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I would find out why the owners walked away from the property to begin with. Are there structural issues that will be too expensive to repair? Is there and IRS tax lien against the property? That's a deal breaker as those liens stay with the property. You need to know that property inside and out before you make a decision. We bought a 1911 Four Square that needed everything inside and out. We started restoring it in 1989 and are finally in the home stretch. (We have other properties that would take us away from the house.) We paid 80k for it and thus far have put around 120k into it. At the bottom of the market it appraised for 375k. The learning curve and wow factor of making it beautiful again... Priceless. Can't wait to do a Victorian in Maine.
....really not following this post? How could anyone pair this with such a price tag?
I don't think these lots are worth anything, nobody builds in the city anymore here. There are vacant lots everywhere and virtually no new builds since probably the 1970s at the very latest. I know that head of building code enforcement has publicly stated that rehabilitation is "obviously the desired outcome".
If there's no land value and no structure value, and nobody is building new homes there, what's the perceived value in rehabbing this place? Could you even rent it out?
Let's say you spend $40K fixing it. What else could you live in with that same money?
$300k happens to be the tear down/rehab line where I'm at. A house just up the block from me sold for $325K in severely dilapidated condition. It's back on the market fully rehabbed for more than double that. It doesn't sound as if the house you mentioned has that type of value potential, magnitude aside.
I am confused.
The address is 747 South Fayette, Beckley, WV and not 737 as painted on the garage.
The owner is listed as Douglas M Grant with a PO Box 5374 in Beckley.
Supposedly, he purchased it in 2001 for $12.5K
The taxes are under $100/yr. Delinquent amount has to be small. The city says the building is worth $zero.
You need to talk with councilman Ron Booker.
Walk downtown and have a chat with Robert (Bob) Cannon, city's chief code enforcement officer
You live in a small town. Casual conversations are the way to start this.
As it stands, this property is worth no more than $1K and will have a negative value if the house MUST be demolished.
I would find out why the owners walked away from the property to begin with. Are there structural issues that will be too expensive to repair? Is there and IRS tax lien against the property? That's a deal breaker as those liens stay with the property. You need to know that property inside and out before you make a decision. We bought a 1911 Four Square that needed everything inside and out. We started restoring it in 1989 and are finally in the home stretch. (We have other properties that would take us away from the house.) We paid 80k for it and thus far have put around 120k into it. At the bottom of the market it appraised for 375k. The learning curve and wow factor of making it beautiful again... Priceless. Can't wait to do a Victorian in Maine.
It sounds like your goal is very different from mine though. I'm not interested in renovating for the sake of making an old home like new, I'm just hoping to bring a condemned property up to code so that it is habitable in the city's eyes. How much of your budget was spent simply bringing the home up to code, and how much of it was renovations you simply wanted to make?
Quote:
Originally Posted by mkarch
If there's no land value and no structure value, and nobody is building new homes there, what's the perceived value in rehabbing this place? Could you even rent it out?
Let's say you spend $40K fixing it. What else could you live in with that same money?
$300k happens to be the tear down/rehab line where I'm at. A house just up the block from me sold for $325K in severely dilapidated condition. It's back on the market fully rehabbed for more than double that. It doesn't sound as if the house you mentioned has that type of value potential, magnitude aside.
I'm interested in these kinds of properties for myself, as place of my own. Around here, 40k doesn't go any further than this, if you can even FIND a comparable house that's actually on the market. There are a lot more structures actually on the demo list than on the market.
My brothers house, which is a few blocks away from this one, is similar age and size, appraised for something like 40k to 45k after repairs and updates and in generally good condition. He got the house at 25k, it had structural issues, though it was not condemned and it was bank owned. His neighbor down the road bought a similar bank owned home that came with a giant lot for 15k. This is what makes me think that a condemned property would be significantly discounted from even those prices. Or perhaps I could acquire through paying backed taxes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heidi60
Are their any city/county funds available for redevelopement?
I am confused.
The address is 747 South Fayette, Beckley, WV and not 737 as painted on the garage.
The owner is listed as Douglas M Grant with a PO Box 5374 in Beckley.
Supposedly, he purchased it in 2001 for $12.5K
The taxes are under $100/yr. Delinquent amount has to be small. The city says the building is worth $zero.
You need to talk with councilman Ron Booker.
Walk downtown and have a chat with Robert (Bob) Cannon, city's chief code enforcement officer
You live in a small town. Casual conversations are the way to start this.
As it stands, this property is worth no more than $1K and will have a negative value if the house MUST be demolished.
Where did you find that information Dave? As it is quite detailed, but inaccurate. 747 South Fayette was demolished last fall and that one DID belong to a Douglas M Grant. 737 South Fayette from the parcel info I found belongs to a Raymond Hughes of Savannah, GA. Do you have financial history or info on 737 Dave?
Where did you find that information Dave? 737 South Fayette from the parcel info I found belongs to a Raymond Hughes of Savannah, GA. Do you have financial history or info on 737 Dave?
kio22 Are you handy? Our big ticket items were the plumbing, the roof, and the exterior renovation. These things were too big to handle our self. The basement laundry room project which included putting in a shower cost us around 17k. We did all the work and used high end material. I have pictures of it in my CD photo album. You can use high end materials if you do the labor yourself. I think the biggest expense in the basement was the Arts and Crafts paneling John built. That was around 3k. Hiring someone to do the drywall and taping would have been around 2k. Are you looking to rent the property out or flip it? I certainly wouldn't do high end renovations if that was your goal. We have a rental that we put a kitchen in and priced out laminate counter tops. They wanted around 600 dollars. We installed granite squares and trimmed it with oak for about 200 dollars. It looks much better than the laminate for a fraction of the cost. Everything rents better and sells better if it's in tip top shape. Just make sure you know the comps inside and out and there isn't anything seriously wrong with it structurally. We almost bought a two flat when we were newly married until I went and talked to the previous owner. It was an eye opener and we passed.
First thing is you need to find out if they WANT to tear the house down. There might be a new wall mart or the mayors new back 40 scheduled to be there already.
Then if they really want it fixed, you negoitate with them. Get everything in writing. Go thru the building permit office make a set of plans and find out what they really want. Then expect to pay more.
I noticed it looks like the outside of that house has asbestos tiles on it.
The reality is you should walk away from it.
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My advice still holds
