Habitable? Financing? Time-Bomb?
I visited a three-story (plus cellar) brownstone for sale. It sorely needs a gut renovation, and is priced accordingly. (Asking price is 1.1M. The selling prices of post-reno comps are in the 1.6M to 1.7M range.) To my eye, the exterior walls look okay. The interior, however, is a wreck. My concerns involve the roof…
I visited a three-story (plus cellar) brownstone for sale. It sorely needs a gut renovation, and is priced accordingly.
(Asking price is 1.1M. The selling prices of post-reno comps are in the 1.6M to 1.7M range.)
To my eye, the exterior walls look okay.
The interior, however, is a wreck.
My concerns involve the roof and the electricity.
It looks like part of the roof is collapsing.
In the master bedroom (on the top floor) there is a hole in the ceiling, two feet in diameter. You can’t see through to the sky, but you can see that the ceiling is rotting.
Toward the middle of that same room, not far from the hole in the ceiling, there’s a home-made, impromptu, floor-to-ceiling support beam, made of cardboard boxes piled on top of a home exercise machine (!) which seems to be holding up part of the ceiling.
There are a couple of garbage cans in the master bedroom to catch the water when it rains.
Although most of the water damage seems to be in the master bedroom, there are additional water stains in other parts of the building, both on walls and on ceilings.
The view from the backyard shows some of the roof sagging over the back of the building.
As to the electricity, it was non-functioning in much of the brownstone. The realtor had to use a flashlight to show us around.
Does anyone have any thoughts about whether banks would be willing to provide a mortgage for a place like this?
Or, would banks consider the building to be unhabitable, and deny a mortgage?
I’d rather not make an offer and hire an inspector if I’d just be wasting my time and money.
Does anyone have any additional thoughts?
Thanks!
pigeon/brownline…
that is partially true about the extent of damage determining the value but the scariest things are what you cant see. whatever your inspector finds, you can assume their is 25% more that he wasnt able to find because to get to it all, you literally have to strip the walls, etc…
I would agree with hanibal and onefineday and put the value somewhere between 800k-850k.
I personally wouldnt do it for even 800 (even though I’m sure its worth that) simply cause
there is too heavy a cash layout for building. If you can get a nice sized construction loan for the reno than I would pay up to 850k. (and pray the market doesnt continue to fall).
Thanks y’all for your useful input and recommendations.
It seems that lot of what would determine the current value of this home is the extent of its damage from the leaky roof, i.e. the amount of structural damage caused by the rain water. And perhaps mold, too. We don’t know the answers to these issues right now. They are risk factors that need to be taken into consideration when ascertaining the value of the home.
And, of course, our views on the wisdom of undertaking a large scale reno are undoubtedly informed by our views on future home prices, i.e. whether we think home prices are on the rebound or are still dropping.
It’s interesting and helpful to hear your views.
-Pigeon, aka Brownlime
Hay slopescum if someone has all that money to give away why not let them. There are pleanty of people waiting to dump their turds on someone else.
Daveinbedstuy…..pricing the reno at 100 per floor is unrealistic. This type of project would be minimum $150 sf and probably closer to $200. This house is just under 3,000 sf so you should figure on 450k-600k.
I will be very interested to find out the final number after it is finished and see who is closer to the actual cost.
I have done plenty of reno’s and this particular house can not be done nicely for under 500k at the very least if this is the one i think it is. most likely more.
It needs a full gut to the studs and possibly beyond. Roof joists are surely damaged and probable structural work throughout.
Pigeon, you are surely a pigeon if you are thinking of paying anywhere near a million.
proceed with caution! Ever hear of the term “money pit” ?
I have a mortgage broker that has helped alot of my clients in today’s wonderful economy. If you need an Architect, drop me a line.
I also saw this house at the open house last month. Given the amount of work that needs to be done, I cannot imagine paying more than 800K. Anything over 850K would be ridiculous. When will sellers finally realize the bubble has burst?!
BTW, “Pigeon” and “Brownlime” are both me.
(Brownlime is my old name, which I abandoned when I thought of the quintessential NYC name of Pigeon. I accidently posted this thread under my old name).
Thanks wyckoff and NeedaPatio.
Wyckoff- It’s good to hear that financing might be possible. A friend told me he got regular financing on the home he bought this year even though the home was of questionable habitability. I also like this advice you gave: “don’t rely on anything you read on this forum.” Made me laugh. (I wouldn’t rely on it, but it’s helpful and informative nevertheless.)
But why do you suggest getting a contractor before making an offer? Before I hire a contractor, why not see if the buyer would accept my offer. My offer wouldn’t be binding. Otherwise, I’d be wasting my money paying the contractor. Right?
NeedaPatio- You are correct. That’s the house I’m referring to. And I think you’re also correct that the seller is incapable of doing anything such as getting the electricity working. And you’re also right that it would take a lot of stamina to have this place renovated. It would be a big project.