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Would you buy this house for cheap?

Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
This is a decision I may possibly have to make, but it's very tough as I really want to buy a house and this seems like a great opportunity if it actually happens.

Basically, we had this very weird neighbor. He smokes and drinks a lot. Back in the day he used to "take care" of his mother in that house. She had alzeimers and basically pooped and peed all over and he never cleaned it up. Aparantly he even threw his ashtray between the mattress. One time she somehow fell between the railing and the wall and the guy let her there to eventually die. Police eventually found it fishy and got the body and he must of been charged but I don't recall the details. Just assume, the body was probably there for like a week. This was probably like 15 years ago.

Fast forwarding to a few summers ago he had a fire in his house while drunk, the fire dept had to drag him out, put out the fire, and that was the end. He never cleaned up the damage.

He also had a flood in there at one point, a cleanup company DID go in but not sure to what extent it was cleaned. They where disgussed by his lifestyle and never wanted to go in there again.

Fast forward now to about a week ago. He was found dead in the house, probably 1 week old body.

So now we're thinking that house will probably end up selling for retarded cheap. I could buy it for basically the property and foundation, throw it to the ground or at least to just frame, and redo it.


Cons

1: Possibly dirty nightmare to live with, some issues may come up like mold
2: 2 deaths in there
3: It would be next to my parents' house.

Pros:

1: Very cheap
2: Possibly a fun project (demolition = fun)
3: Very easy to move in after

Considering it would be a really good deal, would you buy it?


If the price is right (as in, almost free) I think I might. I'd do the demolition myself to save money, get a contractor to demold the framing (with one of those steam/sandblast machines) and then get contractor to redo the whole house. It's a decent property, has a garage and big yard.



Cliffs:
- neighbor was weird, dirty, and just plain nasty.
- He let her mom die in his house, body about 1 week old before found, house very nasty in general
- neighbor had flood and fire, not really cleaned up
-neighbor dies, is found a week later
-house may go for sale for super cheap
 
I would, if I was going to rebuild a house there. No way in hell I'd purchase something in such crappy condition.
 
As long as it is structurally sound and you have the time/$$ to invest in fixing it yourself, then why not? If the fire damage is not too bad, you can just knock out all the drywall in the affected areas, and paint over any exposed wood to get rid of the smoky smell before putting new drywall up. I'm assuming that the electric/plumbing is still in decent condition, too. Best of luck to ya!

:beer:
 
If you will follow through on the rebuild, it might be worth it. I don't know if I would have the time to do it though.
 
I wouldn't, but not based on it being near your parent's house. The fire/flood/mold/death stuff would be a deal breaker for me.
 
That's the thing too, time would be an issue. I'd need to get like a week off right in spring to do it and have a contractor scheduled to start on the actual work. I would take on the rebuild myself and learn on the way but just no time. But the demolition part (all/most drywall, flooring, possibly ceiling) could be done in a week I say.

And yeah, I would not really want to live next to my parents, it would just be, weird. But at least I'd still have my privacy.
 
Originally posted by: NSFW
its haunted
Click to expand...

Actually that house/situation would make an awesome haunted house movie.

To add to the interesting of the situation, I used to shovel his stairs when I was a kid, he was also an eye doctor. We'd say hi to him and stuff if we saw him, but that's about it.

 
I would stay away from it. Fire, flood, possible mold. As long as you up for the possibility of completely gutting the house then I would stay away. That is completely looking over the fact you would be living next to your parents.
 
Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
It would be next to my parents' house.
Click to expand...

Uh, WOW no. None of the other stuff would bother me though, if you were willing to basically knock it down and start over.
 
Originally posted by: Mike
Depends how cheap
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Yeah. If it's dirt cheap, you could just buy it, demolish it, and then do nothing. Let your parents enjoy no neighbors on that side.
 
Is it on the market? Are you assuming it will be sold for 'crazy cheap?' did he own the house? Was he renting? Who is the owner, in that case? If it was him, how do you know a family member won't take it? And there's a chance the current owner might decide to fix it up and sell it for more than 'crazy cheap'
 
Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
That's the thing too, time would be an issue. I'd need to get like a week off right in spring to do it and have a contractor scheduled to start on the actual work. I would take on the rebuild myself and learn on the way but just no time. But the demolition part (all/most drywall, flooring, possibly ceiling) could be done in a week I say.

And yeah, I would not really want to live next to my parents, it would just be, weird. But at least I'd still have my privacy.
Click to expand...
You're never going to get a rehab project like that done in a week, ever. You're not going to even get close to finishing a demolition project of that size in a week. It would take you a week just to being to assess what needs to be done to the structure/site.

You're not going to learn how to build a house "as you go along". If you don't know what you're doing right now, then you're definitely in WAY over your head.

It sounds like you are basically going to be purchasing the land and whatever minimal site improvements that are still in half-decent condition. The foundation is not likely to be re-utilized and you're probably looking at a new construction from the site improvements up.

Honestly, no, I wouldn't get involved in that pile of shit.

 
What a truly amazing opportunity you have in front of you. You must seize it my friend! You should savor the sweet smell of death while it lasts, lay in the spot where the man died. Make love to your woman in the corner where the old woman lay dead for a week. A blessing such as this comes but once in a lifetime. You must embrace it. This house, and the horrors contained within is truly a gift from God. You must not let it slip through your grasp.
 
Demolition in a week? hahaa. Dude. You do realize that you need permits, even for demo, right? This isn't Pioneer Times out in the wild west anymore where you can ramshackle a log cabin in a fortnight.
 
It's all theorical at this point. This guy has next to no family and no will. OF course it may not end up going for cheap but I'm just theorizing now.

And by the demo in one week I mean once all permits and the blah blah stuff is done. I'm saying from the point I can get a sludge hammer in my hand to it being all at the dump, and I did say, if I managed to get a week off. So I'd be working like all day on it. I'd probably get help from people who done this before.
 
His brother got the house, and he will be making a price soon. If it's 100k or lower, I'll most likely go for it and get a mortgage for like 150k so I can use the money for renovations. This year they have this thing where you can claim 10% of renovations on your taxes for 2009. That means I'll get a shit load of cash next year, possibly for further renovations if there are some needed, like redoing the roof (due in about 5 years) or possibly installing a gas furnace, if the electric heat cost too much. Think I'll actually save with electric heat though, as I only need to heat up the rooms I use the most, the rest I can keep at like 10-15.

Right now, a typical 100-150k house here is a total shack, and lot of them are where there's lot of natives so I'd get vandalism all the time. The property is also insane huge compared to other houses (excluding farms obviously) so that leaves lot of room for expansion.

I'm really looking forward to hearing back on the price as I can finally have my own house if it's cheap enough.
 
Where do people get this idea that demolition is fun? I agree the destruction aspect of it is fun, for about 15 minutes, then it becomes one of the hardest, dirtiest, dustiest, most unpleasant jobs on a construction site, and you don't even get paid much for it if you are working for someone else.
 
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