has anyone bought a run down house on nice property and gutted/added onto it?

We are weighing a ton of options right now. One is to buy a c rappy house on nice property, getting an architect and building a better house. Has anyone done this? What was your timeframe? Did you go over budget? Any advice would be appreciated.

Re: has anyone bought a run down house on nice property and gutted/added onto it?

this is what we are looking into. I hope we are not looking at the same house!

Re: has anyone bought a run down house on nice property and gutted/added onto it?

We just bought a house in a nice area with a great piece of property. We gutted the entire house. The process is a bit stressful especially with two small kids. I think you need to budget high b/c things always pop up that you did not think you would have to do right away. If you have the time and someplace to stay and you love the area than i say do it!! It also helps if you have a contractor already. We had one but wanted to get some other quotes and a lot of these contractors never call back.. Good luck:)

Re: has anyone bought a run down house on nice property and gutted/added onto it?

we did. We bought a house on nice quiet street and gutted the entire house. WE did not add square footage but we removed walls and vaulted ceiling and rearanged the rooms.

It was great we got the house exactly as we wanted. our kitchen is just how we like and the master bath. It was planned for our future.

My father helped us with the project and this is his 3rd gut, and the smallest project. It took us about 10 months but we did not use a big crew and they are very exact in everything they do. (sometimes a little slow)

I say what ever you budget or an estimate given add 30%

Re: has anyone bought a run down house on nice property and gutted/added onto it?

One piece of advice find out what you want to do is within the guidelines of the town or if you will need variances. In addition inquire how the town works and there turnaround time. Our permits on our extension and dormer took almost a year. - we are in the Town of North Hempstead

Good Luck

Re: has anyone bought a run down house on nice property and gutted/added onto it?

I havent done this, but I would jnquire how much your taxes will go up, it could make this option unaffordable

Re: has anyone bought a run down house on nice property and gutted/added onto it?

So funny bc that was a strong possibility of what we were going to do if we sold this house and bought another. We were thinking of buying area, the shabbiest house and completely redoing it.

My parents did that with the house I grew up in (their current house). I will never forget going with them to see the house (I was very young) and it was yellow and ugly!!

Then they saw the potential the house had and completely re did it. put on extensions, dormers, re arranged rooms etc

The only thing is my dad is in that business so he had a lot of connections PLUS he was able to do a lot of the work himself. They had a contractor but it helps when you have someone there that can oversee a lot.

My DH wouldnt be able to do anything