Would YOU do it?
 

I found a HUD property for sale in a VERY nice area. Its actually in a small town, but considered outside of the city limits, and on 2 acres. (The rest of the houses just before that street are on 50x150 lots, if that).

Here are all the negatives...
The house has sat empty for years. It has been stripped out, and to be honest, needs gutted to the studs and started over.
There is a bit of asbestos in the basement ceiling.
It has a couple small outbuildings that need torn down.
It needs resided and new windows, but the roof is probably OK.
Might need re-wired.
Only 800 square feet.
The 100x300 lot the house sits on is cleared, but the remaining 200x300 is covered in brush...and is low-lying. It looks like they tried to fill it in with JUNK. Tons of junk, furniture, bags of trash, busted up concrete, etc. Private land fill, it looks like.
Don't know the condition of the well and septic.

The good points (yeah, hard to find any)
The "bones" of the house seem very good, sturdy.
The fireplace and chimney are VERY nice. Straight, sturdy, don't need pointed or anything.
The neighborhood is VERY nice. Newer homes around it.
Since it is "out of town", I can have chickens.
Houses on that street sell for $80K and up (and that's farther down the street "in town", on 50x150 lots).
This is a HUD house listed for $22K. And the realtor says to offer $12K and they'd probably take it.

The reason I would consider it is because I'd like a small house, and I'd build a very large barn as a music studio and storage. I'd build a garage, too. Lots and lots of room for gardens and orchards. Not too many trees already there, though. It's only 1/2 mile from family.

But I'd have to hire it gutted out, and hire someone to clear the trash and land. And it will probably need a new septic, I'm guessing.

So....would YOU tackle a project like this? I currently live in town. Can't have chickens, and no space for a garden.

Sounds like you are paying $12k for a lot that needs cleaned up. What would a good piece of property similar to it, but ready to build on cost? I would probably feel different if you were planning to do the cleanup and the rebuilding, but since you are having it all hired done, that is going to add a lot of money to the initial cost to get it to a point where you can actually use it. I guess that is what I would look at. What are you likely to have spent by the time it is livable, compared to buying something already livable?

City water/sewer or septic?

Well and septic. I don't think "city water" goes out that far yet.

There is a 50x150 lot just down the street from this place that is flat and build-ready. It is $12K. It would have city water and sewer, however. This would be 2 ACRES for the same price.

I'm just not sure. It isn't my ideal, but COULD be a very nice place at some point. I wouldn't chose this location as my final homestead, but, for now, it is close to family and I'm sure could be fixed up fairly reasonably. The last place I built, I paid $25K just for the 3 acres.

I guess I'm just thinking it would be a fun project once I had it gutted out and the land cleared. And I'm excited about the possibility of an orchard and gardens again. And chickens! LOL

Our new homestead was a similar find, it cost less than the land is worth (not to mention two nice outbuildings) and we took it down to the studs. I say, if you think it will fit your needs, do it.... but I probably wouldn't try to save a house that small with the goal of saving money as you're really only saving very little framing labor and materials. We saved more than the studs in a few places and it's still questionable if we made out over a new double-wide on 1700~ sqft. The benefit to renovating is not spending all the money at the same time if you have somewhere else to live while its a work in progress, and hand-picking each of your materials.

I'd see what overstock or nice-used mobiles are in the area and put those on the lot. You may not even need to extend the slab.

If you are leaning towards saving the structure, the clean out shouldn't be too expensive, should be able to fill and dump a 30yd dumpster for under 1k. It's the asbestos that gets tricky, who knows about it? If the town/state doesn't know I'd buy some respirators and handle that off the record.

Bonus tip if you do it: Insulate the whole thing with Roxul, it's worth the extra few pennies.

It's only about 10 minutes from our weekend/summer house. That house was supposed to be our "retirement" home, but we've discovered that it is too small and there is no way to build on. We have a music studio and equipment and there is just NO WAY to store that in the weekend house. And the lot is less than 1/2 acre, so can't build a studio. And no suitable place for a garden, and chickens are forbidden. We need at least 1200 sqft for the studio.

My goal had been to have a tiny home, with a BIG barn/studio/storage area... so this other place seems like a good start. It has a full basement, brand new furnace and brand new wood stove (still has the paper on the window!). The basement is 20x20 (house is 2-story). I would rather rebuild in frame. I don't want a modular.


What is Roxul??

Did you mention the foundation? I see you said it had a basement. It's all good and tight? Did you look at it in the wet/rain?

The basement looked pretty sound, although I worry because the sump hole was full to the top with water. Maybe the sump is bad? It didn't look like the basement had been damp, though.

The land was walk-able and not too mushy. My house, 10 minutes away, is mushier than that right now with the spring thaw.

I am going to try to figure out what it would cost to have the extra lot cleaned up (bull-dozer, landfill fees, etc.). That would be a definite deal-breaker if it is too expensive. Where do you start to get that information? I mean, you can't find bull-dozers in the yellow pages.

Well, you can, it's usually under excavators. But, it might be easier to pull out the couches/furniture/metal and bring more fill in.

Honestly, THAT part of it makes me scream no. But I've got a trash pile out back on my 2.37 here that sounds much smaller than yours and I've been cleaning up for several years. Now that I just bought my JD with FEL, I'm feeling confident this will be the year that we get 'er done.

Sounds like a fun toy to have! I had an old Kubota with a bucket on the front and I had a ball with it!!! I used it for everything. I can't physically pick up and carry a bale of hay, but I can scoop it up and move it with the Kubota. :)

To save on landfill fees you could have a contractor come in, dig a big hole in the back corner, and push all the junk from the lot into it. They could leave the hole open until you are done remodeling. The biggest expense for disposal from the remodel will be the plaster because of the weight. That can go right in the hole. You can burn all the lath in that same hole so that way the nails are buried. Then the next year have the contractor come back and fill in the hole. Clean yard and no tipping/dumpster fees

I thought about that, too. Especially with the concrete block and slabs, etc. Except that just goes against my grain, somehow. It's still an option, I guess. That part of the land is low, anyway, but I thought about maybe having a pond dug, and using the dirt to raise the levels in the rest of the property.

Without knowing exactly what's buried in those junk piles and the cost of cleanup I'd steer clear. You've already mentioned asbestos which if it is declared on any sale documents can lead to costly cleanup and mitigation depending on your locality. Most landfills and thus most refuse removal companies have policies in place as to what they'll take and not take. You may have a bunch of stuff they won't or that will cost extra for proper disposal. Burying on site may or may not be an option depending on local regs. Compounding all this is the location. A residential neighborhood has more eyes and ears than a rural one. Given that other smaller lots are valued at the same as this one it's unlikely that a developer hasn't run the numbers and decided it's not worth the trouble or expense. After having said all that, life's an adventure, right? This may be your next one.

If the bones are good, there is no black mold, the neighborhood it good......
I'd do it in a heartbeat.

This is the kind of gem I am looking for in Florida!!!

Good to know your grain. That is huge.

I have reached a point that I measure the time it takes to do major projects vs. the time that I could be practicing music or how I could injure my hands and fingers in a way that could limit music ability, if there is any to be developed. The interest is there.

I thought about your opportunity and my imagination took over. I would build the barn with a house in it that had a loft, studio and dance floor in one. Just a little echo...and concrete floors, adding hardwood dance floor. A friend always says buy new until you can afford used.

Oh, to practice vibrato and listen for intonation for ten minutes there with the sound coming back to me from the floor, vaulted ceiling and walls.

OK, I'm wake again. Not telling you what to do. You just made me think.

You will find what you want. You will make what you want.

You described our place but if I would have had to hire everything out I would not have bought ours. We got just under 20 acres with a good shop and house with solid bones for $34 thousand (the land is worth considerably more where we are). We gutted it ourselves and had new drywall installed through the whole house. We had cabinets made and installed but we did everything else ourselves.

I doubt that a dump run was made a single time since the house was built but I have a 1/4 acre hole in the ground where they attempted to dig a pond. The limestone that we are on won't hold water so that has been my land fill.

We are having a large work shop built now and when it's all said and done we will have a little over $100K in the place. That isn't cheap but it was a pay as you go project in cash and we couldn't buy a similar property where we live now for double that and it's all ours with no bank involved.

Hahaha, Bret... when did you start spying on my dreams!!! :) I have the same. A big barn, with a music room/museum (LOL), room for sound equipment storage so I can just ROLL it to the van, and a huge, vaulted , wooden floored dance hall. And another room for my sewing room, big enough for a quilting frame and all my "stuff".

And off of the barn, between the buildings, would be a large wooden deck with a fire pit, and a screened in gazebo for summer-time jams.

That's why I don't really care if the house is small. I'd actually prefer it that way...cheaper taxes.

See you in a couple months? Did you see Gibson Brothers will be there? Working on Grascals, too!!!!

How long ago was that? That's extremely reasonable.

I'd have to hire out the gutting because I'm so allergic to mildew/mold/dust. Although I am surprised that my inspection of the house yesterday didn't cause any reactions. I didn't see any obvious mold, but they had critters that left deposits all over the floors. You could tell that someone had attempted to scrape them off, but it was still very obvious. They were all hardwood floors, too. I'd have to remove all of them, and start over. The wood seemed stained...I don't think you could just sand it down.

Not sure where you find the value in this situation. New roof.septic would run you at least $12K alone, not to mention all the other stuff. Putting in new heat/AC will be another $4K.

I guess it depends on your local market. HUD is practically giving away new property in our area so based on my experience, I do not see a deal. For instance, I saw a listing for a two year old double wide on 3 acres that the original loan amount was something around $128K and they sold it as a REO property for $40K.

Declan, thanks for the input. In this situation, however, it doesn't need a new roof and MAY not need a new septic. It already has a brand new furnace, so only needs the A/C unit (if I choose to add A/C).

The biggest obstacle right now is the "landfill" on it. I'm hoping to go out today to get a better idea of the scope of that.

The house is doable and reasonably so. I built my last homestead myself and I know prices, so I'm comfortable with that. I've just never had to clear land before and that's my stumbling block with this whole situation.

In this area of the country, you won't find deals like that double-wide. Of course, you won't find mobiles or double-wides, either. I'm guessing I can buy, fix up the house, build a new garage and barn, and coop, for about $130K. That will be with everything brand new and exactly the way I want it. That also includes hiring out the gutting of the house, and hiring the barn and garage built. I can do the house remodel. And that makes the total about half to 75% of a similar property in this area.

I know that I could go further away from here and buy MUCH more land for the same price, but I need to stay in this area for now.

An acre is 210 x 210 feet so that lot is slightly more than 2 acres.

Is there a flowing stream on the property? You mentioned pond, if no flowing water, where would the water come from? If surface water it would become stagnate mosquito pond in dry weather. Of course I don't see why eople want a pond on small acreage anyway, but that's just me.

If you are going to fill in the low area, the concrete would make nice fill, but you would have to check with county regulations, without giving your name and from a pay phone, or maybe your county is not like mine which has champagne tastes and beer management abilities. Here, they would want to inspect the property first and if there is a hint of asbestos you don't want that. I would do careful research on removing the asbestos before going further.

Water in the sump doesn't bother me. Put a sump pump in there and go on.

If you go on with the project, try to avoid getting a building permit for the house renovation. Those are just a way for the county to have an excuse to charge more in
taxes. You will have to have a permit for the proposed shop, etc.

Good luck.

COWS

That mainly will depend on your tolerance level for junk. Being able to keep chickens, I assume code enforcement won't be on you for the trash. I have never found clearing land hard, just time consuming, but I also have curbside pickup so I can just fill cans and drag brush to the road as opposed to having to haul it off somewhere to a dump/dumpster.

Where does the waste from the town the house is located go? If it is a county site call then and ask what the dump fee is and who is the best service for bringing landfill material in? Contact that service and get them to give you a quote. Do the same with a service that pumps septic tanks and a service that does well maintenance. Add these fees together and any other needs that you would contract. Couple these expenses with the perceived purchase price. When you get all the prices totaled ask yourself what you could sell the home for? How does this number compare with what you think the home would be worth should you sell at this point? Is it marketable at a profit? If so, you could recover your investment and not suffer a loss. I do believe that you can buy anything you want provided you have two ways of paying for it. PS...what was the tax appraised value put on the place by the tax department before foreclosure?

Would YOU do it?
 

I think we would have to know very specifically where this property was located and see good clear pictures for anybody to really give you accurate advice.
Your perceptions and comfort levels and then Neighbors zoning regulation government attitude and general busy bodyness are the keys in this situation

You will probably never get all that junk up. Every time it rains more will surface which can be dangerous if you plan on any type of animals.

We bought a fixer upper. Not as bad as yours, but needed holes in the roof repaired. Also put on new standing seam roof, gutted bathroom and redone, new electric, sanded floors, gutted basement, new boiler, new plumbing.,,,,, by the time we are done it will be worth it. We will spend less money than if we had bought a home to walk into. It is two lots, at the edge of town, near one of our DD. Low crime, small town.

Is this house worth it? Probably not. It needs too much work and then you are going to need to build your studio. I think you will end up spending so much to get what you really want that you could have just bought one of those other properties in the neighborhood.

If you are serious, have an inspector inspect the home and tell you what he thinks of the skeleton. Our house was worth fixing up because it was 62 years old and well built at the time.

Now CC- I'll say this...

As much as the outside would dissuade me, there are certainly advantages of buying so cheap (I'd offer less actually) and doing it all in cash as you go. If you have the time, energy and commitment... great.

What's it look like from google maps/satellite?

Here is the Zillow link. http://www.zillow.com/homes/830-fair...rton,-ohio_rb/ Remember, I said I'd gut the entire inside! LOL.

When I was there a couple days ago, there was a gentleman from out of the area looking it over. I drove by today and he was there again. He was measuring the outside. I think he's interested in "flipping it". I've got someone coming this weekend to give me an estimate on cleaning up the lot.

The more I think about it, the more I think I'd probably rather find something in a different area. Once my father-in-law is gone (he's 92), I can't imagine that I'd want to still live in this area. Would rather move closer to my children. So it probably doesn't make sense to buy something now.

But it's still fun to dream! Agmantoo...good idea to call the local landfill. I hadn't thought about that.

Other than the appearance of a fire in the enclosed porch by the stove, it doesn't look as bad as I imagined. Since you are looking elsewhere you think, I just wanted to add that it depends on you and your situation. I am in the process of improving a REO property. I have put a lot of time and money into and still have lots I want to do, but it is becoming a chore. If you really get off on doing stuff like that yourself, the value could be more in the satisfaction of doing than in the money saved. If you have to contract most of it out, then the money could be an issue. Most of that is cash out of pocket and my house is sucking them pockets dry and it was only built in the 80's. I would never do it again unless I fell in love with some place that I could see as my forever home. My current house is an acceptable forever home for me but it certainly isn't as interesting as I wish it were and lacks all those great details old homes have I wish mine did.

Didn't you used to be out in NW Ohio? You're not far from where I used to be in Medina/Chippewa/Rittman area.

Declan, I don't think they ever had a fire, but according to court house records, they used to have an oil furnace. I'm guessing that the entire house was really sooty and they just never cleaned it. You can see the shadows of crosses that hung above the fireplace, and a dream catcher that hung on a wall in a bedroom. Funny. Eerie. LOL

Yes, currently still in Findlay because of the job, but bought a weekend house in Norton to be closer to hubby's family. Have been looking for some acreage and a small house in the Summit county area, or south of there. Love Holmes county. Was looking in the Mohican area, too. It's hard to buy anything with more than a tiny lot because of the gas/oil leases.

Hubby will retire this winter, and I have summers off now, so hoping to finally find the retirement home and settle down! LOL. We've been married just over a year now, so it's about time!

If it looks halfway as good in person as in the pictures Id do it in a minute, IF I could do the Work myself and without permits.
If you can get it for $12,000 and sell it for $80,000 and do the work in six months or less That's a pretty good return.

Looking at the google map, much of that area is drainage for the surrounding area. based off that, I'd probably skip it. (Also seeing the location, I'd look for a bit more rural.)

Showed it to hubby today and he convinced me that it isn't the ideal location. Like you said, it is very swampy. Especially noticeable today since it's rained for two days straight now!

Thanks for the reality check, though! Sometimes I get so anxious to find a place to settle that I overlook the things that are obvious to most. My "vision" isn't always too realistic, I guess. LOL

Didn't read all the answers but…build the barn with an apartment. Turn the house into chicken/goat house.