Beth in OH Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 I just pulled the flyer we took yesterday (before we spoke to the realtor) and it says "Seller will give upgrade allowance at closing $2455 for the well (lists the bidder) and $12450 for mound system (lists the bidder)". What does that mean? Does that mean that the asking price is that much lower at the end of everything??:001_huh: It probably means that there are known well and septic function/compliance issues. You will definitely want to find out whether the allowances are adequate to fix any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Well, there wouldn't be insulation in the walls, would there? And the walls would be plaster - I wonder what shape they're in if not changed out ever.... That age would mean the house was built in what - about 1900? That would mean knob and post electricity? That really, really needs to be changed out because it is very dangerous.... While you might want to keep the original glass of the windows (if it's still original), you'd really need to do something about trying to provide insulation around them to prevent too much heat loss.... And plumbing? Wow, that would be scary, too! Lead pipes? Lead paint? I'm not sure with that age.... If I had someone who knew about doing such restorations who could counsel me, and if they thought it was doable, I'd love to have an old farmhouse. I hope it works out for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4wildberrys Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 That's how I feel about our current home too (vintage 1915). :001_wub: I even love it's quirks at this point. Like how the steps squeak when you walk down them. All 4 of us have a different squeak pattern, so you can tell who is walking down the stairs even if you can't see them. :D How interesting is this? I LOVE, love this house too!! LOVE IT! We have redone it from roof to basement, moved away and came back because the new house never felt like 'home'. The floor squeaks, all of it. But we D-E-T-E-S-T the town we live in :glare: How does this work? I would love to move this home we live in to the coast where we really want to live ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 You need an inspector. You need comps. If you know a contractor, get that person to visit with the inspector. If you know what you are buying and bid well--and can afford the renovations-- it might be your dream home. As long as you are not paying market value for a home that needs everything, it might well be a good investment. If my home had cost 90k, I would be sitting on a pile of gold. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 I have not read the rest of the replies yet, but absolutely, yes, I would consider it! Original is better than "badly retrofitted!" (DH says "remuddled.") Of course, my DH is an old house professional, so he'd do the work himself and would make sure it was done right, but yes, this is a great chance to have a cool, solid old house. Just be sure that you do any updating carefully and sensitively -- this is the last time it will be original, so look for a good professional to advise you. DH says you want a good general contractor (who is experienced with old houses) who will get your plumbing, electrical, and HVAC guys working together in concert to produce a finished product that is done well and sensitively. He says it will be easily $100K, for those three things (and I'd trust his accuracy -- writing contracts and bids is what he does). He says you might talk to the local historical society to see if anyone there can recommend people they know or have used that are good with historical work. That being said, we *do* have an old house, probably almost 200 years old. It has its ups and downs. Some of the updates were done badly and clumsily. Some of them by default wrecked the old house flavor -- the traditional two-story porches were wrecked, because otherwise there were no other places to put bathrooms and laundry room. Most of the original windows were removed, in favor of modern non-drafty ones. Unfortunate but somewhat necessary sacrifices. (But we also have a fair amount of space and land, more than we could have afforded with a newer house, and the 20-year-old houses we've owned have had their issues too.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 You need an inspector. You need comps. If you know a contractor, get that person to visit with the inspector. If you know what you are buying and bid well--and can afford the renovations-- it might be your dream home. As long as you are not paying market value for a home that needs everything, it might well be a good investment. If my home had cost 90k, I would be sitting on a pile of gold. :) :iagree::iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 I just pulled the flyer we took yesterday (before we spoke to the realtor) and it says "Seller will give upgrade allowance at closing $2455 for the well (lists the bidder) and $12450 for mound system (lists the bidder)". What does that mean? Does that mean that the asking price is that much lower at the end of everything??:001_huh: Ugh. That would worry me. Wells are not something to mess with. Before you go forward, make sure you can even *get* water. You may get to hire a water witch :001_smile:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 I think your estimate of fixing things up for 50- or 60 K is probably way too low. Just electrical costs a lot. We bought a much newer house (built in late 60's) which has had extensive good updates. Even so, we need to add another electrical panel box because this one is maxed out and we had an electrical dryer. Without adding any more outlets or wiring anything else, that will cost us about 3200 dollars. It already cost us somewhere between 300-400 dollars to install our dryer since the electrician needed to reconfigure the box some, put in a new outlet, and then rewire our dryer because even though we bought this dryer only 5 years ago, the electrical code has changed in that time and now the dryers need 4 prong cords. WIth a 100 year old house I would think all standards have changed and to bring everything up to code or to safety standards (we have no small children so we didn't test for lead paint but we did test for radon and we had the sellers put in a radon ebatement system). Furthermore, if you aren't experienced gardeners and probably even if you are, becoming substinence farmers is a very hard proposition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 No. I live in a 110yo Victorian. The only updates it has had have been done by amateur do-it-yourselfers. When we moved in every square inch needed to be repaired or replaced. It's been twelve years and we're only half done,, and the cost is more than double our original estimates. Don't do it unless you know you love rehab. And if you have $150,000 above and beyond your purchase price to pay for the rehab. That figure may be a little low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 I think your estimate of fixing things up for 50- or 60 K is probably way too low. Just electrical costs a lot. . . . Furthermore, if you aren't experienced gardeners and probably even if you are, becoming substinence farmers is a very hard proposition. :iagree: $50,000-$60,000 will buy you a kitchen and maybe a powder room, and they won't necessary be luxurious. You're talking about a complete gut with all new plumbing and electric. Get a contractor to look at it to confirm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 Do you know how much I love you guys? I'm so glad we are talking actual $$ here - it is extremely helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 (edited) No. I live in a 110yo Victorian. The only updates it has had have been done by amateur do-it-yourselfers. When we moved in every square inch needed to be repaired or replaced. It's been twelve years and we're only half done,, and the cost is more than double our original estimates. Don't do it unless you know you love rehab. And if you have $150,000 above and beyond your purchase price to pay for the rehab. That figure may be a little low. If you bought a 90k house in my area, on that acerage, put 150 into it, you're looking at something quite amazing, with no downside. There hasn't been anything available for 90k, in any shape or form, in a couple + decades. You couldn't buy a small house lot here for that. We can armchair quaterback this all we want, but we can't possibly know if it's worth it without comps and reports. This is a 100% regional and area-specific question. Edited August 23, 2011 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 Ugh. That would worry me. Wells are not something to mess with. Before you go forward, make sure you can even *get* water. You may get to hire a water witch :001_smile:. That made me wonder too. What makes a well go bad? I know this area (I grew up not far from there) and it is wet, a few miles from the swamp which is a few miles from the bay. I can't imagine there is no water, but why would the first well be bad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 (edited) If you bought a 90k house in my area, on that acerage, put 150 into it, you're looking at something quite amazing, with no downside. The thing is that there hasn't been anything available for 90k, in any shape or form, in a few decades. You couldn't buy a small house lot here for that. We can armchair quaterback this all we want, but we can't possibly know if it's worth it without comps and reports. This is a 100% regional and area-specific question. You're right, and I live in a middle-ish cost of living area, but I think she's close - if you count the electrical, flooring, windows, appliances, and all the things that *could* possibly go into a kitchen (new walls, cupboards, plumbing, wall removal, etc...), it might not be quite $50K, but possibly $35K, I would think, at the end of everything. And that's a hefty portion of what I originally thought of for the whole house. I'm really re-thinking, and I'm thinking if it's as bad as I think it might be, a good, solid $75K might be do-able for the whole thing. But I'm still not sure. Edited August 23, 2011 by LauraGB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 (edited) You're right, and I live in a middle-ish cost of living area, but I think she's close - if you count the electrical, flooring, windows, appliances, and all the things that *could* possibly go into a kitchen (new walls, cupboards, plumbing, wall removal, etc...), it might not be quite $50K, but possibly $35K, I would think, at the end of everything. Labor and supplies are costly. If you can do some work yourself, it would save you money. Land where I live is very $. Edited August 23, 2011 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 I have never seen a home for 90k. Not since about 1988. I haven't seen it here, either. At least, not with a home over 1000sq ft and 1/10th of an acre in a declining part of town. That's why I'm dying waiting for tomorrow to find out what *really* needs to be done to this place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 (edited) I haven't seen it here, either. At least, not with a home over 1000sq ft and 1/10th of an acre in a declining part of town. That's why I'm dying waiting for tomorrow to find out what *really* needs to be done to this place. :) Good luck! Do your homework, learn everything you can! :)!! Sweat equity can be a wonderful thing! Edited August 26, 2011 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in OH Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 What makes a well go bad? With old homes, it's not uncommon for the well to have high bacteria levels due to placement close to an old septic system. We have had to dig entirely new wells on old farms due to this problem. It's also possible that the well isn't actually "bad", but regulations require it to be brought up to modern code upon transfer of the property. Modern regulations require certain types of well/septic, and certain separation between the two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 With old homes, it's not uncommon for the well to have high bacteria levels due to placement close to an old septic system. We have had to dig entirely new wells on old farms due to this problem. It's also possible that the well isn't actually "bad", but regulations require it to be brought up to modern code upon transfer of the property. Modern regulations require certain types of well/septic, and certain separation between the two. It's possible the house does not meet mortgage lending requirements and the owners are looking for a cash sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 That made me wonder too. What makes a well go bad? I know this area (I grew up not far from there) and it is wet, a few miles from the swamp which is a few miles from the bay. I can't imagine there is no water, but why would the first well be bad? It could be contaminated by impurities the ground, run off or the lines are bad. My m/fil live on land with a pond 100 feet from thier front door. They have tons of water, but it also has tons of iron it it. LOL It can be used for household tasks, but not drinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 With old homes, it's not uncommon for the well to have high bacteria levels due to placement close to an old septic system. We have had to dig entirely new wells on old farms due to this problem. It's also possible that the well isn't actually "bad", but regulations require it to be brought up to modern code upon transfer of the property. Modern regulations require certain types of well/septic, and certain separation between the two. Yep. We had to have a new well put in because the old one was 17 (yes, seventeen) feet deep, open at the top with just a metal lid, and had a very high bacteria count (coliform and some E. Coli) - although the old salts living here didn't seem to be affected in the least. But in my state you can't legally sell a home without potable water, so when the well failed, they had to put in a new one at their expense before they could sell it to anyone, so we didn't have to pay for it. The new well is 170 feet deep. We did put the softener on ourselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwjx2khsmj Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 (edited) I just pulled the flyer we took yesterday (before we spoke to the realtor) and it says "Seller will give upgrade allowance at closing $2455 for the well (lists the bidder) and $12450 for mound system (lists the bidder)". What does that mean? Does that mean that the asking price is that much lower at the end of everything??:001_huh: It means that there are serious problems with the water supply and with the septic system for this house. And that the seller REALLY wants to get rid of this property. ETA: It also means that you will have a difficult time getting financing because a bank won't let those things pass through the inspection without a fix prior to closing. Even at $90,000 I doubt a bank would finance without viable water and septic. Do you have the $$ to pay cash or have another means of finance? Is the seller willing to finance? Also, if you decide to do this and go for bank financing, be sure the bank understands that there is property in addition to the home. We learned the hard way (delayed closing and two weeks in a hotel) that a house with property greater than 3-5 acres requires extra time and approval from the bank. We still aren't sure how our 37 acres wasn't noticed until a few days before closing but it sure caused chaos. Edited August 23, 2011 by rwjx2khsmj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwjx2khsmj Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Being self-sufficient (as much as possible) is the dream. We want to be able to have orchards (peaches, plums, pears, apples, etc) and gardens. Invite people to come on over and pick their own. And a place for dh to move his machines for his business to (possibly the renovated barn) and still run that one. I totally understand this dream. We bought a farm in January. Thirty-seven acres and a house built pre 1900. The house had been totally renovated to the tune of $200,000+. Everything is new and it was all pricey. I'm thankful every day that we have our beautiful farm and that I can concentrate on learning about the land and animals and not on fixing the house. Our goal is also self-sufficiency first, then profit. We are 2-3 years from self-sufficiency and 5+ years from profit. Everything takes longer and costs more than we realized and the learning curve is steep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 That made me wonder too. What makes a well go bad? I know this area (I grew up not far from there) and it is wet, a few miles from the swamp which is a few miles from the bay. I can't imagine there is no water, but why would the first well be bad? I honestly have no idea. I just know that when our pump burned out, the guy that came out and fixed it gave me a long and detailed history of the well problems in my neighborhood.....which happens to be located on a LAKE. He told me how lucky we were that we had didn't have to share a well and that we got water at all. We have a spring somewhere on our property that runs into a large boggy area, to a stream, that eventually runs into the lake. All of this runs by a useless piece of property that has been drilled, very deeply, to find no water. I had no idea such a thing could happen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 If you have an itchy rash on the leg, with irritated skin for months....you apply Benadryl cream and it clears within a few hours....would you assume it was allergy related? I assume the rash will return tomorrow, I am just surprised to see that it helped at all. How would you go about figuring out what the cause is? Will Benadryl treat anything other than an allergy? Oral antihistamines offer itch relief, but not the irritation. Moisturizing creams do nothing (Cetaphil, Aquaphor, etc). Steroid creams have been used to minimize itching but it returns the next day (hydrocortisone, mometasone, Protoptic). Antifungals do nothing (clotriamazole, terconazole, miconazole nor diflucan). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 (edited) We just spent the last two hours at that house. Oh. My. Word. It rocked! It was definitely not a dump at all. Needs pretty much everything done to it, but ALL of the woodwork (the windows, the doors, the 10-12" baseboards, the moulding...) is completely in tact. There are pocket doors, rooms with two swinging doors, all the flooring (two rooms downstairs had icky carpet and the kitchen had vinyl), everything in that capacity was in amazing condition. Even the solid six panel doors had the original doorknobs, and the hinges looked like copper scallops - they are beautiful. One room toward the front of the house sloped a lot, but all the others were unbelievably level. The ceilings were 10 ft (maybe taller?) both downstairs and upstairs. There are 5 gigantic bedrooms upstairs (all about 14X15 or 15x15), all of them have HUGE walk-in closets, and yes, the hallway is actually 5 ft wide! My finger tips barely touched each wall when I stretched my arms out. And the landing at the top of one stairwell (there are two) was nearly the size of my son's bedroom! The one bathroom downstairs was...well...eww. Downstairs, there is a largish kitchen, a laundry room that also houses the crazy woodstove, a dining room of size proportions I have never seen before (with a built in hutch that looked pretty cool), a gigantic living room, the library (with the pocket doors) and another large room that was a den, I guess, and then another that was being used as the "master" bedroom. The barn just needs to be razed. But it looked like they poured new concrete in there not too long ago. The cellar was probably 7ft high and only under about 1/3 of the house with a hole knocked into the stone to reveal the crawl space under the rest of the house (no way was I going in there). I want it. Edited August 23, 2011 by LauraGB added more description Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Yes! It sounds well worth the cost to update electric/plumbing and add a woodstove. Sounds like my dream property. I've lived in old and new houses. Old houses are so much easier, well made, and long lasting. I'm through with shoddy construction in newer houses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 And you guys were spot on with the $100K thoughts. Easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest submarines Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 We just spent the last two hours at that house. Oh. My. Word. It rocked! It was definitely not a dump at all. Needs pretty much everything done to it, but ALL of the woodwork (the windows, the doors, the 10-12" baseboards, the moulding...) is completely in tact. There are pocket doors, rooms with two swinging doors, all the flooring (two rooms downstairs had icky carpet and the kitchen had vinyl), everything in that capacity was in amazing condition. Even the solid six panel doors had the original doorknobs, and the hinges looked like copper scallops - they are beautiful. One room toward the front of the house sloped a lot, but all the others were unbelievably level. The ceilings were 10 ft (maybe taller?) both downstairs and upstairs. There are 5 gigantic bedrooms upstairs (all about 14X15 or 15x15), all of them have HUGE walk-in closets, and yes, the hallway is actually 5 ft wide! My finger tips barely touched each wall when I stretched my arms out. And the landing at the top of one stairwell (there are two) was nearly the size of my son's bedroom! The one bathroom downstairs was...well...eww. Downstairs, there is a largish kitchen, a laundry room that also houses the crazy woodstove, a dining room of size proportions I have never seen before (with a built in hutch that looked pretty cool), a gigantic living room, the library (with the pocket doors) and another large room that was being used as a bedroom. The barn just needs to be razed. But it looked like they poured new concrete in there not too long ago. The cellar was probably 7ft high and only under about 1/3 of the house with a hole knocked into the stone to reveal the crawl space under the rest of the house (no way was I going in there). I want it. Oh my. You are in love with it. Have you found out what is the problem with the well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 Oh my. You are in love with it. Have you found out what is the problem with the well? It wasn't high enough, I guess. There is a little house around it, and it was way down, which wasn't up to code. Same with the septic - the standards changed and they were fine, but now that they are selling it, the county wants it brought up the current standards. So, good news on that front. And the electricity was updated to 100amp a few months ago - not sure exactly what that means, but it was the minimum they had to do for insurance purposes and before they could sell it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Oh wow! I'm excited with you! Be wise. Get someone in there to give you estimates just to be sure...and if that turns out ok--go for it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted August 24, 2011 Author Share Posted August 24, 2011 Would you believe a tornado just ripped through the area in which this house is? Literally, within the past hour. :001_huh: I expect it's probably still there (I mean, it's been there long enough already). But what are the odds? Maybe it's a sign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Having not read all 14 pages, I will say this: Our house is 150 years old. I would be positively ecstatic if everything was "original" instead of "improved" by people who I think had some sort of animosity toward the house. It is a labor of love. Sometimes, you just go :confused: when you find things but, in the spirit of homeschooling, we have learned a LOT, completely out of necessity. Like how to make replacement clapboards (no one makes our style anymore, or the interior trim), how to bend wood around a Victorian porch, how to make proper storm windows to replace the carp combination ones ... You, too, will become the "crazy caulk lady" at the local home improvemt store, and you will learn to love spray foam (though it took me almost a decade to get past the trauma of chiseling it out from between our window sashes) because you are the High Commander of the Draft Police. Yeah. My dad has started referring to us as "crazy router people". It fits. So, if all that (and more WTH moments than you thought possible) sounds good, welcome to the funhouse! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest submarines Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Would you believe a tornado just ripped through the area in which this house is? Literally, within the past hour. :001_huh: I expect it's probably still there (I mean, it's been there long enough already). But what are the odds? Maybe it's a sign. Oh my! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 My first response was "Yes!" Of course, after reading the other responses I start thinking a bit more. Hmm....maybe that's why we own this house. No, wait. I was ignorant then. I'm not now. I should know better, but still, it sounds like it could be wonderful. Yes, a lot of work and money. But wonderful. Our house is about 150 years old. We couldn't get a mortgage at first because we were told it wasn't even livable. We put down more money and got the mortgage, did a lot of work before even moving in. Yes, we needed new electrical wiring. There was no heat upstairs. There was a furnace though. Funny thing is, we don't use it anymore and heat the house almost solely with wood heat. (We used electric heaters in the bedrooms, but I think we will stop this year, as we got a second wood stove.) I don't actually know how much money we have put into this house. It's not "done." It never will be. I'm not sure what kind of house I would buy if I were to buy a new one. Not that I have any chance of that in the near future. Still, if you like the house, the property, and the area, and are ready for what it entails, I'd say go for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Awesome!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 And you guys were spot on with the $100K thoughts. Easily. I am certain that the number is spot on. I have been living the reality for twelve years. I'll just repeat--make sure you love rehab, because it will take a lot of time and sweat, and make sure you know where the money will come from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.