04-28-2014, 01:05 AM
This house sounds like the one next door to us. Foreclosure due to divorce, then a burst pipe ruined most of the finishing in most of the house. Current owner bought it for a song.
Here's what it needed (either due to water damage or neglect):
Roof
Gutters
Windows (all)
Siding
Drywall (most of the house stripped down to studs)
Flooring (most of the house down to subfloor)
Insulation (why wouldn't you if the house was down to studs)
Foundation repair
New staircase
Odds and ends
Here's what the genius did:
Drywall (no insulation)
Flooring (expensive tile he did himself = pisspoor job)
Executive kitchen including high end appliances and granite (WTH not sell it bare with a kitchen allowance?)
New front stoop in tile (nothing wrong with the old one, very appropriate architecturally, new one is again pisspoor)
New staircase (due to code, there is now a landing at the bottom that prevents the front door from opening to more than 90 degrees...not his fault, but still)
What still needs to be done (but won't be):
Roof
Windows
Siding
Some finish work
Genius is asking $179,500 "firm". Who sells a house with a firm price? He had a realtor for about a year, but apparently dumped him because the house didn't move. Now FSBO. Ad in the paper and that's about it. In our market, he should be happy with $140k. Meantime, he sits on it, paying interest. For comparison, $140k is over median in our market.
Here's what it needed (either due to water damage or neglect):
Roof
Gutters
Windows (all)
Siding
Drywall (most of the house stripped down to studs)
Flooring (most of the house down to subfloor)
Insulation (why wouldn't you if the house was down to studs)
Foundation repair
New staircase
Odds and ends
Here's what the genius did:
Drywall (no insulation)
Flooring (expensive tile he did himself = pisspoor job)
Executive kitchen including high end appliances and granite (WTH not sell it bare with a kitchen allowance?)
New front stoop in tile (nothing wrong with the old one, very appropriate architecturally, new one is again pisspoor)
New staircase (due to code, there is now a landing at the bottom that prevents the front door from opening to more than 90 degrees...not his fault, but still)
What still needs to be done (but won't be):
Roof
Windows
Siding
Some finish work
Genius is asking $179,500 "firm". Who sells a house with a firm price? He had a realtor for about a year, but apparently dumped him because the house didn't move. Now FSBO. Ad in the paper and that's about it. In our market, he should be happy with $140k. Meantime, he sits on it, paying interest. For comparison, $140k is over median in our market.