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If you can find a distressed home and a desperate seller in a quality location, I’m guessing that a renovation would give you a better overall return.
Unfortunately it could take you a very, very long time to find that diamond in the rough.
Anybody else like to share their thoughts on this important topic?
Scott
In addition to your insights, Scott, I would say that the question boils down to just what you mean by “renovation”. A house that needs a little repair and updating is one thing; a whole-house renovation is quite another.
I renovated a hundred year-old house back in the 1970s. What I came to realize halfway through was that everything I did to the house had to be undone first. That is, for every 4′ x 8′ sheet of drywall I hung, I had to remove and get rid of 32 square feet of plaster and lath. The “undoing” was the worst part of the job. And there’s no stopping. Once you’ve begun, you cannot just stop.
What’s more, unless you’re really talking about a total gutting of the interior, no matter what shape the house is in, you’ll be stuck with the original designer’s idea of what suits you best. His or her design mistakes will become your mistakes.
And, of course, until you’re deep into your renovation, you won’t really know what shape the mechanical systems are in, how good or bad the roof may be, etc. Nor will you know what is or isn’t in the walls and foundation.
If you’re serious about this, set your TiVo to record every one of those “flip this house” programs on TV. Watch how the timelines extend while the budgets mushroom. Listen to the wailing as these would-be flippers run out of money long before they run out of work.
Having renovated one house, I’d never do it again. Instead, I’d decide (1)what I really [u]need[/u], (2)what I just [u]want[/u], and (3)how my budget will accommodate those two. Then I’d design to my actual needs and see how much (if any) is left over for my wants.
We did exactly this with our main house which we built here in 2006. It was to be a two bedroom/two bath all-on-one-floor affair like what we built in North Carolina in 2002, but when the bids came in they were simply more than we were willing to spend. Our architect explained that the only way to bring the price down was to build less. That’s what we did.
That depends on many factors like what type of COMFORT and EXPENSES are you willing to accept with a renovation.
A $60,00.00 house in Desamparados bought in 1985, 3/1/1 has swallowed $25,000.00 in 16 years with a tankless water heater, main electric breaker box, wires (220 volts), upgraded plumbing, interior and exterior doors, window replacement, bathroom upgrade (toilet) etc.., kitchen (faucet) and other incidentals.
All of the basic materials where bought in the USA and shipped excluding the windows, doors, toilet (big) items and all the work was done by family members or friends of them.
So the question is??
[quote=”Scott”]If you can find a distressed home and a desperate seller in a quality location, I’m guessing that a renovation would give you a better overall return.
Unfortunately it could take you a very, very long time to find that diamond in the rough.
Anybody else like to share their thoughts on this important topic?
Scott[/quote]
Scott, do you have any contact information for home builders in the North Guanacaste area?
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