is in original condition but very outdated. The owner never updated anything in the house, unless it was absolutely necessary. Everything the engineer went over with me during the home inspection was related to maintenance stuff that was never done by the owner.
We knew the house required work but not a complete gut, as the layout is the way we would like it. The location, low taxes (I know this will go up when adding space to the house) and the price was the key selling point for us. The only gut job would be the kitchen and bathroom on the main floor, and maybe the small wall between the kitchen and living room. We also plan to do a full or half dormer on the 2nd floor, this all depends on our budget (75k-80k).
Basically, since this is our first reno, we are looking for any advice with renovations and recommendations on contractors that is reliable.
Thank you in advance!
P.S. I did use the search for some contractor info which I will reach out to for estimates as well.
A great resource is the local Mom and Dad Facebook group in your town for contractors. In my opinion your budget will only allow you to redo your kitchen and bath. For the dormer, you need to hire an Architect.
When you see the prices for a dormer, you will realize it would of been cheaper to just buy a colonial in the first place. Unless you paid 35% under market value its almost always cheaper these days to buy it bigger than add on the space.
@TMing Thanks, I took down my Facebook account a long time ago. I'll have my wife look into that group on Facebook. I figured as much if we can't do the dormer now then we'll do it later. It's not as important as getting the first floor done. It's actually 100k budget, but saving the 20k for an unexpected expense that may arise.
@gx89 I agree, but most all the house we've since were above our budget of $650K, especially in that area with the taxes averaging around 12-15k.
Thanks @Aga76! I will reach out to them for an estimate.
Lol. Every reputable contractor has more work then they can handle these days. If a company needs to solicit for business on CD, be careful and make sure you check for references.
Contracting work tends to be more expensive than you think. It’s never close to as cheap as HGTV makes it seem, especially in the tri-State area
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
