[oz in SC]

Was on another site and someoneis looking into moving an existing house onto their land.

How expensive/difficult is this do you think?

Is it something to think about seriously?

I understand that there is still a LOT of work to do to have a habitable house-water,septic,foundations,etc. but still....

 

[daeve]

Was on another site and someoneis looking into moving an existing house onto their land.

How expensive/difficult is this do you think?

Is it something to think about seriously?

I understand that there is still a LOT of work to do to have a habitable house-water,septic,foundations,etc. but still....

Oz,

It all depends...

How big the house is.
How far it has to be moved.
What the house is made of (wood, brick, block, etc.).
What kind of foundation it has.
Access to the land it is to be moved from and onto.
What shape the house is in to begin with.
And many other things.

Around here (east central Alabama) I have seen houses go for anywhere from free to a few thousand that have to be moved. So if you can find a house that is close and in fairly good condition and isn't too wide in at least one direction to fit through any bridges or other obstructions so it can be moved in one piece, you can come out anywhere from 25 to 75% (or more) of the cost of building onsite. This will still depend on what the actual moving and labor costs are in your area.

I know one guy that spent nearly $175,000 on a three story house that he had cut apart and then put back together over 20 mountainous miles away. And that was just moving and reassembling it. They then did a complete internal and external renovation which cost more than the move. He said that if he had it to over again he would build new and have twice the house for half the money.

HTH
Dave

 

[pointer_hunter]

I have a piece of property in northern Mid-Michigan and there was a house about ¾ or a mile away that was given away for free. It was old and had mold in the attic. I thought about getting it mainly because the house was originally built on what is now my property and then later moved by a team of horses over a week to where it is now. The well in that area normally runs about 9000, I can do the septic at cost of the stone, pipe, and tank so that’s about 1500. I didn’t want to do the foundation myself. If it were a new house, I would, but this would have to be pretty accurate to put an existing house down on it. That was estimated at 3700 for 6 blocks high. The house was 24x24 roughly. I called a few movers and the average price for the move of the house was about 15,000. That’s 29,200 so far…I would then need to gut it out, clean out any mold, put on a new roof and then re-insulate and finish figure very low at 7800. That brought it all to 37,000. That’s not really too bad I guess for a finished house, but you can get the same sized house package for about 20-30k for a brand new home. I decided not to go with the old house. I’m actually not sure what I’m going to do with the property!

 

[Guest]

Oz, I moved a 2 story 1920 square foot house and finished the setup back in December. I have all my receipts and can give you the prices for the various tasks if you just let me know which ones you want. Here are a couple of pics of the house after the setup.
http://pub38.bravenet.com/photocenter/album.php?img=58956&usernum=3228743215
http://pub38.bravenet.com/photocenter/album.php?img=58957&usernum=3228743215

 

[agmantoo]

That is me above with the moved house, somehow I got logged out.

 

[barbarake]

Ahh, something I'm familiar with!!

I did exactly this - bought a house and had it moved to my property last year. Best thing I've ever done.

I had quotes on building a 1,600 sq.ft. house on my property. Quotes started at $175,000 (up to $225,000!!). I found a 1,450 sq.ft. (single-story) house that needed to be moved (about 7 miles). The cost of the house itself *and* the move was $7,000 total.

The foundation cost $8,000 (this is the one thing I regret, I paid too much and was not particularly happy with it - but it's done). I'm very pleased with the house itself - it's very solid - all 3/4" tongue-and-groove southern pine paneling. I'm doing almost all of the renovation work myself. The final cost will be about a third of what it would have cost me to have something built and I'll have a much better house.

I highly recommend this approach, especially if you're handy and want to do much of the work yourself.

I did one other thing I would recommend. Home Depot sells 'storage' buildings. The biggest one is two-story, 18' x 32' but the one I bought was a bit smaller (two story, 16' x 24'). They did an excellent job - it's built from scratch, was up in a couple of days, they showed up when they said they would - I have nothing but good things to say about the whole thing. The price worked out to about $10/sq.ft. Then finish it off inside yourself. Evidently a lot of people are doing this for things like a lake house, etc.

Good luck in whatever you decide. Feel free to email if you have a specific questions about moving a house.

 

[Windy in Kansas]

Others have told what increases the cost of moving a house. Also the number of power lines makes a difference, as well as cable television lines and traffic lights if coming from a city.

Also the cross-country high voltage lines cost big bucks to go under. I heard one man say that the power company in charge wanted $12,000 per hour to reroute electricity around an area so it could be shut down to move a house under. It seems he said that he was told the roof of the home couldn't come within 18 feet of the overhead lines.

I understand the house next to where I work is available for $1. So far no takers. The fellow that I talked to was checking into moving it for his son. Moving cost for the 20 or so miles was $60,000. I think that did include a foundation as I heard another say he was quoted $40,000 without one.

If it were me, I'd much rather put that kind of money into a new super insulated home rather than a drafty old unit that would need another $50,000-$75,000 to make decent.

However, to each their own.

 

[Bruce in NE]

People who bought some land from me moved this huge, old 2 story house onto it last December. Some 60 miles, over back country roads and highway, then 9 miles down canyon roads to the homesite. Took 3 days, lots of power lines moved. I shot a video CD of it, 50+ minutes. If you'd like a copy to view on your computer, I'd send you one for ten bucks postpaid. Message me.

I bought a small 900+ sq. ft. cottage and will be moving it 6 miles onto my property hopefully later this summer.

bruce

 

[Gary in ohio]

The cost to move a house is about the same amount as it cost to build a one of similar size. The big reason to move a house is for historical or emotional reasons.

 

[oz in SC]

I would think it depends on building costs in the area.

Around here(Lowcountry of SC) building costs START at around $120 square foot and EASILY go over $200.

Up where we have land it is a lot less,ranging from $65 to $100 square foot.

 

[agmantoo]

"The cost to move a house is about the same amount as it cost to build a one of similar size. The big reason to move a house is for historical or emotional reasons."

I have to disagree with the above statement. If the home owner did not particpate in the renovation and was not an astute business person then maybe the above would apply.
On the other hand, if the home owner wants and does participate in the repairs and shops around for contracting those tasks he doesn't want to or cannot perform then the costs of a moved house are far below that of a new home. The house in the pics I posted are an example. It may or may not be the design choice one would want but as a rental unit I really find that it doesn't matter. The house was moved and setup for less than $40,000 and the apprasial for the house at the time the certificate of occupancy was issued was $118,000 for the structure.

 

[Ross]

"The cost to move a house is about the same amount as it cost to build a one of similar size. The big reason to move a house is for historical or emotional reasons."

I disagree too mine is a moved in older house and the total project cost 30 k CDN Now I had power and water already but everything else was added cost. Foundation and excavation was 14k the house was 7k the rest of the 9k was for electrical (although most was reused) and the repairs I mostly did. It does not include the roof I redid 5 years later but it was only 4k for Americana steel pannels and new plywood. It can be very cheap especially where demolition waste is expensive to dump. Sorry no online pictures but i did make a video of it if I can find it!

 

[Guest]

Oz, I moved a 2 story 1920 square foot house and finished the setup back in December. I have all my receipts and can give you the prices for the various tasks if you just let me know which ones you want. Here are a couple of pics of the house after the setup.
http://pub38.bravenet.com/photocenter/album.php?img=58956&usernum=3228743215
http://pub38.bravenet.com/photocenter/album.php?img=58957&usernum=3228743215

I'd be interested in knowing more about house moving. I live in a highly populated area but seek to have acreage and a large house. I'm finding that is not available in my price range... so I'm wondering if I can buy a few acres in the area I want and then find an inexpensive victorian in a town 20 minutes away, could I move it and hook everything up and stay in my price range. I'd love to hear more about it.

Yvonee
[email protected]

 

[agmantoo]

dandlion, I am the one that posted the above but was logged out. The house in the pics was built in 1976 and was sold for $88,000 excluding land in 1989. For approximately 10 years it was used on the old site as an office for the industrial users of the site until their buildings were erected. During this 10 year period the house did not received any maintenance to speak of. The developer wanted the house removed and the site restored. The price of the house was just the restoring of the site which I did myself. The carport was torn from the house and the brick veneer was removed. The chimney, minus the upper portion, was transported with the house. The house at its original location had a full basement. Getting the house ready for transport was all done by the house mover. Initially he want $14000 to move the house but with me getting the carport ripped from the structure and cutting the plumbing and power loose he adjusted his fee downward to $10,000. The coordination of the move was the biggest problem. I had 2 electric utility companies involved, one cable company, the state highway patrol along with the moving crew. My expenses were minimal even with all that involvement. We went under one 12000 volt line and numerous cable and service entrances and lower voltage lines as well as a some tree limbs ( I had cut previously these limbs on my own). We got hungup twice on ground wires and once on a cable service. At the 12000 volt line, 3 bucket trucks lifted the wires to permit us to go under. We crossed one small bridge and only cleared the guard rail by inches. Total travel time was nearly 3 hours once we were underway. Through the mover most of the above peeps were tipped in advance. That seemed to tremendously aid our situation as everyone was very cooperative. I had dug the footing at the new site and had it poured and cured when the house arrived. The mover positioned the house accurately onto the footing and leveled the house at about 4+ feet above same. I hired a mason to install the foundation masonry. Using a water level he did a terrific job and the mover returned and lowered the house. There was minimal damage from the move. I had installed new plumbing under the house, a new service entrance service, a new heatpump, connected the water, built the new carport(I did that part myself) and had the brick veneer laid and installed a new roof. Total cost of the house is under $40000. Appraisal for the house itself at completion was $111,892.
Moving a victorian house can be accomplished but due to the height you may have to temporarily remove the roof. Even that is not as big a task as one may imagine. If you need more details just ask.

 

[barbarake]

"The cost to move a house is about the same amount as it cost to build a one of similar size. The big reason to move a house is for historical or emotional reasons."

I also disagree with the above statement. Granted, there are a lot of variables - and it *can* be very expensive to move a house - but it doesn't *have* to be.

A lot obviously depends on the size/construction of the house. Another big factor is how far does it need to be moved (and things like power lines, bridges, etc. etc.) A third factor is how much the owner can do themselves.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I bought and moved a small, 1,450 sq.ft. house to some property I already owned. Single story, wood frame. It needed to be moved 7 miles, down a quarter-mile dirt road and set in a clearing in the woods. The house *including the move* cost $7,000.

Granted, it needs a lot of work. But the underlying structure was sound. I'm doing the carpentry stuff and hiring others to do the electric/plumbing/foundation/septic/roof and my final cost will work out to about a third of what it would have cost me to have something built.