Do we walk? Need estimates?
Hi All, I’m a newbie to the forum and as can tell from my user name, I’m anxious. My husband and I are considering buying a 3 story limestone/brownstone in Brooklyn. This is our first time buying and bascially first time dealing with all the issues of buying an old house or any house for…
Hi All, I’m a newbie to the forum and as can tell from my user name, I’m anxious. My husband and I are considering buying a 3 story limestone/brownstone in Brooklyn. This is our first time buying and bascially first time dealing with all the issues of buying an old house or any house for that matter. We got the home inspection back and it was pretty grim. We are not sure if we want to walk away or not. The house has not been maintained at all so it needs tons of work. We are trying to figure out how much we should ask off the price to make this worthwhile. I was wondering if anyone has ballpark estimates for the stuff listed below. Also any names of a good contractor that does free estimates.
Thanks much,
Jen
Here are the issues:
– Lead water main, most likely cracked as water is coming into the basement. The fire hydrant on the opposite side of the street.
– leak in the bay window and water damage
– ancient boiler that needs to be replaced with gas
– electrical circa 1920’s needs to be upgraded
– asbestos that was partically and not professionally removed
– no griter in the basement (it must have been removed at some point), need to install
– repointing the back side of the building
– redo browstone staircase, it is crumbling in parts
The main beam in the basement is missing? How is it possible the house is still standing? Are the floors and walls straight?
Other than that, this does not sound all that serious. Re the electrical, do you have 100 amp service? If so, you don’t need to upgrade — unless you’re planning to put in fancy appliances.
What I’ve been told about electrical is figure $5,000 to put in a breaker box if you have fuses, and another $5,000 per floor for the points. Then you have to cover up the holes in the wall — you could do it yourself if you’re inclined. These are pretty high estimates. I’ve certainly heard of people who’ve redone their electrical for less.
Probably to renovate completely with the pointing and everything and depending on how DIY you are and there will definitely be other problems because it is an old building, like your plumbing will probably have to be upgraded too, and you may have roof issues also, it could cost you 80-100K. Are all your windows in need of replacing? Or just the one. Here are my rough estimates based on my current reno:
– Lead water main, most likely cracked as water is coming into the basement. The fire hydrant on the opposite side of the street. (don’t know, but wild guess is anywhere between 5-15K depending on how much you have to rip up)
– leak in the bay window and water damage (I’ve been told window replacement can cost 600-1000 per window depending on how much wood you also need to replace around the window and how large it is)
– ancient boiler that needs to be replaced with gas (boiler only will run you about 4-5K, but if you also need a hot water heater it will be 7-9K.)
– electrical circa 1920’s needs to be upgraded (our electrical is costing approximately 20K to redo the whole house – I got quotes as varied as 20-46K, so depending on the company you go with and the degree of rewiring you do, it’ll be expensive. Not to mention if you run the wiring through the walls it will be exceedingly expensive to patch it all).
– asbestos that was partically and not professionally removed (depending on how much, it could run you 1000-5000)
– no griter in the basement (it must have been removed at some point), need to install (no idea)
– repointing the back side of the building (we just did this and it is costing us 3,000, plus another 3,000 to redo an entire section of the brick at the top that was totally crumbling unexpectedly after we redid the roof, plus 1,000 to paint it).
– redo browstone staircase, it is crumbling in parts (no idea, but will be expensive).
You will probably have to do other work too like cosmetic stuff, upgrading plumbing, maybe your roof. Unless you have a lot of spare cash around, or are getting such a good price that you can potentially take a home equity loan out right after you buy it, then you might want to pass….
You might want to phone the gas company, as we are in the process of applying for a discounted home reno loan to add insulation, new windows, etc. through a non-profit that the gas co. put us in touch with. It’s managed by one of those neighborhood housing services. It may depend which area this house is in, but the loan is under 5%. Just a thought.
I don’t notice not having a kitchen since I don’t cook. 🙂
What bothered me was not having a bathroom for 2 months. The porta potty came in really handy, but we couldn’t sleep there with no shower.
4 years later (and 5 on our other house) and the renovation is still in progress.
Tinarine & RH, I think you are right, it was water main, not sewer line (so far those have been fine).
RH, we are still a work in progress but all of our major systems and conveniences are in place. It truly sucked not having a kitchen for 5 months.
Maybe my friend did their sewer line, because it was definitely over $10k.
11218, 6 months? Count yourself lucky.
Thanks all, this has been very helpful!
Jen–
Sounds like Bk11218 is talking about a water main, which of course is separate from the sewer line. I’d wait on the new sewer line unless you have reason to believe it’s in bad shape; it’s generally $10k or more to replace.
Cost aside, don’t discount the stress involved with a renovation. I still can’t believe I willingly signed up for and then paid almost a couple hundred grand for it (and counting)! Ignorance is bliss. I’d be genuinely torn about ever doing a major reno again. Hopefully this’ll be the one and only experience. Also, while it’s impossible to gauge the extent of the work needed from a brief description of the house and its problems, I think some of the numbers quoted here are on the low side. You definitely want to put “worst case scenario” estimates together for what things will realistically cost.