Major remodel to save money on rent. Need advice!
Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2014 11:39 am
Hey Everyone!
This is my first post and I'm happy to be a part of this community!
First a little background. I'm 28 years old and was married last year. I have been in the business world doing sales for the past 5 years. I decided when I got married I will follow my other dreams as well. So now, I have quit my well paying job to go back to school for my Electrical Engineering degree. We moved to a larger town in Texas where I am going to school. I am working a part-time job and my Wife is working 2 part time jobs. ( Even though she has a degree in biology) After revisiting our finances, We found that if she goes back to school to get another degree ( Mathematics) Her current student loans will be deferred. She could quit one of her jobs ( This particular one is barely bringing any money in because she has to commute 1- 1.5 hours to work and back). Needless to say, money is tight but we have good credit.
I have worked in the gas plant construction industry and have helped out with multiple remodels of homes as well as wiring. My dad owns 2 rent houses and we had to remodel them, so I have access to plenty of tools.
Fast forward to a week ago. My father-in-law owns a bit of land down by the lake. He isnt very well off as about 7-8 years ago he became blind from a car accident. So he is on disability. Somehow he fell into this land and it has a mobile home on it. He offered to give it us. Now, This is in my hometown about 65 miles from where we work/go to school.
The mobile home is a 1970 tourite 2 bedroom 1 bath 14x60 singlewide.
I will be posting pictures probably saturday when I get a chance to go back out there.
The condition: well, It was lived in by my sister-in-law about 3 years ago but my standards are a little higher than hers. Lets just say its been abandoned for 3 years. In that time, it seems some people have broken in and stolen a few things. Namely, the AC unit.
The Good things:
- The existing Siding looks good albeit dirty. A quick pressure wash should be sufficient.
- The subfloor and floor under the carpet feels extremely solid. I was very surprised because usually these have issues in my experience. Based on the feel, I would say at least half-inch plywood is underneath.
- my dad says the walls seem solid but the wood paneling definitely needs to go as its pretty bad.
- We may be able to pull an AC/Heating unit out of another trailer for free
- I think It was used 5-10 years ago by an oilfield company as a location trailer to house its employees. If thats the case, It would explain the excellent flooring, I would would feel a bit better about the structure. These trailers are reinforced since they had to move them so often.
-- My dad has extensive experience and contacts, Her dad is an excellent carpenter. ( Even though he is blind, he has made some great cabinets/ swings/ tables/ chairs/ and porches for his trailer. He also worked on HVAC commercial and residential installation before the accident.
-- I get appliances basically at the cost for the company Im working for ( Large national chain has an appliance section) to buy it. So I may be able to get some discounts for those.
The bad:
- There is a hole where a door used to be. Evidently an addition was added but the addition seems in really bad shape. They didnt use any kind of treated wood from what I can tell.
- The ceiling is sagging. -- I cannot tell if this is just due to the draftiness of the house ( windows and doors left open from thieves) or an actual leak from the roof. I didnt find any areas of pooling water on the floor though.
- Pretty much the whole inside covering need to be redone. flooring, ceiling and at least some walls.
- The built in cabinets and drawers need to be redone.
- Since it was built in 1970, I am worried about asbestos insulation as well as energy efficiency.
- I have not been able to check on the condition of the roof as it is currently completely covered by leaves and I didnt have a ladder with me when I went out to look at it.
- There are no axles, and I havent been to the underside due to current overgrowth on one side of the trailer, and the addition of a large unstable porch on the other side.. It doesnt seem that anything is hanging from the bottom.
- Not sure on the state of the water lines but if they are metal I probably need to replace them with PEX.
- no current AC or water heater. May need new appliances. ( Stove/fridge/dishwasher/water heater)
So, What we are trying to do is get out of paying rent every month for an apartment we dont own. We are currently paying around $800/ month on rent + utilites not including electricity and renters insurance.
lot rent around here is around $200-$250 and includes utilities ( no electric). So that would give us around $550 per month - cost of insurance to pay the same as we are paying right now.
I have a quote to move the trailer and hookup at around $2000. Were were originally thinking a $5000 loan, but my standards are a bit higher than my wifes. I'm also not sure what type of wiring is on the inside ( copper vs aluminum) and I would REALLY like to check all the wiring anyway since it has been abandoned so long and rodents/ copper thieves might have messed up the wiring.
In addition, She was just thinking we could get by just by replacing the ceiling and flooring and a few other minor repairs. After looking at it, I subscribe to the get it done once and right concept. There is so much to do, there isnt any point to wasting time trying to save some of it. I'm thinking about completely gutting the Inside So I can verify exactly whats wrong.
Sorry for the wall of text. What I ask of you my fellow peers is for your extensive knowledge and experience.
here are my initial questions: ( I'm sure plenty more will come!)
How much do you think it would take to make this " Livable". By that I mean, enough that I can move it and live in it while I can finish it up on the lot.
How much for a complete remodel, and where can I get the most bang for the buck on supplies. ( Especially insulation as that seems pretty expensive) ( I will be doing ALL work myself)
What are areas I definitely need to look at and check when I go out there saturday.
( My current plan is to get rid of all the overgrowth, disassemble the add-on ( its not big), and the large porch, then I can take off the skirting so I can look more on the underside. I'm also planning to clean off the roof and take down the ceiling tiles so that I might be able to access that situation)
any other tips would be appreciated!
In addition, If I do this I would like to have this excellent community involved. To be able to send out as much info as possible at to the current state, the link below is a current work-in-progress spreadsheet with a running total of potential costs. If I am missing anything ( Which I'm sure I am) please let me know how I can improve it. You can also comment directly on the spreadsheet.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing
This is my first post and I'm happy to be a part of this community!
First a little background. I'm 28 years old and was married last year. I have been in the business world doing sales for the past 5 years. I decided when I got married I will follow my other dreams as well. So now, I have quit my well paying job to go back to school for my Electrical Engineering degree. We moved to a larger town in Texas where I am going to school. I am working a part-time job and my Wife is working 2 part time jobs. ( Even though she has a degree in biology) After revisiting our finances, We found that if she goes back to school to get another degree ( Mathematics) Her current student loans will be deferred. She could quit one of her jobs ( This particular one is barely bringing any money in because she has to commute 1- 1.5 hours to work and back). Needless to say, money is tight but we have good credit.
I have worked in the gas plant construction industry and have helped out with multiple remodels of homes as well as wiring. My dad owns 2 rent houses and we had to remodel them, so I have access to plenty of tools.
Fast forward to a week ago. My father-in-law owns a bit of land down by the lake. He isnt very well off as about 7-8 years ago he became blind from a car accident. So he is on disability. Somehow he fell into this land and it has a mobile home on it. He offered to give it us. Now, This is in my hometown about 65 miles from where we work/go to school.
The mobile home is a 1970 tourite 2 bedroom 1 bath 14x60 singlewide.
I will be posting pictures probably saturday when I get a chance to go back out there.
The condition: well, It was lived in by my sister-in-law about 3 years ago but my standards are a little higher than hers. Lets just say its been abandoned for 3 years. In that time, it seems some people have broken in and stolen a few things. Namely, the AC unit.
The Good things:
- The existing Siding looks good albeit dirty. A quick pressure wash should be sufficient.
- The subfloor and floor under the carpet feels extremely solid. I was very surprised because usually these have issues in my experience. Based on the feel, I would say at least half-inch plywood is underneath.
- my dad says the walls seem solid but the wood paneling definitely needs to go as its pretty bad.
- We may be able to pull an AC/Heating unit out of another trailer for free
- I think It was used 5-10 years ago by an oilfield company as a location trailer to house its employees. If thats the case, It would explain the excellent flooring, I would would feel a bit better about the structure. These trailers are reinforced since they had to move them so often.
-- My dad has extensive experience and contacts, Her dad is an excellent carpenter. ( Even though he is blind, he has made some great cabinets/ swings/ tables/ chairs/ and porches for his trailer. He also worked on HVAC commercial and residential installation before the accident.
-- I get appliances basically at the cost for the company Im working for ( Large national chain has an appliance section) to buy it. So I may be able to get some discounts for those.
The bad:
- There is a hole where a door used to be. Evidently an addition was added but the addition seems in really bad shape. They didnt use any kind of treated wood from what I can tell.
- The ceiling is sagging. -- I cannot tell if this is just due to the draftiness of the house ( windows and doors left open from thieves) or an actual leak from the roof. I didnt find any areas of pooling water on the floor though.
- Pretty much the whole inside covering need to be redone. flooring, ceiling and at least some walls.
- The built in cabinets and drawers need to be redone.
- Since it was built in 1970, I am worried about asbestos insulation as well as energy efficiency.
- I have not been able to check on the condition of the roof as it is currently completely covered by leaves and I didnt have a ladder with me when I went out to look at it.
- There are no axles, and I havent been to the underside due to current overgrowth on one side of the trailer, and the addition of a large unstable porch on the other side.. It doesnt seem that anything is hanging from the bottom.
- Not sure on the state of the water lines but if they are metal I probably need to replace them with PEX.
- no current AC or water heater. May need new appliances. ( Stove/fridge/dishwasher/water heater)
So, What we are trying to do is get out of paying rent every month for an apartment we dont own. We are currently paying around $800/ month on rent + utilites not including electricity and renters insurance.
lot rent around here is around $200-$250 and includes utilities ( no electric). So that would give us around $550 per month - cost of insurance to pay the same as we are paying right now.
I have a quote to move the trailer and hookup at around $2000. Were were originally thinking a $5000 loan, but my standards are a bit higher than my wifes. I'm also not sure what type of wiring is on the inside ( copper vs aluminum) and I would REALLY like to check all the wiring anyway since it has been abandoned so long and rodents/ copper thieves might have messed up the wiring.
In addition, She was just thinking we could get by just by replacing the ceiling and flooring and a few other minor repairs. After looking at it, I subscribe to the get it done once and right concept. There is so much to do, there isnt any point to wasting time trying to save some of it. I'm thinking about completely gutting the Inside So I can verify exactly whats wrong.
Sorry for the wall of text. What I ask of you my fellow peers is for your extensive knowledge and experience.
here are my initial questions: ( I'm sure plenty more will come!)
How much do you think it would take to make this " Livable". By that I mean, enough that I can move it and live in it while I can finish it up on the lot.
How much for a complete remodel, and where can I get the most bang for the buck on supplies. ( Especially insulation as that seems pretty expensive) ( I will be doing ALL work myself)
What are areas I definitely need to look at and check when I go out there saturday.
( My current plan is to get rid of all the overgrowth, disassemble the add-on ( its not big), and the large porch, then I can take off the skirting so I can look more on the underside. I'm also planning to clean off the roof and take down the ceiling tiles so that I might be able to access that situation)
any other tips would be appreciated!
In addition, If I do this I would like to have this excellent community involved. To be able to send out as much info as possible at to the current state, the link below is a current work-in-progress spreadsheet with a running total of potential costs. If I am missing anything ( Which I'm sure I am) please let me know how I can improve it. You can also comment directly on the spreadsheet.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing