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I, along with my sister, am inheriting a house that has been in our family since the house was built in 1926. I am also going to inherent approx 140,000 cash.
The house has major issues. The foundation is cracked due to a tree's roots. My father cut it down 25 years ago, killed the roots, and it hasn't gotten worse in 25 years. But it's still cracked.The electrical needs upgrading from 60 amps along with panel upgrade and meter upgrade. All windows need replacing i am told because of energy efficacy. Insulation of floors and attic need doing. And new forced air heater plus install swamp cooler. plumbing needs to be upgraded and at least replace sinks in bath and kitchen. Cosmetically it is hideous with lots of plaster cracks in walls and ceiling
It is a cinder block 2 bed one bath with basement located in Nob hill which is a good area. The distressed homes here in cal are 100,000 cash for a horrible neighborhood. So don't think I could buy here.
I am thinking I might want to buy my sister out, move to ABQ and fix up the place gradually as my invested money earns interest and in thirty years either have a reverse morage or sell to go into assisted living.
I'd say if you think you would be happy with the area to go for it. I'm guessing you have been to the area often since the home was in the family for years. There's always that old saw about not putting more into a home than you would ever get out of it but I've always thought that if you had no plans on moving it mattered little.
I know most codes require 100 amps minimum and where I am located, generally 200. On that electric service are you being required to upgrade? I still see many homes that get along just fine on 60 amps. That's still a substantial amount of power if you do not have central air and have gas appliances.
As far as the foundation crack, again I have seen tons that never get worse and very rarely a few that do. Again that's something I would probably monitor and let it go. It may not be a bad idea for one of those firms that inject this epoxy like substance into it just to prevent water entering, freezing, etc.
On the hvac, (my biz) if your going with a new furnace I would suggest having them throw an evaporator coil in at the same time but only if you think you may ever go with central air over the swamp cooler. The reason I say that is it takes about 4 extra minutes to install one when the system is being replaced. It may add a few hundred to the job.
Hi Three cats(I have five!) thanks for your helpful answer. I was also told by others that living with 60 amps would be OK. But I am not sure. Could I run my treadmill? Power tools such as a saw? What about an energy star 42 inch flat screen? A blo-drier? I guess I already know no clothes dryer so its laundry mat time come winter. What about a chest freezer? I HAVE to have my chest freezer. Also should I at least upgrade the fuse box to a breaker?
The house does have a fireplace, could i heat with that? Around how much would a new furnace run me? Currently it's running a 1954 furnace that works good. My father never used it as he didn't like the bills; but the place wasn't adequately insulated either. But I was told I should replace it anyway. Would a new basement furnace work OK with an older vent system? I have five intake ports on the floor and five output ports in the walls.
I have to agree with you regarding the foundation. The bathroom door sticks but everything else is fine besides the ugly plaster cracks. I am a bit concerned about eventual resale when I am old and want to go into assisted living. What would a potential buyer say about a eventual basic DIY kit job(with some help from a knowledgeable friend on site of course)
Your biggest resale issue, however many years down the road, is the 2 bed, 1 bath limitation. That is a huge issue.
Ultimately, it is just an asset with a determinable market value. For you to live in the house, you will have to make major repairs. You have to consider is it worth it, to you, to put $ into this house today, versus simply selling it to someone else who wants to take on that project? Especially considering the bed/bath limitation which may or may not be feasible to change through a very costly addition to the house.
If the house could be moved into with minimal cosmetic updates (paint, etc) it might make more sense to make it your home. But for right now, you have inherited an asset that needs a lot of $ put into it just to raise it to minimally acceptable standards if you ever plan to sell.
West...you are SO right. This can't be ever regarded as any kind of investment.. Money is better off invested elsewhere...a house is just shelter and should be regarded as such. If you spend 10,000 on a new kitchen be prepared to get 10,000 worth of enjoyment from it personally because you'll never get it back.
Add a room? Why so my dog can have more privacy? Screw home values
The cosmetics on this house would be a blast though. I have been imaging what I'd like to do with it since I was 12. It could be so pretty. Under that filthy carpet I know is wood. Oh, and New Mexico is a great area for butterfly gardening. The Monarch is endangered.
In the winter I can wear battery heated clothing. My animals can stay in one boarded up room with a space heater.
Can't really say much without seeing it of course....
However, I probably wouldn't worry much about the foundation crack - it cracked due to lifting from the root, and it may settle some as the root decays. But it is not like some of the foundation cracks I've seen around here (small town, rural), where the foundations were wholly inadequate for the load they had to carry. Yours sounds stable or easy to stabilize.
Insulation and wiring you may be able to approach at the same time. Take the ceiling down (sounds far worse than it is) and use spray foam insulation and rewire properly - runs inside the roof crawl space with drops in the walls. Some places I've lived, electrical contractors liked to sell people on conduit on the roof with holes drilled for the drops. They did this because it's easy for them, but I don't like having extra holes in the roof - too much potential for leaks. The other advantage of removing the ceiling is easy installation of ductwork for heating/cooling systems. It sounds drastic, but if the home is vacant it's not that bad.
Sounds like a neat little house, I always liked that area of town
Given the state of many of the houses in Nob Hill, many of those upgrades sound like optional ones. 60 amps, cracks, antiquated windows, these are par for the course. There's no requirement to change any of these out (60 amps is enough to run anything within reason that you might find within a 2br/1ba house). Many of the rentals you'll find in this area offer these and they are perfectly livable.
If you intend to make this house your castle and want to upgrade these things, great. Otherwise, don't stress about them. I'd have few qualms about living in a house like that if it was all I could afford, and I'd certainly have no qualms about renting it out to people for cheap.
Selling this house as is (or with a fixit budget as part of the terms of the sale) is probably what I'd consider doing.
I was a home inspector once. I would not put money into that house. Definitely a money pit. I´d scrape the lot clean and plan on building a small bungalow. That land will be worth good money as ABQ grows, and rehabbing a 1920s cinder block place with a cracked foundation is a dealbreaker. Your neighbors will thanks you and you´ll have a something healthier and highly insulated.
If cinderblock and/or cracked foundations warrant scraping the lot clean, there goes 2/3 of the city.
Nob Hill already has some of the highest land and property values in the city and a lot of people buy in Nob Hill specifically for its architecture. I would compare the house to other houses on the block. If it is substantially less impressive (or it is a real dud block) maybe Mike is right, but a lot of people are paying 50% more per square foot than equivalent Albuquerque properties to live in a pre-war Nob Hill house with 'character'.
Hi everyone! Awesome and helpful replies! Thanks! Some comments follow but i can't reply as much as i want because my keyboard is messed up.
1) It's true. The ceiling is not plaster it's some kind of board. It has to be removed and redone anyway for cosmetic reasons and I am NOT looking forward to it. lol However ripping it down would be just a matter of getting a dumpster and doing it.
2) I am also thinking about maybe converting partly to solar.
3) Id like to make my kitchen sink and bathtub a part of a gray water system to grow fruit trees in the back yard. All plumbing goes through the basement and the basement has windows. I think it's a easy job but is the city going to let me? Does anyone know of someone doing it?
4) I'd like to have a compost toilet too. Why the hell they so expensive though?
5) I since heard I can preserve the historic windows and just add weather stripping and storm windows
6) I have heard the place should be torn down also from many other people. We DO plan to eventuality hire both a structural engineer and professional home inspector to evaluate the the situation, as well as a appraiser in order to come to either a fair buyout price or a cash asking price.
7) My father had it appraised in 1990 and that appraisal DOES say the house has historic value. It's own unique character (in my opinion) is books. My great grandfather was a professor at UNM and obviously loved books so the entire structure out back(you guys know what I am referring to) was/is a library with very well made shelves, and inside it has wonderful built in bookshelves too. Also, it still has the old diamond handle doorknobs etc.
I think the city gives u a tax break if you preserve the house but you can't live in it for five years or something. They don't want these homes torn down though generally is my impression
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