(no subject)

[vicarz]

and...now I'm re-running numbers wondering if a basement digout is a good investment or overspending. It looks like it takes 3 years to recoup the costs, worth it? What if I spend no money, or half that for a non-digout reno and it makes $500 - $1,000 less a month, how many years before that matters?

I'm also hating myself for not buying in that area 2 years ago, damn. Hope I love myself 2 years from now, or 5, for buying in that area as much as the 2 years ago prices show hundreds of thousands of "shoulda" today.

I spent time yesterday rethinking "75,000? Really?" and the fact my home will be humble, or effed up renovated by me (which is never an actual success, except for the 2 hour toilet job that took me a week). The fact I'd be living with it as-is for so long feels embarrassing at this point. As folks pointed out in fb, rents vary but today's search of basement apts in columbia heights showed renovated places from 1500-2500.

I'm running searches and finding 2500 monthly appears to get you a 1br condo above ground rental in the area, or even an apt building.

http://realestate.popville.com/search/rent/columbia_heights/page/2/?listing_type=rent&search_type=locations&search_type_slug=columbia-heights&price_min=&price_max=&bedrooms=&baths=&property_type=&search-rent-submit=SEARCH&address=columbia_heights&nonce=142acc171a&orderby=meta.created&order=desc&featuredNotAtTop=1

This CL search on basement apts shows varied prices:
1br 1500 mo http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/apa/4265938278.html
2br 858sf basement at $2100 http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/apa/4277416671.html
1br basement recent reno $1750 http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/apa/4272062738.html
1br basement apt $1500 http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/apa/4281629785.html

I can't find any shitty rentals like my dingy basement, but let's say its 8-900, that means the price difference is like 1,000-1500, or 10-15,000 a year. Am I overspending if I do a digout and renovation of the basement?

Every time I type rennovation or rennovated I use 2 Ns.

If the difference in rent from a shitty apt to a renovated luxury model is only $1,000, and that is say 10k a year to round off - then the renovation costs 3 years of rent difference. However is that crazy when the place needs a reno anyway? What if the digout makes it possible to get one of those pie-in-the-sky 3500 rates that rarely occur? You can get a house for 3500.

Yay, welcome to second guessing myself. Not cost to this, but UGH THE SPIRAL

Comments

[curvemudgeon.livejournal.com]

Are you going to flip the property inside of 3 years? Do you envision needing that $10k to survive? If your answers are no then a projected 3 year ROI sounds like a worthwhile investment.

[vicar.livejournal.com]

Thanks, valid points. I intend to own the house forever, maybe or maybe not live there (in fact, probably no) but I do not think I'd even move for a minimum of 5 years,

[grymnir.livejournal.com]

separate your goals in purchasing the property, then consider the costs and time relevant to each goal.

If your primary goal is an equity investment and rental property I am sure Jason can talk to you about what margin or loss you can allow short term for a long-term goal.

But, if your primary goal is to move out of the condo, have a house to play in (renovate) and possibly rent out a basement apartment to recoup costs, then run those numbers.

Who are you expecting to rent to, especially if you will be loving above them and sharing parking and yard? And, yes, for that kind of money I would likely want an apartment near a real urban locus and convenient to metro.

[vicar.livejournal.com]

.3 miles from metro, many popular bars/restaurants within blocks, yet on a quiet residential street.

I keep runinng and rerunning numbers.

The idea is this is both an upgrade in living and an income property. First it's income, then over time as rewards for accumulating it would be luxury upgraded...but then I have to compare economies of scale of mixing reno work together, and the fact I may as well blow the money and enjoy the upgrades myself if I'm ever going to do them. It's not b&w no matter how I look at it.