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johnpalmerSo, my real estate agent knows a guy who can put on the new roof, with a support system that will create space for an eventual half-story on the house. Beautiful work, and putting it on will come in at just 14 grand, *including* the trusses.
Who here can guess what's missing?
That's right - the cost of *removing the old roof*. And a permit, and additional this-n-that and so-forth. Total, out the door (technically, "on the house," I suppose) cost is 25 grand. Reasonable - really, honestly, reasonable - but not what we put into the initial offer.
I said that I thought a proper roofing job for this house was going to run about 20 grand (add in 5 grand for the space-creating trusses I wanted, and I was spot-on). But being right isn't a lot of comfort right now - we only have 25 grand to play with, and that also has to re-wire the house, and make a minor foundation repair.
Called the bank, sent e-mail, called my agent, and today, I'm meeting with a contractor and the structural engineer I hired.
We have two options.
First: No, it's not too late to modify the mortgage, or the offer - we can bake in the cost of some upgrades. If so, that's *great*. If you're going to spend money on a house, the time to do it is in the first mortgage, especially with mortgages hovering at 5%. I've decided I'm willing to go whole hog if necessary and the payments work out. I've got the numbers run through my head to know what I honestly can work with.
Second: yes, it's too late. We *can* re-roof, without the fancy trusses, and fix the electric. We can repair the foundation, it'll be a few (thousand) dollars more, but I have a big tax return this year. Everything still works, just not as neatly.
It's still working - but I have a contractor who has done a lot of work who I'm *really* hoping has good references so I can just hand this job over to him... he deserves it after getting jerked around a bit. And I have a real estate agent who is not my favorite person in the world right now.
A lesson: if you're buying a house that's old, and needs repair, take vacation around your inspection time frame, and use a local real estate agent so scheduling access is easy.
Who here can guess what's missing?
That's right - the cost of *removing the old roof*. And a permit, and additional this-n-that and so-forth. Total, out the door (technically, "on the house," I suppose) cost is 25 grand. Reasonable - really, honestly, reasonable - but not what we put into the initial offer.
I said that I thought a proper roofing job for this house was going to run about 20 grand (add in 5 grand for the space-creating trusses I wanted, and I was spot-on). But being right isn't a lot of comfort right now - we only have 25 grand to play with, and that also has to re-wire the house, and make a minor foundation repair.
Called the bank, sent e-mail, called my agent, and today, I'm meeting with a contractor and the structural engineer I hired.
We have two options.
First: No, it's not too late to modify the mortgage, or the offer - we can bake in the cost of some upgrades. If so, that's *great*. If you're going to spend money on a house, the time to do it is in the first mortgage, especially with mortgages hovering at 5%. I've decided I'm willing to go whole hog if necessary and the payments work out. I've got the numbers run through my head to know what I honestly can work with.
Second: yes, it's too late. We *can* re-roof, without the fancy trusses, and fix the electric. We can repair the foundation, it'll be a few (thousand) dollars more, but I have a big tax return this year. Everything still works, just not as neatly.
It's still working - but I have a contractor who has done a lot of work who I'm *really* hoping has good references so I can just hand this job over to him... he deserves it after getting jerked around a bit. And I have a real estate agent who is not my favorite person in the world right now.
A lesson: if you're buying a house that's old, and needs repair, take vacation around your inspection time frame, and use a local real estate agent so scheduling access is easy.
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no subject
Date: 2010-02-10 07:30 pm (UTC)(I thought $14k sounded low for a teardown job - mine, without truss work, came to $21k - but in this economy, who knew?)
Which real estate agent do we want to hex? Doug, or the seller's agent, or both?
Best of luck on the meeting today, darlin'.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-10 07:54 pm (UTC)I thought 14 grand to do the trusswork was surprisingly cheap, but then - hey, how much *do* trusses cost? And maybe they can save some labor here and there, with the cranes putting the trusses in place, or something... and, well, I over-trusted Doug. I don't mean he wasn't trustworthy - he did report the correct numbers for me, he's not trying to cheat me, but I should have dug in earlier and made sure I knew what was going on.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-10 07:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-11 02:56 am (UTC)Good luck. It sounds exciting!