Found a condo for a good price, worth my trouble renovating?

[03mustangdude]

Currently live alone but found a good deal on a condo. Its currently a 2b 1b 1260sq ft and looks crappy 1960s. Here rendering basically of flooplan.



I'm thinking about doing something like this: Turning it into 1bdr 1b. Already checked the only wall that is necessary is the main one down the hallway as that is where the roof slopes, other than that it is ok to tear down/remodel.



Looking at an estimated 15k-25k on top of the asking price to do it the way I want it, that is with hiring a crew to do it not me, not an exact figure but comes from structural engineer after I showed him drawings of what I was looking for.

Is it worth the trouble? Talk me into it/out of it? Any ideas/suggestions of what im doing wrong?

[talisman]

Condos have shit for resale in DFW, and you'll probably sit on it for a year once you decide to put it on the market. Also, with dues added in, a lot of the time it is just as price effective to buy a cheap house and a lawn service dude. I've owned both, and much prefer the house. Everyone is different though. 20k worth of renovations will put you seriously behind in terms of recouping your investment if you do decide to sell, also. Personally, I wouldn't do it. I'd add the 25k to your buying budget and get a house. Where is it located?

[David]

Why own an apartment? Especially a shitty one at that?

[03mustangdude]

Its off 20 in south fort worth.

Dont want a house unless its custom built most of the ones around here have horrible builders attached to them, know lots of people who bought a house and regretted it looking back or wished they saved up and bought a more better built house.

Apartments are better imo.

[8mpg]

Coming from a person who is doing a full gut remodel myself...you will spend more than $20k. Moving all the plumbing is going to cost you $5k. Then a full bathroom and kitchen materials will be another $8k + labor of $5k, light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, shower glass, sheet rock, floors $5k...this crap adds up fast. When you are not doing the labor it is very expensive. I had a quote to move 2 drains and add 2 (one was simple) and they quoted $3500. These were easy moves within 3 feet, not like yours. Electrician wanted $5k to rewire (which if its from the 60's is probably not grounded so you would need a rewire to come up to code). He charges $70/hr to pull wire. The list goes on and on.

[mustang1200]

Its off 20 in south fort worth.

Dont want a house unless its custom built most of the ones around here have horrible builders attached to them, know lots of people who bought a house and regretted it looking back or wished they saved up and bought a more better built house.

Apartments are better imo.

This logic is foolish. Have you seen how apartments are built? The ones I've seen are horrible.

[talisman]

Its off 20 in south fort worth.

Dont want a house unless its custom built most of the ones around here have horrible builders attached to them, know lots of people who bought a house and regretted it looking back or wished they saved up and bought a more better built house.

Apartments are better imo.

lol, that doesn't make much sense. Why not just buy a house then remodel it to your specs like you want to do with the condo? It would be the exact same thing, and you'd actually enjoy it, not have neighbors up your ass, and have a garage and some privacy, and not completely lose your ass on it. Might take more time, but big deal if you're planning on living there for a long time.

Houses are like cars, shit IS going to go wrong with them, no matter how well they are built. You might get out cheaper on the condo, but speaking from experience I think you are going to be very disappointed, especially if the neighborhood goes to shit and you can't get rid of the damn thing.