I can’t look at the pictures now, but no way are you getting a VA loan. They have very strict standards for levels of repair. We had a friend who wanted a VA loan and got turned down because the house had a cracked driveway. As far as I know, VA doesn’t do construction loans at all.
Honestly, if you don’t have at least half a million in cash, you should not buy this property. It’s going to cost more than that to reno.
The purchase price of that house would be the smallest of the expenses. I lived in a house of that vintage in DC. Doing any work to that house was difficult. We had to repoint the brick and I couldn’t use regular cement based mortar but rather an old fashioned type of lime mortar that cost so much more.
We were looking to get a small addition put in, and the architect said to budget around $200k to gut the rest of the house since you’d have to reconfigure things and that you would wind up finding many more problems.
Leaving the hole in the roof for 2+ months of freezing temp (plus at least 1 month (now)) means the place was abandoned.
Water expands when it freezes - you NEVER let a house do a hard freeze unless you really do not want to ever live there again.
Esp. plaster and lath - water gets between the two and promptly pops the plaster off.
The entire roof structure is toast. That lovely oak floor under whatever has been placed over it is now ruined.
I can’t imagine NOT at least strapping a tarp over the hole.
p.s. - the bit of brick work in the one pic means re-point inside.
Find something that will be worth at least what you invest - that looks like something I can’t even imagine - $500K would be a low estimate.
Oh - one other thing about old houses - those old boys knew a few tricks (that house was built without power tools) - I found that the baseboards could not be removed intact unless you remove the stud from behind and cut off the nails - the 7" baseboard had two nails in each stud - the top one angled down; the bottom one angled up. (no, I have NO idea how they pulled that off).
And you thought it was a trick to put wet plaster on the ceiling.
That $60K Vicky would have been worth $250-300K if it could have been salvaged.
Jacking up the house and installing a new foundation would have been the first of many, many such projects.
Would this be a first house purchase for you, Bear? Just curious.
Those wall tiles in the crawl space, with the circle and cross pattern. Aren’t those asbestos tiles? Also the white stuff on the pipes?
:eek:
:d&r:
There is NO WAY you should even consider this property, unless you have a TON of cash, and are STRONGLY MOTIVATED to go through a project like this.
VERY unlikely you will turn a profit - or even recoup your investment.
Is it even habitable at this point? If so, you might be able to essentially camp out inside the deteriorating structure, and then walk away from your investment after 3 years.
Well, the land isn’t going anywhere. So you’ll always have THAT value - IF you can find anyone to take it off your hands…
Listen to usedtobe - he clearly knows of what he speaks.
This would be my third. the first house I purchased in 2009 is paid off, so I own that one outright. The second house I purchased as a foreclosure and immediately put about $15,000 into it. Lived in it for 2.5, and then sold it for $38,000 over. Ended up being a profit of $15-20K after realtor fees and closing costs. Plus, I pretty much lived there for free for the 2.5+ years I was there. Paid $100,000 with a VA Loan, so I didn’t need to put anything down. Added about $15,000 of improvements: paint, floors, huge deck, kitchen appliances and counters. Sold for $138,000.
I will definitely be listening to him. I am not going to purchase this house. When I solicit advice, I don’t take it lightly. I appreciate all of the input, everyone!
Smart man. 3 houses and 30 years ago, I thought I loved all kinds of “interesting” old architecture. Now I REALLY appreciate things that work as they are supposed to and don’t require excessive ongoing maintenance.
At one point we toyed with the idea of building new something that would reflect our craftsman preferences. Instead we bought a ROCKSOLID 50s split-level, and did a near complete gut rehab inside and out. Love them new windows, the drainage during storms, the no maintenance hardieboard, etc. But would be nice to have a house that had rooms that were other than a series of boxes…
Thanks for sharing the photos; compared to the listing they give a much more comprehensive idea of what any purchaser is up against, even w/ the various rebates and such. For the right person it will be a labor of love, but that will either be a rich person or a longtime local person; or both.
Speaking as a person living in their renovation, it’s one of the most taxing things I’ve ever done and will not repeat.
I wish you good luck on your PCS and house search!
I can’t believe that they didn’t at least throw a tarp over that open roof.
StG
… and give it that run-down, hillbilly look? 
Take a good look at the roof and its hole - the pitch is steep, the structure can’t be trusted with a person’s weight.
And it’s a long way up from the ground.
I doubt that the fire dept would loan out their ladder truck; scaffolding would be horribly expensive.
my guess is the owner wrote it off before it cooled down.
When you chop up a magnificent building for low-cost student housing, you are probably not looking at restoration - no sealers, no re-wiring, just get some money coming in.
I have a friend (Boston area) who has done a fair amount of old building renovation. He says that the cost of fixing up a property of this type may approach and could exceed building an entirely new structure of the same size. And that doesn’t take into account the extra cost of conforming to the historical preservation rules (which admittedly would be to some extent offset by tax credits).
This is a project suited only to someone with lots of experience, and good knowledge of the local resources.
New pictures were added to the link in the OP. Wow, the damage is much more extensive than previously shown!
And in pictures 5-7, is that black mold? That would be another expensive headache!
The longer it sits open in freezing weather with much/most/all of it saturated from fire hoses, the fewer the number of pieces still standing.
The damned ‘Historical Society’ won’t allow it to be razed for new construction but will not spend 90K and try to stabilize the thing.
Disgusting.
The rest of the roof will collapse in a few years, exposing the remaining ceiling to the rain/freeze cycle.