A lot of you have asked about the house update plans so that's what we are doing here with this post.
We had a post ready to go all Spring and then into Summer about a possible special announcement, but, well, read on...
You may have noticed a few times last year we mentioned having people out to the house. Well, we were having a couple of contractors out to work up proposals for a remodel.
Here's how that went:
One group set an appointment, we got everything ready, etc, and then the day before, they said they realized it was too far from their office and they wouldn't be able to supervise it well enough. Um, maybe use Google maps sooner? Whatever.
A second guy came out and talked to us, made some measurements and then we didn't hear from him for a while. He finally said he was not really going to do whole house remodels anymore but he'd be willing to try. Um, better to find that out before he started!
Another company never came out but after we reached out to them and communicated back and forth a bit to reschedule, we found some really terrible reviews about them and we were just really hesitant. So nope.
Another referral we got a couple of years ago we reached out to and since the pandemic, he is no longer doing remodels and then ghosted us. His loss.
Finally, we found a good one. He wrote up a proposal for us. He came out twice to measure, take photos, meet with us, etc. When he asked our budget, he said we could tell him or let him come up with an amount so it didn't look like he was just going with our highest amount. He gave us his best guess and it was a little less than the high end of our budget we had in mind. We were OK with that.
Of course, he still had to work up numbers to come up with an actual proposal. He came out another weekend and measured more and we even gave him a folder with some ideas of things we had in mind that we liked.
This is kind of what the plan was. A complete gut and remodel on the inside and removing the addition and replacing it bigger and better. Of course also a new roof, new plumbing, new electrical, new septic, an enclosed foundation, new windows, central HVAC, etc.
Two weeks later he came back with the proposal:
About $75,000 HIGHER than our highest end budget. The general thinking on a remodel is to allow an overage of about 20% for unforeseen problems, expenses, changes in plans. With an amount like that, we could be easily be almost $100,000 over our already large initial budget.
To top it all off, now the interest rates are higher and on home improvement/remodel loans they are really high. Most big city banks are hesitant to do remodel loans on rural properties.
I think you made the right decision. I've heard stories about people doing reno's the last couple of years and it is ugly.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's never in real life like it is on the HGTV shows is it? Ha. Thank you.
DeleteEverything has gone up in price. Lumber is sky high. Then, there's the labor...
ReplyDeleteYes, it's all so crazy expensive now. And that trickles down (and up and over and every other direction, ha) to everything.
DeleteStick-built is always best, in my opinion. Doing your homework will pay off.
ReplyDeleteThank you, yes, lots of homework. We did lots of reno/contractor homework so now we hit the other options.
Deletewell, after spending two years on our latest redo, i feel your pain. fortunately, we have an excellent contractor that we use all of the time but hola...expensive! you should build something new and turn the ld house onto a guest cottage/office maybe!
ReplyDeleteYes, if you can get a great contractor, it's wonderful and expensive. My boss has done a lot of renos and remodel projects but he has a great team of different people he trusts to do all of his projects but he did say that comes at a price, ha. We have thought of moving the house elsewhere but downside is we need to clear land for that and that's more expense, then run electric and water and sewer etc. More expense. Sigh.
DeleteMy Mom bought some land and put a pre-built house on it before she remarried, and it was really nice. Then she and my stepdad built a house, and after going through both scenarios, if we ever buy land, I'm doing the pre-built. It was a lot less painful!
ReplyDeleteWe've heard similar tales of woe about new builds. Beautiful in the end but a tricky road to get there. We are leaning more toward prebuilt just for time savings and stress savings, ha.
DeleteI was going to suggest to scrape it and build, but the prefabs are actually good quality. Enjoy the blog BTW
ReplyDeleteYes, the quality is crazy good on many of the higher end ones these days. We have been impressed so far. We shall see. Thank you for stopping by and the kind comment!
DeleteThe great nightmare of rural life is that no one is willing to make the trip to do the work. Pay up front and they don't show up and you have to go to court to get your money back. Make appointments and they never show and never call. Our experience with that ranged from major contractors to small town plumbers. Just no one willing to drive, for us 13 miles, to do the work. We did get a great roofing contractor from 50 miles away that actually showed up and did a fantastic job in one day for a complete roof re-do. But those are rare. I would go with the modular home. There are some nice ones, well built, warrantied and affordable. Most include plumbing and wiring but you will have to arrange all the external connections though they may have subs that will do the work. Good luck on the home and on your future.
ReplyDeleteYes, that is so true. We had the same thing last year with a guy. I mean a simple job, but he kept changing the timeline and would only call us when we called him and left messages. It was literally a $150 job. We ended up patching it and just dealing with it ourselves. Modular seem to be really nice and they are built to the same standards as stick built. We're going to get some crash course knowledge in all this over the upcoming weeks, ha. Stay tuned (and thanks for always leaving such supportive and nice comments, we appreciate them).
DeleteOooo workmen around the house , I wish Winnie was there xx
ReplyDeleteRight? We all have heard how she is around them, ha. She might scare off some of our guys. Thanks for stopping by, always smile when we see you comment.
DeleteI do think that you both have made a really good choice by starting out with a new home.
ReplyDeleteYou can always have the old farmhouse moved to different location on the property and use as storage unit, garden shed or whatever. You maybe could find someone who would like the old wood that is in the house; giving them a time limit to tear down and do all the clean up.
A lot of people like them old windows, inside and outside doors, etc. Those maybe you could sell to the person who wants them. Around here, they sell for big bucks.
I would try and selvage what you can and maybe build a small project of sorts using the wood, etc. as a memory of the old farmhouse. Can also use the windows and doors and make into a greenhouse. Maybe some of the old wood can be used to make planter window boxes, outdoor benches, Freestanding corner shelves, coat rack with hooks attached, wooden box caddy, some sort of wall art, do a wood wall (small area wall( in new house using wood from the farmhouse.
I would try and incorporate some of the wood into the new if at all possible; just something as a memory of the old house
We thought about moving it elsewhere but we have no spots cleared and that would be a whole other expense. We will recycle what we can and I like the idea of using some of the wood into a special project. That could work. Thanks! We are considering habitat for humanity to let them take what they want and can reuse.
DeleteAfter all of that, I think you made the right choice. Your new build choices all sound like very good options. The pre-fab log home sounds especially beautiful.
ReplyDeleteYes, thank you, we feel confident in our decision to go a new route. Now we just have to see what works budget wise and logistics wise.
DeletePre fab homes are very popular here in Florida, they are beautiful, add a nice porch and make it a forever home. They are very secure and are safe in storms with all the strapping they are required to do now. If you go to the factory, you will be able to pick everything to be just what you want, and the build time is reasonable. Look around before you make the decision, so much is out there now to choose from.
ReplyDeleteWe've been watching tons of videos and yes, there are some very nice ones. And we have already said a large almost wrap around porch, will go on whatever we get. We LOVE our deep big porch. Have to have that for sure. We are looking at some builders and may tour some factories too.
DeleteMy sister and her husband have bought two modular homes and are very happy with them. They owned a fairly sizable piece of land just outside a small town in Wyoming. They ended up selling the first one with 10 acres of land when they got an offer they couldn't refuse. They bought a second one and put it on a different part of the property. They have lived in it for years now, and would absolutely go the the same way again. They had to prepare the site, including leveling it, plumbing and electrical hookups, etc. (This suddenly all became bold, hope it doesn't show that way when published.)
ReplyDeleteOh that's some good first hand recommendations to have, ha. Thanks, We will have to have a new septic and have our own well drilled (ugh, expense there but we would have had to have that even on the remodel so we're prepared). And your post looks perfect! :-)
Delete45 years ago my parents did the same thing. Repair, update, remodel a then 115 year old farm house, one of the first in Minnesota, with a price double a new build on a modest home, and went with the new build. It was sad to an extent, but not at risk of their livelihood. They did a full build, but my sister at the same time bought a prefab home, put in over my a full basement. It was a nice HH house as well.
ReplyDeleteOh I wish we could have basements here (too close to the water table and so much rain). We hear you on the cost. We thought we have a fairly large remodel budget and were comfortable with that until we got the actual estimate. We really need to just get something new and quick with the time constraint. Stay tuned!
DeleteYou have had to make some tough choices but I think you made the right one. We see many prefab homes around here. Some even have had nice additions to them. It's a good starting point.
ReplyDeleteWe were talking about that, doing add on as needed. Thank you, we're comfortable with moving this direction. We needed to know and now we do so on to the next decision. Thanks as always for the good words for us!
DeleteCould you sell the existing house to be moved off the property and have a home built? Personally, I like the log cabin idea.
ReplyDeleteWe will be looking into that. "R" from 2nd Family was over when our pipe burst and we told him and he said "it's a good house, someone might really like to buy it" but we'll just need to find out if that's viable. I do like the log cabin idea but worry about the cost of lumber/logs, ha. We'll see how it all goes!
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ReplyDeleteWe are at the opposite side of life! We recently due to health issues went from our small farm life to a manufactured home. We are in N. CA, home built in OR. We are in a court. Since you will have it on your property, It should be on a permanent foundation. 2x6 construction. Top insulation, sheet rock, etc. My husband is a retired wildland fireman (thirty years.) The new thing in times of major fires is our siding. It is Hardy Board Cement siding! Very heavy and durable. We wish we were on a foundation. We recenly went through a 6.4 earthquake. Even on blocks, etc. we did well. Things broke, like our 28" monitor (hit the floor.) Structurally we did well. Your cost will vary. New things like an instantaneous gas hot water system. You only heat what your are using when turned on. We have granite countertops. Thing you decide on, one of many choices. The mot important is the company you deal with. Integrity! Nearby,! You deal with them often. Find out how they follow up on things. Talk to people who have bought from them! Even though they are signed off on things, except for warranties, they arrived that day to see how we fared in the quake! Excited for you, lots of major decisions. Enjoy your blog. We have done it all. Gardens, canning , chickens, horses, etc. Bev in N. CA
Hello! Wow thanks for all this great information. Yes, we definitely want it on a solid foundation (no earthquakes here but we do have hurricanes/winds). The company we deal with locally is the one we are really looking into. You're right, they are the ones to come out and deal with things we will definitely get some input and research. Thank you again. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come! And by the way, thank your husband for doing something most people wouldn't in order to protect and help others. :-)
DeleteGood choice, I think. It's really quite a miracle that you got someone to come up with plans and a $ amount. I need work done on my house right in the city and can't find anyone to do it.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
LOL, we were grateful to finally get someone out. But of course, in the end it helped us realize we would be better off with someone else. I guess at least we found that out, if he had never come out, we might still be trying to find a contractor. This guy was really good and did great work on the pics we saw but he also helped us realize we needed to take a different track, ha.
DeleteI think I'd hold off on moving or remodeling or new builds right now. The market is getting bad here in central Texas, not much is selling. Things haven't hit rock bottom yet...but they will.
ReplyDeletehugs
Donna
Hmm, we hadn't thought about that. Of course, if things are going down, maybe the prefab modulars will come back down to realistic prices, ha. Can't wait to see how the property tax works out, we're sure it'll keep going up. Sigh.
DeleteLike almost everyone above, I think you made the right choice. We moved in our latest downsizing move, to a 1978 mobile home with totally new modern kitchen, it has a gas fireplace (comfy) and gas furnace as well as two split-mini heads on one compressor (heat pump)... so all electric energy efficient ... in fact they kept us warm when the gas furnace went out at 4 degrees for 3 days ... Im fully into pre-built ... it's the new year so new builds on their lots from last year or the year before are often on sale as they bring new models to market. Good luck ... it seems to way to go!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you. Great info about your energy efficiency. We'll see how it goes on this phase of our journey. We'll have to figure out something because we can't move out there and live comfortably until we get something out there.
DeleteSympathies for the frustrating start/stop you've endured. I've been in your shoes here in the Tx hill country and would love to share/commiserate further with you. Best wishes on achieving your dream--it gets better!
ReplyDeleteWell hello and thanks for this. Gosh, hill country is so beautiful. Drop us an email anytime. houstonray AT gmail DOT com. It will get better, we're actually kind of excited for this phase. We have to figure out something so we can get out there and enjoy life. Stay tuned!!!
DeleteSorry about the expensive remodel costs. Sounds like you have done your research.
ReplyDeleteWe bought a Cape Cod style modular home, and we have been very happy with it. We have a basement that we finished into a family room, and the upstairs bedrooms weren't completely finished until later. We added on a front porch and deck, and I think it is as well built as any stick built home. :)