Gut Reno Cost in Ditmas
Without knowing much details of the fire damage (other than what’s provided in the description), how much do you think a complete renovation would be on this place? a low-high range. http://marykayg.com/html/0560.html we live right around the corner from this house, and remember very vividly the night this fire took place. felt bad for the…
Without knowing much details of the fire damage (other than what’s provided in the description), how much do you think a complete renovation would be on this place? a low-high range.
http://marykayg.com/html/0560.html
we live right around the corner from this house, and remember very vividly the night this fire took place. felt bad for the owners – looks like they’d rather not go through the renovation.
yes WLL – if you have pics, would love to see them.
tks!
I live in a 4th floor apartment overlooking this house. They had a tarp strapped to the roof when we moved in (May 2009) and it blew off at some point during summer storms. It took them a few months to put a new one on. It looks like they tacked it on with small strips of wood. Otherwise the house has been untouched for 7 months. I see squirrels run in and out frequently. The back of the house isn’t in great shape and parts of it are black from the fire. I could take a picture and e-mail it to you if you want a rear-overhead view, ditmas.
I have to compliment MKG for taking such a flattering picture of a mess I look at every day, but I’d also be relieved to see someone fix it up.
Out of respect for the owner of Rugby Rd. project I would rather not post here the final project cost. If you would like to contact me privately at my office number below I would be more than happy to discuss this Victorian project in detail.
thanks,
Best of Luck,
Pietro Calabretta
All Renovation Construction LLC
http://www.allrenovationllc.com
Office: 718-351-4099
Nice work Pietro, just one comment to add in general to discussion ,
Proper estimate always will be known when contractor will receive set of plans and get familiar with site, and that is true here we can just guestimate – for example Pietro’s work included large area of existing flooring to be restored – to create that complicated pattern bordering rooms is not a 15$ / sf job.
Other approach which is worth to discuss is set a budget at the beginning each owner have a number in head which he doesn’t want to exceed and discuss it w/ architect – that way the design should be balanced to satisfy your desire and keep price in reasonable range.
best
r
I have found that as long as you are restoring a property back to it’s glory the LPC is pretty easy to work with and present to. BTW they for the most part only care about the front elevation and whatever can be seen from the street. I have done renovations of fire damaged properties, don’t let it scare you off.
Jock deBoer, AIA
deBoer Architects
You’re right, most of these old houses need work. The folks with the aggressive asking prices have probably seen the comps.
From property shark, recent sales within a quarter mile …
Address Date closed Sale price Gross SF
735 Rugby Rd 12/16/2009 $805,000 2,182
783 Rugby Rd 1/21/2010 $740,000 2,103
694 E 17 St 1/27/2010 $1,075,000 3,247
very good point, bklnite.
that said, it seems even 1M purchase price in the Ditmas/Midwood area will require signficant reno. i laugh at some of the asking prices i’m seeing around here – eg, there’s 2 on rugby, one for high 8’s, one high 9’s, and both need A LOT of work.
so an all-in cost less than 1M for this place would theoretically make it a ‘better’ deal – top2bottom reno, all new interior.
but i digress – if the total cost is more probable for 1M+, not in our range.
ditmaspark,
“can u get a home mortgage to cover purchase + reno??”
I think it’s complicated, so you probably should talk to lenders / mortgage brokers. You can get a regular home mortgage for 80% of the appraised value of the home (or whatever LTV lenders are willing to do in these saner post bubble days) but that may be trickier if the place is uninhabitable. I think you’d need to get a construction loan for the reno costs, possibly with a floating rate for a shorter term (long enough to do the work) but you should find out if the financing is going to be feasible.
And you should take in to consideration the warnings from jre. If I were going to end up with a $1 million house after all the work and effort over 1 year + I wouldn’t want to sink more than $850 or 900k in to it. (Why kill yourself to break even? Just buy a nice million dollar house and be done with it) So figure what it’s worth to you – say if it costs 600k in reno costs etc. to end up with the house you want, then offer 900k-600k or 300k if you can deal with the grueling project from around the corner.
i actually don’t mind the apartment building proximity. for those familiar with this block (between glenwood and ave h), it’s the only apartment building on the street, and it’s fairly nice. but i agree, for later resale it could pose an issue. lucky for us we don’t ever plan to move from the neighborhood 🙂
that said, if a complete reno is more likely 200+ per sq ft, then this would definitely be out of our range. you figure purchase price alone is somewhere between 350-450?
or maybe a burnt house should go for much lower.