Expert: Daniel Humphrey - 6/15/2010

Question
Is it a worth buying a 1947 1000 sq. ft. home to be moved for $11000 or should I just walk away? It has beautiful hardwood floors and the kitchen is not exactly beautiful and needs cosmetic work, but everything that a house needs to be fixed, this house needs it.(All it has is the floors, new roof, and that's it.I guess you could say the shell only. I want to have hardy plank on the rotted wood on the exterior and it's on the bottom parts only. I think it's cute in the front because it's a sturdy house and I don't see any cracks  on the walls. The ceilings need to be done as I could see 2 spots in one room that had signs of mold.  And how much would I spend fixing it up?Please I need your expertise asap.

Answer
Dear Esther,

Oh My! The cost for moving it and fixing it up could be greater than building a new one like it.  Sure, you save a little money over new framing, but costs will escalate if you need to tear out walls and ceilings and remove mold. Taking out structure and replacing it costs about twice as much as new construction, and it's unpleasant work. Houses that are moved will almost certainly need wall renovations, even when the walls are not moldy.

To build a sturdy new house of 1000 sq ft, you could expect to spend about 50 to 60K on a foundation, shell, and roof. To finish, about 90 to 100K more would be needed to bring it into modern standards.

So you might save about 30K with the frame and roof of this old house, but you would likely spend that on interior renovations just to get you to the same point as new construction.

Here is an interesting website that helps you calculate building costs:

http://www.building-cost.net

I know this is vague. I recommend you get a local contractor to do a good inspection and give you more detailed advice.

I hope this helps.

Daniel