Has anyone ever bought a gutted house? (1 Viewer)

byudrew

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I am amped to be moving back to New Orleans with my wife, and we are both really looking to help rebuild and re-new.

My question is this. We are looking around town and into Metairie, and Kenner and I keep getting drawn into wanting to buy one of the gutted houses (that pre-katrina sold for $200,000) and put the interiors in that we want rather than purchasing a home that is already " all there inside." I have seen a few gutted 3 bd/ 2ba houses in Lakeview that are selling for $70,000. I figure I can throw $30,000 in repairs in that and get an awesome starter home for the wife and myself.

Has anyone done what I am describing? Has anyone just bought a gutted house and rebuilt it and been happy with their decision? Is there anything you would have done differently? Would I be better off buying a home in Metairie? What should I do, I really could use the input on such a key matter?
 
how much would you say I would be putting in, and how long do you think it would take?

are you doing the work yourself or hiring contractors. if you hire contractors your gonna need more money. in the last two years we have contracted for our 100 year old 2000sqf home, new plumbing, water and sewer $14,000 new electrical, including 200 amp service on the house and 50 amp service on the garage, $13,500 new HVAC, 5 ton unit for the down stairs and a 1 1/2 ton for the upstairs, $14,500 27 new window $12,750 and I haven't even added in the drywall, insulation, new hardwood floors, new bathroom tile and cabinet, new doors, paint, trim and baseboards that was done by me. also I would add that this whole process has a few times push me and the wife to want to kill each other.
 
how much would you say I would be putting in, and how long do you think it would take?

I have no idea, but just a guess at a 3BR/2BA house in Lakeview I would expect somewhere around $80,000 - $100,000.

Of course there are a million variables. As mentioned above, how much of the work are you going to be doing yourself vs. hiring a contractor, how much will you be moving things like walls, electrical outlets, plumbing, etc.

Then, as with any remodeling job, there is a cheap version, a value version, and a luxury version.

Finally you have to factor in the 1 constant in remodeling - set your budget and time schedule early and first - then double both and you are pretty close to reality.
 
you can do a good renovation for about 50-65k. you can do an amazing renovation for 85-100k. if you are going to buy a gutted house. i would suggest looking in mid city. while lakeview is a nice area, you will see much more return on your investment in mid city. i would also suggest looking uptown. if you are prudent and diligent, you can find some real gems uptown...
 
We got about 7 feet of water on the first floor of our home, and it took roughly $130k to remodel/rebuild. It looks terrific, but we had a very trying time locating credible, licensed contractors to do the jobs right. Plumbing and electrical were pretty easy to get handled, but carpentry, flooring, and painting were all a challenge. Fortunately, our neighbor's uncle from Virginia is a master carpenter, and gave us a good deal. His work his fantastic: the crown moulding, base, cabinets, drywall, window casing, chair rails, etc..... I mean, terrific work.
Patience is required, my friend, but it will definitely pay off in the end.
 
I have gutted a house myself and then remodeled it.

You won't do it for $30,000, even if you do much of it yourself.

That said, it's a great option. Remodeling a gutted house is much, much easier then your typical remodeling. And it always looks much nicer. I can't emphasize that enough. Now, if you buy a nice house there isn't much remodeling to be done, for most people at least. But if you want something "particular", a gutted house is absolutely the way to go. I would only recommend it if you're planning on doing most of the remodeling yourself though.

If you're just going to hire a contractor to throw up walls and a floor and not really change much of anything I don't see how you're saving yourself much money or gaining any real benefit.
 
Here's an example what what it cost my wife and I. I live just north of Biloxi near the Back Bay. We only had 2 ft of water in our 2 story, 1400 square ft cottage house with around 900 square ft on the 1st floor. Final cost for us was 36k and we didn't have to have any electrical, plumbing or windows replaced. Our AC unit wasn't even affected. Now, the 36k included funiture, cabinets, flooring(carpet and tile), sheetrock, doors, trim, painting the entire bottom floor, etc. I'm not very handy so we did very little of the work.
 
Buying a gutted house to redo is, in my opinion, better than buying a house that someone already re-did.

If you are buying a house that was gutted and redone by someone else, be very careful. There were a lot of "investors" just slapping stuff together. There are numerous decisions that occur during the rebuilding of a gutted house that are affected drastically by whether the person doing the rebuild will be occupying the house afterwards.

To me, it's worth the aggravation to know it was done right.
 
If you are planning on doing it youself then its well worth it.... its really not that hard.. I would sub out the spackle & tapeing but the sheetrock and other stuff is easy enough...
 
I have done 2 houses in Slidell, and currently have 2 in Meraux. One is done and for sale, the other is still gutted. Its a lot of work, but if you can do some stuff yourself it saves money. I really enjoy it though. The most important thing is to have good contractors. Then you have to find the right house (price, size, area, potential). Getting it gutted is like a blank canvas to create something you really can be proud of. Let me know if I can help.
 
how much would you say I would be putting in, and how long do you think it would take?


My dad's house had 42 inches of water inside. It was gutted to the studs.

You could walk in the front door and see the back brick wall.

It costs him 70 grand (Road Home) to get his place back together again.

My mom is real pleased. It came out a lot better than it was before the storm.

They had to wait on a lot of materials......cabinets, flooring, countertops, etc.

Took about six months to re-build on the inside. You could probably get it done quicker.
They were patient with the contractor. The guy was honest and did a good job for them.

Joe
 
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