Took a look at the house yesterday. There's minor water damage from an unknown source, likely the roof. The roof on the house and garage both need redone, but as long as it's not the source of the leak, it can wait another year or so. Condition of the home? Complete gut, down to the studs. Kitchen needs a new floor, but the solid wood floor in the family room looks in good shape, not warped at all. So new drywall everything and likely run new electric throughout the entire house.
Might sound like a lot of work, but it's not as bad as you'd think if you're willing to do the majority of the work. The electrical becomes much easier if I'm ripping out all the existing drywall. The large expense here isn't from the cost of electrical supplies, maybe a few hundred at most, but I'd have to get a permit and get it inspected. I'd pay someone to hook everything into the breakers, but I'd run all the wires to save money.
Ok, now the bad news. It uses a septic system, which I was told doesn't work. And the gas doesn't work. I can ditch the gas, having it capped off at the source and removing the old pipes and stick to all electric. That decision really depends on what's wrong with it. I didn't ask, but with a septic it usually indicates well water. Neighboring homes have city sewage, so I do have the option to tap those and ditch the septic. But that's costly, like in the thousands. The plumbing would be my biggest cost here most likely because it's not something I can do. In the home sure, but tapping city lines and removing a septic system no way.
The yard is awesome, the garage is huge, though no power inside. The tool shed I determined best to just knock over and rebuild from scratch. And.... in the corner of the lot covered by a lot of bushes I saw a small structure. I walked around it, so a small door with a crescent moon on it. I'm like, there's no way... open the door and there's a toilet sitting over a hole in the ground! Yup, old fashion outhouse. Yard is 0.7 acres has lots of large, mature trees, which is the main reason I'm considering this property.
I'm still building estimates, but if I can do the entire rehab for under 40k, I might go with it. Sorry, I don't have any pictures. I'm already kicking myself for forgetting to take some.
We did, however, put in an offer on another property today (bank owned). Aside from some missing copper and furnace coil, all it needs is some paint really. The goal is to flip and resell it fast for a quick profit. We estimate about $30k shared between us, which would be awesome.
As much as I'd love to get that church and build on it, the overall costs would just be too much for me. It really needs someone who can afford to drop $100k extra into it.
"I like offending people, because I think people who get offended should be offended." - Linus Torvalds
