Expert: Richard Taylor, AIA - 11/10/2007

Question
Our property is for sale. It is in a very valuable estate neighborhood where the majority of houses have been torn down and new, much larger homes put in their place. Due to minor foundation issues and the relatively small, older nature of our house it is being marketed as a "tear down".

Our agent thinks that "gutting it" will help with the marketing of the property. (For legal/mortgage purposes the actual structure has to remain until actual ownership transfer).

We have done extensive remodeling to the interior & exterior of the home- including a gourmet kitchen with high end, name brand cabinetry, hardwood flooring, granite tile flooring, brand new heat/cooling systems, very high end windows, etc. (all installed within the last 18 months). The house has copper wiring, which is in demand. We also have a barn on the property that is in good condition (lots of usable wood/beams/posts).  

I'm interested to know who our market would be for the "guts" of a house- and how to accomplish the actual salvage portion of a tear down project.
Thanks!

Answer
Jessica - thanks for your question!

Unfortunately, you won't do well financially in salvage.  New(er) products and materials will lose their warranties which makes them far less valuable to potential buyers.

The cost of removing and hauling salvage often exceeds the material's value; salvagers rarely pay for what they remove.

Salvage has value when it's rare or antique or otherwise in demand.  Your items, while relatively new, are simply "used".

You can however get a tax credit if you donate the salvage to Habitat For Humanity, or your local St. Vincent DePaul Society.  Habitat will come and remove the items for resale in one of their retail shops.

Your other option might be to remove and store the items yourself and sell them online.  Lots more work for you, but probably the best chance to recover the most value.

It's possible that a local remodeling company might be interested in the windows, but it's a long shot.

Depending upon the species and condition of the barn wood, they may be quite easy to sell.  Their are salvage companies in some areas that specialize in barn wood.  For starters, try poking around at The Old House Journal's website and Period Home's website.  Both have resource pages that might point you towards salvage companies in your area.

Hope this helps!

Richard Taylor, AIA
www.rtastudio.com
www.rtaplans.com