How to Tear Down a House
While it's often sad to witness the demise of a long-standing structure, sometimes a tear down is the only solution that makes sense. So, how do you determine whether a home has outlived its useful life and is a candidate for demolition? Savvy home buyers follow a three-step process:
Your first step is to check with city planners to find out if the home qualifies because not every structure can be legally removed, especially those entrenched in historical urban neighborhoods. Second, get bids from three to five licensed contractors. When I wanted to tear down my old 10 x 12 storage shed, for example, the bids I received stretched from a reasonable number to ten times as much. The third step . . . read more about tear downs.
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Comments
Great article, it’s an interesting look at a different side of the industry.
Good article.
Takes a different look of things because we never really think about what we are tearing down and only consider the benefits after it is gone.
Some very good advice. One of things that should really be considered is lot the lot value to end result value. It would not be too smart to invest in a tear down and have a final investment of $800k if the neighorhood only supports home sales in the $600k range. Sometimes people get too caught up in finding a lot to build on and lose sight of what makes good economic sense.