how much would this transformation cost? ballpark estimate

Bowling Green, KY · Member since 2012 · 17 posts · 0 votes

from something like this:
http://www.homes.com/listing/photo/168077768/1313_Fair_St_BOWLING_GREEN_KY_42101

to something like this:
http://www.designsponge.com/2012/01/before-after-modern-bungalow-renovation.html

assuming everything is relatively similar. re-doing bathroom, kitchen, living room, one bedroom only, and probably opening up a wall.
would this be a $10,000 project? $5,000? $20,000?

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Joel OwensBusiness Member

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Real Estate Broker · Canton, GA · Member since 2010 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes

14y

Ivan,

You posted in another topic about an inheritance.I commend you for not going and buying a bunch of crap with it but wanting to invest it.

I have seen some friends inherit large sums of money in the past that the grandparents and parents sweat blood and tears for them to have and did without to give them a chance at a better life.

The friend was irresponsible and lived "high on the hog" for a few years and is now broker "working for the man".

I think what you are underestimating is what it will take to do repairs correctly,the time involved,and how buying incorrectly can wipe out a large chunk of your wealth.

Not knowing what kind of existing annual return you are getting on your money is a huge red flag.You have to compare the RETURN versus the RISK when moving money around or allocating a percentage of your portfolio of investments.

If you don't you are "shooting in the dark" and might as well take a trip to Vegas and play the slot machines with your money.DON'T talk yourself into something and say "it's not so bad".That is what I am seeing from your posts and is the number one mistake of new investors.

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Jim S
Real Estate Investor · Virginia, DC &, MD · Member since 2008 · 261 posts · 71 votes
14y
The 1st question would be.....labor? who is doing it? Would the work be done by a contractor or are you doing it yourself?
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Chad McDaniel
Real Estate Investor · Roca, NE · Member since 2012 · 36 posts · 1 vote
14y
I would go to your local home depot and buy RS means Residential Repair and remodeling cost book. Then take a hour or so and walk around to see how much materials cost. Labor is going to be a major expense also. Rehabs add up fast.
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Jon Holdman
Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
14y
If you're paying retail prices, probably $100K. By that I mean dealing with a general contractor who works with homeowners who want to remodel their residence.

If you have your own crew and have good contacts for low prices on the cabinets, fixtures and other materials that go into that remodel, maybe $30K. That's a huge transformation. Prices vary quite a bit. The markups are big on retail projects. I paid something like $15K for the cabinets in my kitchen, back before I started doing this stuff myself. I paid about $1500 for the cabinets in one of my rentals. Only about two thirds as many cabinets, and not as nice, but certainly not just one-tenth as nice.

Until you gain some experience and the sources for materials and labor, you're really at the mercy of who you hire. If you want to get a better idea than just a guess, bring some contractors out and have them give you estimates. You may have to pay them for the estimates.

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Ivan A.
OP
Bowling Green, KY · Member since 2012 · 17 posts · 0 votes
14y
thanks for the advice guys. I'll definitely look into the cost book. but I don't see how on earth adding some stuff to a $65,000 dollar house could be $100,000. it seems like there's a lot of stuff that you can get for cheap. the kitchen counters, and appliances would be expensive, but painting, new lights, new floors "maybe", and tiling on the backsplash, bathroom, couldn't possibly add up to that much could it? I would like to learn how to do the work myself, what are some good resources?
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Karen MargraveBusiness Member
Moderator
Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer · Redding, CA · Member since 2009 · 7k+ posts · 4k+ votes
14y
Ivan A. Call a few contractors and ask if they can go look at the house and give you a bid. Ask how much they charge, and what that includes. (CAD drawings etc., or just a bid?) The question is, do you want a "similar" look or that identical remodel? Make sure you tell the contractor specifically what you want, so that his bid is for the end product you want. You don't want to think you're getting solid wood flooring and he installs laminate, etc.

There's huge savings to be had by shopping cabinets, fixtures, appliances and flooring. (Solid wood/laminate floors, solid wood/ composite cabinets, or a mix of both, etc.), and you can get the same "look" for less. We give clients an allowance and let them shop their stuff and keep savings if they choose. Other contractors mark stuff up, and want to use stuff from their sources, etc. Ask them what their policy is.

Aside from finish materials, which is what most people are focused on, there's the bigger question of designing the space, moving walls, tearing out current kitchen, etc. If you take out a load bearing wall, it has to be replaced with a beam to carry the load. Then there's moving plumbing and electrical lines.Does the house have electric appliances now? Do you want gas? Need to run in line, etc.

Good luck. Message me if there's anything I can help you with.

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Jon Holdman
Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
14y
How much you pay for a house has nothing to do with how much you can spend renovating it. You could doze that $65,000 house and build a new $500K one in its place! That happened all the time here in Denver during the boom years.

Just looking at the before and after pictures you linked it looks like some pretty nice work was done. That's a very big transformation. If you want to do fix and flips and do that level of work, you really need to have your own crew and be your own general contractor. If you are a homeowner and you do that level of transformation, and you pay a one-stop shop to come in and do the whole thing, you're going to pay double or triple what it really costs to do that work.

Its difficult to do all the work yourself. Not impossible, but it takes a lot of time. And time is money when you're doing a fix and flip.

In many areas, you will have to pull permits for that level of work. That likely requires a general contractors license and licensed contractors for some specific trades. Electrical, plumbing, and mechanical in most areas, maybe other trades, too. Even if you know how to do those jobs, you won't be able to be licensed in all those different trades.

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Ivan A.
OP
Bowling Green, KY · Member since 2012 · 17 posts · 0 votes
14y
Originally posted by Karen M.:
Ivan A. Call a few contractors and ask if they can go look at the house and give you a bid. Ask how much they charge, and what that includes. (CAD drawings etc., or just a bid?) The question is, do you want a "similar" look or that identical remodel? Make sure you tell the contractor specifically what you want, so that his bid is for the end product you want. You don't want to think you're getting solid wood flooring and he installs laminate, etc.
There's huge savings to be had by shopping cabinets, fixtures, appliances and flooring. (Solid wood/laminate floors, solid wood/ composite cabinets, or a mix of both, etc.), and you can get the same "look" for less. We give clients an allowance and let them shop their stuff and keep savings if they choose. Other contractors mark stuff up, and want to use stuff from their sources, etc. Ask them what their policy is.

Aside from finish materials, which is what most people are focused on, there's the bigger question of designing the space, moving walls, tearing out current kitchen, etc. If you take out a load bearing wall, it has to be replaced with a beam to carry the load. Then there's moving plumbing and electrical lines.Does the house have electric appliances now? Do you want gas? Need to run in line, etc.

Good luck. Message me if there's anything I can help you with.

I wasn't even thinking about doing anything that extreme. MAYBE opening up one wall between the kitchen and living room. but definitely just a similar look, doesn't have to be the same. I would like to have a kitchen very similar to that one, but maybe an extra freezer and less cabinets. I'm an amateur bodybuilder so I cook and eat between 6-10 meals/day depending on what my goals are so I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, usually I cook once or twice/day, but there have been times where I cooked more. why would I need to move electric lines and plumbing? I think I could get a similar look leaving MOST things where they are, lights in the living room/kitchen might be an exception.
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Ivan A.
OP
Bowling Green, KY · Member since 2012 · 17 posts · 0 votes
14y
Originally posted by Jon Holdman:
How much you pay for a house has nothing to do with how much you can spend renovating it. You could doze that $65,000 house and build a new $500K one in its place! That happened all the time here in Denver during the boom years.
Just looking at the before and after pictures you linked it looks like some pretty nice work was done. That's a very big transformation. If you want to do fix and flips and do that level of work, you really need to have your own crew and be your own general contractor. If you are a homeowner and you do that level of transformation, and you pay a one-stop shop to come in and do the whole thing, you're going to pay double or triple what it really costs to do that work.

Its difficult to do all the work yourself. Not impossible, but it takes a lot of time. And time is money when you're doing a fix and flip.

In many areas, you will have to pull permits for that level of work. That likely requires a general contractors license and licensed contractors for some specific trades. Electrical, plumbing, and mechanical in most areas, maybe other trades, too. Even if you know how to do those jobs, you won't be able to be licensed in all those different trades.

I really can't see anyone in the middle of kentucky coming into a house to ask about permits when laying tiles, painting, adding cabinets etc. those kind of laws are pretty loose here. tearing down walls MAYBE, but you'd have to really draw attention before anyone would bother you.
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J ScottPro Member
Moderator
Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 17k+ votes
14y
A good buyer's agent is going to want to know if permits were pulled where permits were required to be pulled. Also, you'll need to provide a disclosure statement to buyers that likely asks if you pulled permits where necessary. If you answer no when you should have answered yes, you'll likely find it very hard to sell your house, and worst case, you'll have the county coming after you.

There are always ways to cut corners in this business (like not pulling permits when you should), but that's how you get a bad reputation, and it makes staying in business that much more difficult.

Why don't you put together a detailed list of renovation tasks you plan to undertake and list them here. Based on that, we can probably give you an idea of how much it will cost (to the nearest $10,000 or so). From there, you'll need to price out labor and materials and get detailed bids.

You're not going to be successful in this business by saying, "I want my house to look like that one...how much will it cost." Most contractors are not very detail oriented, and if you're not detail oriented either, you're screwed.
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Joel OwensBusiness Member
Moderator
Real Estate Broker · Canton, GA · Member since 2010 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes
14y
Ivan,

You posted in another topic about an inheritance.I commend you for not going and buying a bunch of crap with it but wanting to invest it.

I have seen some friends inherit large sums of money in the past that the grandparents and parents sweat blood and tears for them to have and did without to give them a chance at a better life.

The friend was irresponsible and lived "high on the hog" for a few years and is now broker "working for the man".

I think what you are underestimating is what it will take to do repairs correctly,the time involved,and how buying incorrectly can wipe out a large chunk of your wealth.

Not knowing what kind of existing annual return you are getting on your money is a huge red flag.You have to compare the RETURN versus the RISK when moving money around or allocating a percentage of your portfolio of investments.

If you don't you are "shooting in the dark" and might as well take a trip to Vegas and play the slot machines with your money.DON'T talk yourself into something and say "it's not so bad".That is what I am seeing from your posts and is the number one mistake of new investors.
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1 Reply
Karen MargraveBusiness Member
Moderator
Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer · Redding, CA · Member since 2009 · 7k+ posts · 4k+ votes
14y
Ivan A. It's apparent that you are looking at this for your personal use. However; if you're not a contractor, and know nothing about construction, you do not want to start tearing down walls, as it affects the integrity of the entire structure, and your roof could cave in.

I'd suggest having a contractor come over and give you a bid on opening up the wall, and rewiring for lighting, at a minimum. You then could do the finish work if you think you're up to the task. Home Depot does kitchen design for free. They also have deals where they do flooring installations really cheap sometimes. Check IKEA for cabinets, and other big box stores.

Don't try to do it without obtaining necessary permits, as that has to be disclosed when you sell, and you won't recoup your investment if it's done without permits. Aside from that, the contractor isn't going to want to do work without permits.

Most often when people think they're saving money doing things themselves (unless they are experienced carpenters and handypeople), they end up paying for it in the end. I'd strongly advise you to work with a licensed contractor.
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Karen MargraveBusiness Member
Moderator
Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer · Redding, CA · Member since 2009 · 7k+ posts · 4k+ votes
14y
Ivan A. I agree with Joel, maybe it would be good for you to step back, come up with a plan, and then proceed. You want to invest with purpose, so ask yourself, how does the house you're talking of remodeling fit into your long term financial plan?

Obviously it's your money, but you did get on here and tell us it was your inheritance. Joel is right, oftentimes, people get an inheritance and rather than investing for long term financial stability, they end up spending it and have little to show for it. Used wisely your inheritance can set you up. In construction we have a saying, measure twice, cut once.

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Steve Babiak
Real Estate Investor · Audubon, PA · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 8k+ votes
14y
Originally posted by Karen M.:
...
Aside from that, the contractor isn't going to want to do work without permits.
...

Unfortunately, the world is filled with "contractors" who would rather NOT get permits, and would rather NOT have their work exposed to professional inspections. And they "sell" that to the property owner by saying that the permits cost extra money and that the tax assessment of the property will increase because the permits tip off the tax assessor to do so.
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Karen MargraveBusiness Member
Moderator
Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer · Redding, CA · Member since 2009 · 7k+ posts · 4k+ votes
14y
Steve Babiak In every trade there are people that like to cut corners, which usually ends up costing more in the end. Professional contractors aren't concerned about having their work looked at by anyone, and advise their clients to get permits, and save themselves headaches down the road.
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Ivan A.
OP
Bowling Green, KY · Member since 2012 · 17 posts · 0 votes
14y
for tearing down walls, rewiring lights etc. of course I would get a contractor and get permits. but I don't see why it would be necessary for things like re-doing counter tops, painting, laying down tile etc. I'm not wanting to do anything nuts on this house, mostly change the surfaces, and MAYBE open up one wall a little, if someone could do it "not load-bearing". The house would be for me, but I would be renting out the other 2 rooms after re-doing the inside. I'm not going to do anything quick, I'm more frugal than that, you may not believe me, but I really don't spend much. plus, I'm not even in the US, so I couldn't do it. I'm just bouncing ideas around and trying to learn. I refuse to blow through the money I inherited, if I don't make it bigger, then I would consider myself a failure, I will however spend the interest it earns, which is what I'm living off of right now while I'm going to school.

here's some Ideas I had:

paint a lot of white, make it glossy. maybe some kind of tile on one wall of the living room, or something to make it not look like an igloo. new lights in the living room.

replace interior doors, with sliding contemporary shoji like this:

doesn't seem they would be impossible to make, especially if you used real rice paper instead of the semi-transparent plastic. I assume if you made it the same size as a premade sliding door you could just pop it on? and if I had a big one, 7 foot or so? for the kitchen "if we did open a wall" that would be more intricate and probably not a DIY. so maybe it would be better to have them all ordered? not sure.

I would like to make a plywood counter top, and take it to a sheet metal shop to get it fitted for a steel counter top. a DIY like this:
http://www.remodelaholic.com/2012/03/affordable-stainless-steel-countertops-diy/
they only spent $400 for the counters and I think I could do this fairly easily.

maybe lay some new tile, backsplash, lights, and stainless steel utilities to the kitchen. I wouldn't buy the utilities unless I could find them used, or cheap. I think the cabinets are re-usable if we re-painted/glossed them.

the bathroom, new sinks, same stainless steel counter tops I suppose. laying down new floor and wall tile. a glass shower like this one.

IF i could learn to do concrete molding "which I've been wanting to learn for a while" MAYBE trying to mold something like this around a cheap square tub. but that's a HUUGE IF. since it would take a lot of time to learn that, and make something that looked decent.

except for changing the doors I would probably leave the other rooms as they are so that whoever came in could do whatever they wanted.
floors in the living room are great, all the other walls are fine.

that's about all that I would do, of course I would decorate it, but I can guesstimate that myself.

if someone could give a ballpark that would be awesome.
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Ivan A.
OP
Bowling Green, KY · Member since 2012 · 17 posts · 0 votes
14y
I'd like to use the same wall and floor tiles as the bathroom in the picture. me and my brother could do that "and all of the tile" by ourselves I assume. he also inherited the same amount as me, so we could possibly split the risk and split the profit. but I would be loaning him money since he isn't 21 yet, and thus can't receive any inheritance.
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J ScottPro Member
Moderator
Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 17k+ votes
14y
Here's what you need to keep in mind regarding permits: if you pull even one permit, the county inspector will have the authority to question (and make you bring up to code) anything in the house. So, if you pull an electrical permit to move some wiring and the inspector notices that the plumbing, insulation and duct-work aren't up to code, he can require you to fix all those things as well.

So, if you plan to pull any permits, you should be budgeting to fix anything in the house that's not up to code, just in case the inspector calls it out and requires you to fix it.

As an example, I finished a property a couple weeks ago, called for final inspections and the inspector required me to replace the bathroom window with a tempered window. There was nothing he needed to inspect in the bathroom, and the window was to code when the house was built 20 years ago, but the inspector decided to look around, found something that was no longer up to code, and required me to change it. Had there been a lot of other things that weren't up to code (even if they were when the house was built), I would likely have been required to repairs those things as well.
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Jon Holdman
Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
14y
There's lots of stuff you can do that doesn't require permits. Painting, flooring, countertops, and door replacements all fall into that category. When you start doing wiring, plumbing, structural or mechanical changes, you need permits. Mechanical is the heating/ac systems.

A lot of this stuff is not particular hard, but much of it is a skill. Laying tile isn't particularly difficult. Getting all the tiles leveled out is definitely a skill. Having all the right tools is also necessary. Many of the expensive ones can be rented, provided there are rental shops in your area. Most Home Depots around here now do tool rentals.

Its impossible here for anyone to make a reasonable estimate. If you're doing it yourself, and avoiding anything that needs permits, you could probably do this for as little as $10,000. But consider something like tile. You can buy cheap tile for under $1/sq.ft. Or you can spend $10 a sq.ft. None of us know exactly what you want or exactly what you might find locally. Go to Home Depot, Lowes, or a tile store and start looking around. See what it costs for what you like.

Now, keep in mind, the tile is only part of the expense. You may need concrete backer board under the tile. You'll need mortar for laying in the backer and then the tile on top of it. Screws for the backer. Grout between the tiles. Spacers to get the spaces right. Sealer for the grout. A saw to cut the tile. An angle grinder with a diamond blade for those odd cuts and for cutting holes around pipes. A cutter for the backer board. One, probably two, notched trowels for spreading the mortar. A float for working in the grout. Sponges. Buckets. None of that stuff is individually expensive. But it does add up. The backer, mortar, screws, etc, can easily add $1 or more to the per square foot cost.

So, get over to the home depot and start making notes. Then build a spreadsheet and add things up. Then work through all the various projects. Labor can be the most difficult thing to estimate. I've had bids from mechanical contractors vary by a factor of six. Similar for plumbers. But the materials are easy. Just figure out what you need and go to HD. The trick is getting all the little stuff. Doing some plumbing? You need connectors and a crimper (pex), PVC cement and a saw or cutter (PVC), or joints, solder, a torch, flux, sandpaper and brushes (copper). Screws and nails. Switch plate covers. This is the stuff that always kills me for estimating.

That shower will almost certainly require a permit. You're going to have to get the drain and supply lines in the right place. And get the drain line properly sloped. And buy or build a shower pan. And test the show plan for the inspector. That glass is tempered glass, which isn't cheap. That shower needs a lot of space (very nice shower, by the way). Does the bath have that space? Doubtful. So, you may have to move walls. I'm trying to figure out how to do a nice bath in my residence. Not unlike that picture. Its on the backside of the house. Guess what. To make it work, the FRONT door has to move. So, a big window on the front of the house has to move, too. Why? Because to get the space for the bath in roughly the same area and yet not create small, stupid-looking, unusable spaces several walls need to move around. And that ends up pinching out the front door. And the only place it can move to is where that window already.

J Scott makes a really good point about one thing leading to another with building inspectors. Read my story here.
0 Reply
Ivan A.
OP
Bowling Green, KY · Member since 2012 · 17 posts · 0 votes
14y
Originally posted by Jon Holdman:
There's lots of stuff you can do that doesn't require permits. Painting, flooring, countertops, and door replacements all fall into that category. When you start doing wiring, plumbing, structural or mechanical changes, you need permits. Mechanical is the heating/ac systems.
A lot of this stuff is not particular hard, but much of it is a skill. Laying tile isn't particularly difficult. Getting all the tiles leveled out is definitely a skill. Having all the right tools is also necessary. Many of the expensive ones can be rented, provided there are rental shops in your area. Most Home Depots around here now do tool rentals.

Its impossible here for anyone to make a reasonable estimate. If you're doing it yourself, and avoiding anything that needs permits, you could probably do this for as little as $10,000. But consider something like tile. You can buy cheap tile for under $1/sq.ft. Or you can spend $10 a sq.ft. None of us know exactly what you want or exactly what you might find locally. Go to Home Depot, Lowes, or a tile store and start looking around. See what it costs for what you like.

Now, keep in mind, the tile is only part of the expense. You may need concrete backer board under the tile. You'll need mortar for laying in the backer and then the tile on top of it. Screws for the backer. Grout between the tiles. Spacers to get the spaces right. Sealer for the grout. A saw to cut the tile. An angle grinder with a diamond blade for those odd cuts and for cutting holes around pipes. A cutter for the backer board. One, probably two, notched trowels for spreading the mortar. A float for working in the grout. Sponges. Buckets. None of that stuff is individually expensive. But it does add up. The backer, mortar, screws, etc, can easily add $1 or more to the per square foot cost.

So, get over to the home depot and start making notes. Then build a spreadsheet and add things up. Then work through all the various projects. Labor can be the most difficult thing to estimate. I've had bids from mechanical contractors vary by a factor of six. Similar for plumbers. But the materials are easy. Just figure out what you need and go to HD. The trick is getting all the little stuff. Doing some plumbing? You need connectors and a crimper (pex), PVC cement and a saw or cutter (PVC), or joints, solder, a torch, flux, sandpaper and brushes (copper). Screws and nails. Switch plate covers. This is the stuff that always kills me for estimating.

That shower will almost certainly require a permit. You're going to have to get the drain and supply lines in the right place. And get the drain line properly sloped. And buy or build a shower pan. And test the show plan for the inspector. That glass is tempered glass, which isn't cheap. That shower needs a lot of space (very nice shower, by the way). Does the bath have that space? Doubtful. So, you may have to move walls. I'm trying to figure out how to do a nice bath in my residence. Not unlike that picture. Its on the backside of the house. Guess what. To make it work, the FRONT door has to move. So, a big window on the front of the house has to move, too. Why? Because to get the space for the bath in roughly the same area and yet not create small, stupid-looking, unusable spaces several walls need to move around. And that ends up pinching out the front door. And the only place it can move to is where that window already.

J Scott makes a really good point about one thing leading to another with building inspectors. Read my story here.

lots of great info here, thanks for the post
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Karen MargraveBusiness Member
Moderator
Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer · Redding, CA · Member since 2009 · 7k+ posts · 4k+ votes
14y
Ivan A.
1. Do you already own this house, or are you purchasing?
2. From what you wrote, it appears you are doing this remodel for your own personal use, is that correct?
3. What size is the house? Others in neighborhood?
4. What is the current value/purchase price of the house?
5. What are the values in the neighborhood?
6. Are the other homes in the neighborhood being remodeled, and upgraded?
7. What are your skills in regard to construction, etc.?
8. Do you have a floor plan of the house, and more pics?

NOBODY can give you instructions on remodeling the house on this forum. Unless someone is familiar with the local building codes in your area, a floor plan to look at, etc., the advice you get could end up costing you huge amounts in the long run.

Costs for labor and materials vary from region to region, as do building codes. I am a licensed general contractor in California, where we have some of the most stringent building codes in the country, therefore; costs are higher, etc. Some areas you can get permits etc. in one day, others take weeks, etc.

But... more info is needed to help you make a good decision. If you'd like to answer the questions above, you can private message me with answers to the above, or email me.
0 Reply
Ivan A.
OP
Bowling Green, KY · Member since 2012 · 17 posts · 0 votes
14y
Originally posted by Karen M.:
Ivan A.
1. Do you already own this house, or are you purchasing?
2. From what you wrote, it appears you are doing this remodel for your own personal use, is that correct?
3. What size is the house? Others in neighborhood?
4. What is the current value/purchase price of the house?
5. What are the values in the neighborhood?
6. Are the other homes in the neighborhood being remodeled, and upgraded?
7. What are your skills in regard to construction, etc.?
8. Do you have a floor plan of the house, and more pics?
NOBODY can give you instructions on remodeling the house on this forum. Unless someone is familiar with the local building codes in your area, a floor plan to look at, etc., the advice you get could end up costing you huge amounts in the long run.

Costs for labor and materials vary from region to region, as do building codes. I am a licensed general contractor in California, where we have some of the most stringent building codes in the country, therefore; costs are higher, etc. Some areas you can get permits etc. in one day, others take weeks, etc.

But... more info is needed to help you make a good decision. If you'd like to answer the questions above, you can private message me with answers to the above, or email me.

1: purchasing
2: personal use, and renting out 2 rooms.
3: 1238 sq ft
4: estimated value: 57,200, price listed:$64,900 "both from same site.
5:not sure, usually higher than other places because it's close to the local University, and students will pay more if they're withing walking distance.
6:no idea, from what I've seen at friend's houses, no.
7:I've done some woodwork, painting, but I definitely wouldn't call myself a handy man.
8:nope, just what's on the website. but the realtor is going to send me a video, since I'm curious as well.

basically my situation is this, I live in Japan, me and my girlfriend have talked about moving back to the US "we'll actually leave the day after tomorrow for a week long visit" so I would need a place, and I could make money instead of spending money "hopefully" if I bought a place and rented out the extra rooms. I recently inherited a little over $300,000, and I don't want it to shrink AT ALL. so I'm looking into investing this way. We'll need a house if we go back, this is close to the uni, and we could hopefully make some money with it. just an idea, I'm not gonna purchase today or anything. I want to carefully weigh my options and figure out what I'm up against. I can say my cousin lives in an old **** hole of a house in the same area and her and her roommate are paying $250/pr. the mortgage on this house is estimated at $295/month, and if we renovated I could probably rent each room for at least $350/month.
me and my girlfriend each speak 3 languages each, and I wondered if we could market this way, offering to translate if someone needed to go the doctor, didn't understand school documents, needed to make some kind of phone call, setting up bank accounts etc. The English as a Second Language program here is huuuuuuge, with more koreans than anyone. I speak pretty fluent korean, ****** "currently studying here at school" japanese, and of course native english. my girlfriend is Japanese so she speaks native Japanese, good conversational korean, but probably couldn't translate at a hospital or Dr's "I've studied 5 years she's studied about 2", and she speaks great english, so between us we've got no problems with those 3 languages. These Japanese and koreans here are loaded, and I think we might be able to find people who would be interested.

this room would be between $350- $600 dollars a month in Seoul, so getting a korean to cough up $400/month is probably possible.

I'm not looking to cheat people, because I really think that we could offer something that other people couldn't and it would be worth it to them.
0 Reply
Ivan A.
OP
Bowling Green, KY · Member since 2012 · 17 posts · 0 votes
14y
btw, that room in Seoul would be all that you had, you would have communal showers, communal toilet, communal kitchen etc. with probably 15 other people on your floor. I lived on one for a while and it sucked.
0 Reply
Aaron McGinnis
Contractor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2008 · 978 posts · 985 votes
14y
Ivan,

The last "small" renovation I did was to a 1200sqft house we bought for $20k. We spent "just" $55k on it, and did things like -

* New kitchen
* Jack the house up (Foundation was failing)
* New mechanicals (plumbing, electric, HVAC)
* Sheetrock
* Roof
* Landscaping
* Shed out back
* Paint
* 2 small bathrooms, gutted out and refinished

Things we didn't do -
* New doors
* New windows
* Sand and refinish floors (We just did a buff and shine treatment)

This was a lightweight rehab. I've spent up to $100k+ on tiny, tiny stick built Victorian houses doing full-gut renovations.

Small, old houses which questionable mechanicals can rack up renovation costs faster than you'd ever imagine to be possible. Do not underestimate the cost of rewiring, replumbing, new HVAC, plus all the interior work.

(By the way, the faux-wood floor tile in that picture runs about $4-5 a sqft. That's just the tile, not the labor, mortar, grout, and backerboard, and fasteners... just figure out your floor area and start multiplying as a single example of how expensive these things can get)
0 Reply
Karen MargraveBusiness Member
Moderator
Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer · Redding, CA · Member since 2009 · 7k+ posts · 4k+ votes
14y
I was going to send a private message to go over the answers to the questions, and ideas. You will need to accept colleague request though. However; I'd say, get moved back to the U.S. and settled in before you make any decisions concerning investing.

It would probably make more sense for you to rent a house for you to live in, and not jump into a room mate situation with the hope of them helping pay mortgage.

The deal you are telling us about isn't a deal. You can set yourself up by using your inheritance wisely, investing in solid projects. Give yourself some time, and sock your money away while you learn. There's no rush, there are always deals, and once your money is gone, it's gone.
1 Reply
Ivan A.
OP
Bowling Green, KY · Member since 2012 · 17 posts · 0 votes
14y
Originally posted by Aaron McGinnis:
Ivan,
The last "small" renovation I did was to a 1200sqft house we bought for $20k. We spent "just" $55k on it, and did things like -

* New kitchen
* Jack the house up (Foundation was failing)
* New mechanicals (plumbing, electric, HVAC)
* Sheetrock
* Roof
* Landscaping
* Shed out back
* Paint
* 2 small bathrooms, gutted out and refinished

Things we didn't do -
* New doors
* New windows
* Sand and refinish floors (We just did a buff and shine treatment)

This was a lightweight rehab. I've spent up to $100k+ on tiny, tiny stick built Victorian houses doing full-gut renovations.

Small, old houses which questionable mechanicals can rack up renovation costs faster than you'd ever imagine to be possible. Do not underestimate the cost of rewiring, replumbing, new HVAC, plus all the interior work.

(By the way, the faux-wood floor tile in that picture runs about $4-5 a sqft. That's just the tile, not the labor, mortar, grout, and backerboard, and fasteners... just figure out your floor area and start multiplying as a single example of how expensive these things can get)

that seems waaaay more extreme than anything I was planning...
I was just wanting to pretty much re-decorate the house...lol
MAYBE open up one wall... but definitely not tearing a roof off, or changing the foundation.
0 Reply

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