Any advice for a major home remodeling project? - The Hull Truth

RavenFan · 04-13-2005, 11:18 AM

Help- I am looking at a waterfront home in Maryland that is in disrepair. The home is being sold as is and need a great deal of work. I am hoping someone will be able to answer some questions for me.

1) What should I be sure to know before buying this house?
2) The house is on a well and septic. What should I be looking for to be sure the systems are in good condition?
3) I am planning to keep only the shell and more or less gut the interior. Is there some sort of way to estimate the cost ie. Per square foot?
4) Any other ideas, issues, advice would be a great help.

Cobia · 04-13-2005, 11:54 AM

|Hire a home inspector of YOUR CHOOSING, cost to be deducted from purchase price. Emphasize well output test AND septic/ leach field condition with THE INSPECTOR. Just like when buying a boat, make sure the guy is working for YOU. Get bids on the work required and DO NOT accept the low bid, nor the high bid. Do as the Italian gov. does; average the bids and choose the one closest ot this average. The high bid is prob over the top and the cheap one is shorting you some where.

silverg · 04-13-2005, 12:09 PM

I just went through a pretty intensive renovation of my house and can give more advise than anyone would ever want to read I am sure.

But off the top of my head:

Check with the local health department to determine their rules on septic systems with regard to failure and size requirements per bedroom.
If the unit is in failure mode, will they let you repair and/or replace the system. Could be problems with proximity to water (buffer zones, etc.). If you are adding bedrooms/baths, they may make you increase size of system.

Cost is hard to estimate for a "gut". It really depends on the existing structure or skeleton and how "fine" you want to finish out the house. We had estimates from 50/sf up to 150/sf. Different contractors with different ideas of how they see the house should be finished out.
Kitchens, baths and trimwork are the items I am referring to.

Find someone you trust and draw up a very explicit contract on all responsibilities of the owner and the contractor.

RavenFan · 04-13-2005, 12:10 PM

Other then termites, water damage, and any structural problems can you think of any other major areas for concern. I am more then likely going to replace the HVAC. Has anyone ever seen copper drain pipe before? If so is it ok to keep? People have said the water in that area is very hard is that something that would effect the health of the plumbing system?

RavenFan · 04-13-2005, 12:16 PM

One issue I know I will have is the current owner is asking too much money and is bent on selling the house "as is". Their position is "take it or leave it".

I am planning on doing most of the finish work myself.

Wow 50 to 150 seems like a big range.

Undaunted · 04-13-2005, 12:48 PM

I think you have already answered your question if you feel he is asking too much money. If that is the case, it will not sell and he would open to offers a couple monthes down the road.

Have you looked at what comparable homes in the area are valued at? If someone gave me a take it or leave it offer, I would walk, but that is just me. Sometimes showing a home owner a market ananlysis of the area brings them back to reality. You can get that from your local real estate agent or stop by the County Assessors office to see what they have the property valued at. Sometimes hard numbers like that can help start the negotiating.

As far as estimating costs, that is extremely difficult expecially not seeing the house or knowing your labor costs for your region.

Fish Magician · 04-13-2005, 03:10 PM

Good info has come ahead of me, but we did a remodel on our home....it really soaks up the cash. However, I'd have a finished idea of what I wanted the house to look like when I was done, and make sure that city/town codes will allow you to complete that. You may, or may not, be able to add rooms, increase highth. Some communities have variance on how close the homes can be next to their boundries...You have a lot of work to do. Your real estate agent should be able to help to some degree....if they can't, fire the agent. The "as is" disclaimer should tell you the owner is not disclosing all. Don't let them take advantag advantage of you. Good luck

enygard · 04-13-2005, 04:04 PM

Another thing is whether or not you plan on doing any or all of the work yourself can make a big difference. We bought our house, put about $12k in raw materials into it to redo the kitchen, bath, wood floors, paint, etc, and in 9 months time, raised the value of the house $70k (according to the appraiser).

We did it all ourselves (exept the wood floors, which I wouldn't even think of touching). Had we used contractors, we probably would have spent $50k.

The important thing is to not put so much money into the house that you've got more in it than it can really sell for. Has a lot to do with the neighborhood/surrounding area as well.

Good luck, and post some pics of the house if you can.

Eric

Chum-N-Get It · 04-13-2005, 09:43 PM

You said waterfront so make sure you're not in danger of flooding.

As long as the fill line is in good shape and the tank doesn't need pumping out there shouldn't be any problems with the septic tank.

As far as the cost of remodeling per s.f. the main factor to figure in is if you're married or not. That's the most important info that you seemed to omit.

SpaceMan · 04-13-2005, 11:12 PM

Here's one remodeling contractor's advice.

First, figure out how much money you have to spend on this place, including whatever is required to deal with possible septic inadequacies or problems, plus any dreams of remodeling you have. When figuring out those dreams of remodeling be sure to include what you can live without. If your dreams are bigger than your pocketbook and you still want to buy the place you should consider doing the essentials first, then doing the rest in stages.

Once you have the general plan figured out, get the names of several REPUTABLE remodeling contractors. You should be able to get this info from the local home builders association. Interview the contractors and get references. Check the references and ask questions about how the contractor dealt with problems and whether the clients would hire them again. Then go with the one you feel the best about. Forget the low-bid/high-bid Italian method. You want someone you can trust and someone who is going to price the job accurately. If you do your homework you should be able to get a fair price for the work.

A good contractor should be able to help you make the right choices to bring your job in line with your budget. He's not going to be a miracle worker, so you have to have reasonable expectations. Remember that he will be dealing with a lot of unanswered questions too until he actually starts tearing things apart. So, you'll need to have a contingency fund to deal with the "hidden conditions" you might find. I'm talking about things that are hidden in the walls, floors and ceilings. If the house is in your possession YOU could do some demo yourself in order to find the answers to the hidden problems. Or you could get your contractor to do it if it doesn't fit into your schedule or abilities.

Just remember that bathrooms don't have to have tile floors and kitchens don't have to have granite countertops. Unless, of course, you have the $$$ to do that now.

Good luck with your project.

wakenut · 04-14-2005, 03:30 PM

Ravenfan,
My wife and I just took a one day waterfront development course last night with AA County. Granted building codes are different in every county I did learn a lot about Maryland requirements. Before we bought our waterfront house, we got a copy of the plat from the real estate agent, and took it to the permit office. We had a consultation with a permit reviewer to make sure we could remodel the existing house. The guy from the county gave us a lot of good information on zoning and set backs. My first recomendation would be to get a copy of the plat, and take it to the county.

The main thing I learned from my class las night was, "Every waterfront construction is different." The county decides each permit on a case by case basis. There are buffer zones that will limit construction, but there are also exemptions granted to these buffers. You will need to ask the county if you are buffer exempt. There are requirements for reforestation. If you take a tree down, you have to plant so many of a certain style back. There are definitely restrictions for septic systems.

I have some handouts and websites at home. If you want I can send you that info. Every piece of waterfront property in the state of Maryland is overpriced. Its not going down! Good luck!

Tireless · 04-15-2005, 07:37 AM

Spaceman's post is very good advice. We renovated our 1950's built house 1 1/2 yrs ago and its was a complete success.....I mean it was done within the budget and by the date we targeted. My wife and I had a great time during the process and even the kids liked watching the house be transformed. BTW - by renovation I am talking about removing the entire roof of the house, adding a second floor to certain sections of the house, gutting the existing interior levels, reworking all HVAC systems, etc. A couple of tips I will pass on: Change orders can kill you if you simply ask for a change and you have not establish the price upfront, We visited the site every single day to check on the progress (this allowed us to catch small mess ups and we got them fixed before it was too late and the cost to fix would be astronomical), We often fed and took care of the different trades so that they considered this a fun place to work, I physically helped as often as I could - again, this made the trades view this project as different than their other projects since I was willing to get down a dirty with them to achieve the results we all wanted,We used a fixed fee bid with penalties if the contractor was late ...... it also contained language about a bonus if they finished early ....... we got our CO on the exact date that negated the need for either,If you are married I will add one more piece of advice ....... my wife and I agreed at the beginning of this trip that we would absolutely not get into any arguments over any issue with the house ..... we have friends that almost broke their marriages over fights regarding renovation issues ....... the art of compromise is critically important to avoid this.I could go on and on and on .......... but will stop here.