Been looking around at cost effective housing for property

bikerider138

I'm currently looking at a piece of land that has a house built in the 40s on it. The house is a tear down but the property is nice. Few acres, level etc. There is a shared well for this parcel and the neighboring house. There are power lines on the property as well as a pump house. I've been looking at cost effective housing for this property if I were to buy it. A traditionally built house over 1200 sq ft, I think is out of my price range. I have been looking at prefab houses a little but am open to any suggestions. I am thinking of something like 1200 sq ft or less, no garage, one level or two. I am also wondering about the foundation from the existing house. Could I use it to build on? The original house is 1100 sq ft. I don't have alot of experience with this kind of thing so I figure I'd leave it up to the experts here.

TarheelTerp

These questions can only be (fully) answered locally. Some are building department, some health department and some will require a structural engineer.

That said... making changes means meeting current codes. The existing water well (volume and set up) and the foundation are probably NOT going to meet current codes. You also don't mention the septic system...

From a financial standpoint, unless all these stars align in your favor,
the tear down is probably not going to be cost effective.

Sight unseen... investigate rehabbing the old house to make it habitable....
then either renting it out to finance the new build or adding on to some.
That term "investigate" means hiring an actual architect/engineer.

hth

bikerider138

There is no mention of the septic system by the seller. I think you hit the nail on the head, there could be hundreds of hang ups. I've heard that when building a house, plan to pay double the original quote by the time your finished. Thank you for your input, TarheelTerp.

juryduty

The prefab stuff they have now (a lot of startup companies out there) is pretty interesting. Here are a few links:

http://www.cabinfever.us.com/home.html - this one can go up to 800 sq. ft.

http://www.zookcabins.com/

bikerider138

Thanks for links, I'll check them out

diy'er on LI

also, investigate whether there's an ancient oil tank underground or other skeletons in the closet...

I love the idea of pre-fab homes. It definitely would be cost-effective, as long as local architects and engineers deem that they're up to code and would do well with the unique characteristics of the property.

My gut instinct is that you'll be pouring a new foundation... but that's also up to the local pro's.

Blondesense

Our deed mentions a shared well (located on our neighbors property).
It is now considered by all to be our neighbor's well.
Our house has it's own well put in by the PO.
There is a history between our neighbors and the PO's over this situation that culminated in a nasty lawsuit.
The fact that the shared well is still in the deed concerns me.