Selling a house to be moved.

   / Selling a house to be moved. #1  

clovergamecock

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Hi all!

I am not sure where to post this so I am hoping some of you can suggest.

I have a 2200sqft all brick ranch style home built in '79. A guy stopped by yesterday to ask about what we were going to do with it. (This is not my primary residence.). I told him we origionally bought it just for the land but have gone back and forth on what we were going to do with it. I said Idid not want to sell the land which I figured would be a turnoff. However, he asked what I would sell just the house for. I told him I would talk to my wife and get back to him today. Renovations to the house I have about 10k in. This includes a new roof, replaced floors in three rooms and of course the labor.

This guy is a grading contractor and his brother is a building contractor so I assume the actual moving cost is not an issue. So the key is, what do I ask for the house? Like I said we purchased the house for the cost of the land so outside of the 10k I mentioned there is really no extra money tied up. The house and land are paid completely off.

Any idea where I should start with a price??? I live in SC right near Charlotte NC in case that matters.

Thanks for any and all suggestions!
Wade
 
   / Selling a house to be moved. #2  
Hard to put an amount on this. Are you facing demolition costs? Or is the house just vacant? You could rent the house out for steady income. My father sold a cottage for a buck and they moved it...which usually takes quite hefty know how and equipment. Power lines and other things have to be moved and coordinated with permits etc. My dad was facing 5-10k in demo cost so this was a no brainer
 
   / Selling a house to be moved. #3  
Your price is going to end up being near zero. You'll be lucky to get your removal costs covered.

That said, I have a current bid on moving a 832 square foot house from the country into town 2.5 miles. It's $13,000.00. I'm going to spend $30k on a lot and then put a foundation on it. By the time I pay building permits on it I'm in it for $60k+ and it needs remodeled too. Sell price would be near $100k. That's with the cost of the house being zero.

What might work in my case is to move the house into town on a nice lot and put an addition onto it and make it 1800 square feet or so and try to sell all of it for $180k. Still not sure if the shell of the house is even worth the 13k.

What would this house be worth in a better location? How far would it have to go to get to that location?
 
   / Selling a house to be moved. #4  
If you don't want to live in the house, but want to use the land, then it is worth something to you to get rid of the house. In your position I would ask for the $10,000 you have in renovations, and might be willing to take a bit less.
 
   / Selling a house to be moved.
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Thanks all. I was thinking of asking between 10 and 15 just to get the renovation money out of it. As far as keeping it and renting it, I don't have the time or the money to put into the renovation. I have the know how for 90% of it but it will need an all new heating and AC system. It never had AC and the heating went out with the previous owner. As far as cost to move, that is up to him and he did not seem to concerned with it since both he and his brother are in the grading and building buisness. If my Dad did not have money in the house I would just give it to the guy for him to move.
 
   / Selling a house to be moved. #6  
The cost of renovations is not relevant. It's a sunk cost, gone. I'd get the $10k out of your head and look at this from his point of view or you might miss out on a good deal. You need to think about what it's worth to him to see if you can get more than 10k out of it or just settle for having it gone free.

Start with what it's worth moved and work backwards. Leave him a decent profit and see what yo can ask from there.
 
   / Selling a house to be moved. #7  
Don't forget the cost to clean up the site when done. Capping water and sewer/septic line. Removing foundation. Figure the cost into the selling price. Since they are in the business they will probably offer to do it for "free" for a reduced price. Don't do it. Once they move the house they have little incentive to come back and finish the job. Better approach would be to set up the contract including the cost of site clean up and then pay tem the same amount. End result is the same dollar wise but you are protected if they don't come back.
 
   / Selling a house to be moved.
  • Thread Starter
#8  
The cost of renovations is not relevant. It's a sunk cost, gone. I'd get the $10k out of your head and look at this from his point of view or you might miss out on a good deal. You need to think about what it's worth to him to see if you can get more than 10k out of it or just settle for having it gone free.

Start with what it's worth moved and work backwards. Leave him a decent profit and see what yo can ask from there.

Are you saying to let him Make an offer and go from there? I am definately not looking to profit off of this. Like I said if my Dad had not put some money in it I would let the guy have it. Thanks.
 
   / Selling a house to be moved. #9  
Sounds to me the guy might be into bartering. Is there work he could do on your property in exchange for the house?
 
   / Selling a house to be moved.
  • Thread Starter
#10  
Don't forget the cost to clean up the site when done. Capping water and sewer/septic line. Removing foundation. Figure the cost into the selling price. Since they are in the business they will probably offer to do it for "free" for a reduced price. Don't do it. Once they move the house they have little incentive to come back and finish the job. Better approach would be to set up the contract including the cost of site clean up and then pay tem the same amount. End result is the same dollar wise but you are protected if they don't come back.

I am not real concerned about the cleanup. I can do that. I am going to have the power company move the meter to a pole so I can keep that. It is on a well so that should not be a problem. As for the foundation I was planning on either pushing it down with the tractor or, depending on what is left use it for a future barn project or some other type structure. Thanks
 
 
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