Thinking Out Loud

[Denny Pugh]

My wife has inherited a townhouse from her mom. Long story short, she lived alone until she passed at almost 90 and at times was quite a difficult person to deal with. She had cats and the smell had been building for years and it was unpleasant to be there for long periods of time. She passed and a few days later her last cat did the same so the townhouse is empty now but it does still smell pretty bad.

Built in 1996 and originally sold for $70,000.00 +/-. The current tax value on it is $104,000.00 and at the market peak they sold for $120,000.00 to $130,000.00 but the last few have sold for around $99,000.00 in move in condition which ours is not by a long shot. Just worn out inside. It is 2 story and just under 900SF 2 Bed / 2.5 bath.

I had planned to just gut the thing and replace everything from the studs out and make it another rental or move there ourselves, but that was at the market peak. Now based on my estimate of $35,000 plus to do this I am having second thoughts due to the current reduction in sales price.

I was wondering based on the information I have given, anyone who buys and remodels, hazard a guess as to what I might expect as a reduced sales price if I choose to just sell it as is ??

JDPugh

[Brandon Turner]

Hey Denny Pugh - I enjoy thinking out loud as well, and the forums are a good place for that.

My thought- do you really need to gut it? If it's from 1996 - I bet its not too bad. I would go in and have a college kid rip out all the carpet, sweep it, and then mop the floors with bleach. I'd then find a handyman or painter to come in and tape off the cabinets, windows and doors and shoot the entire home with Kilz-oil based paint - including the floors. Then, paint all the walls "County White" from Wal-Mart (again, spray it). Then I'd have Home Depot do wall-to-wall carpet for $1.50 per square foot ad $97 install. The handyman could finish the rest of the little stuff. Hire a cleaning lady for $100 to make it clean.

I'd then list the house for sale for $89,000 as is. No smell, new paint and carpet, all for under $5,000.00 and about a week.

My opinion anyways! Thoughts?