Citygirl

Well, let me ask you guys this. Because this is an old vinyl sided house rather than a 1930's architecturally interesting brick bungalow, and was never a fancy house: (I think they originally sold for 8-10k in 1952) Is it throwing "good money after bad" if we spend a boatload to renovate (to nearly new standards?) I mean re-sale wise. Or will it still be considered a tear down and pretty much go for "lot value" due to it's age in the future? I think it's one thing to make it a little show place for us to enjoy over the next 10-15 years - but I am always mindful of future loss/gain. By the by, the house is about 1500 sf.

The Morgan: Multifamily At 2401 Westridge St. I was a single mom in the apartment industry for 15 years. The industry was very good to me in that I was able to raise my daughter alone - take vacations, pay for good childcare, etc. The downside (I suppose) was that I moved along with with my new title/assignment every 12-24 months (free or deeply discounted apt). Wanting a stable life for my daughter in spite of moving all the time - I only accepted postions that would allow me to keep her in the same schools. I originally placed her in Holloway Day Nursery (in Bellaire) as a result of word of mouth recommendations. (I was very young and new to Houston at the time) Then, because I wanted her to remain with the kids at the nursery - I enrolled her at Longfellow, then Pershing, and now Bellaire (and worked at locations that were zoned accordingly). (Thank God for those original referrals - I "fell" into the cream of the Houston crop) I have since gotten married, opened my own small business (still in the industry) and purchased a home in Westridge. I purchased the home two yrs ago while still single. The thing is, now we are busting out of our 1950's bungalow...as our family doubled with a teen son, new hubby, and dog! When I bought this house for $125k in 2004, it was the only thing I could touch inside the loop or zoned to Bellaire for that matter! It had been minimally redone cosmetically (inside) and was move-in ready. Having just painted inside and out - I have spent almost nothing on the house thinking all along it would eventually be a "tear down". Well, aside from being cramped - we are starting to be forced to spend money on the house....new a/c this year, need new windows terribly, all doors stick etc. (long story even longer - ha) I prefer to restore rather then rebuild, but I am not sure that it makes sense to restore this house. It would be a huge undertaking (elec, plumbing, structural, foundation, etc.) We really hate the Mc Mansion thing (which has begun in our neighborhood), but think that it makes more financial sense to tear down rather than restore....but would do our own thing so as not to be cookie cutter. Of course if it does make sense to renovate (extensively - down to the studs, and even add on) then we would. Either way, we are in a better postion to hold on to this property rather than sell and find something else in the area. (There is NOTHING in our price range zoned to Bellaire that would make us happy in the long term.) We did put the house on the market and quickly pulled it off - after doing our homework - we didn't expect the response - We listed it "high" (we thought) then had three offers within 48 hrs (though not full price). We realized it was not in our best interest to move after seeing what was available to us in the our range! So, the question is: How do I determine whether it makes sense to renovate a typical 1950's houston bungalow....or tear down and start over? (either way we will have to rent during construction) We plan to live here indefinitely... our budget to do either would be $150k which I know would be REALLY tight on new construction....we would like a 2000 sf house.