I fell in love yesterday...

[Mama Jackson]

with a house.  It's downtown and it's in sorry need of money and love.  I looked up the address and it's scheduled for demo.  So sad.  State Equalized Value of $5,000.00.  I don't know for sure-but I think this house is in the Arts and Crafts style.  I love it, and I just looked thru the front windows.  There is something about it, a certain homey feel.  I can't put my finger on why I love this house so much.     

Would anybody know-if a house is scheduled for demo, is it possible to purchase it for like, cheap, and fix it up?  Would there be any available special financing for the project?  It's not in the Renaissance Zone.  It needs everything!  Roof, windows, siding, plumbing and taken right down to the studs to add insulation, new dry wall...yikes!  Ah, but the wood trim that is on the walls now...Yum!  It would have to be stripped and sanded.  I have a general contractor (a relative) that could oversee the work, but I would need to borrow the money for the project.  I think I would move into this house downtown, if it was fixed up.  Can anybody advise me on this?

[scottr]

Unfortunately I really have no advice to offer, but I wanted to wish you the best of luck.

I'm not sure when the point of no return is, but I would hope that it would be no sooner than when the backhoe first touches it. But who knows, with bureaucratic red tape. Is it a land bank building? If so, I would get a hold of them as soon as possible, preferably today as early as possible. I'd hate for you to lose the home simply because of a matter of a day or even hours.

[omgasmurf]

look up who owns the house and go from there. Most likely the city doesn't own it but will charge the current owner with demo costs. I know you can get ahold of the City of Flint Community & Economic Development in city hall. They get grants for city renewal and the like. Plus you can probably get grants from other sources as well since it is the downtown area. The Renaissance Zone time period is ending soon anyways so that wouldnt really matter.

[Mama Jackson]

Hi Guys, 

Just thought I would try and update you on the house I feel in love with.  I really don't know if it is possible to save it.  It needs:  roof with timber replacement-repair on the main body of the house (you can see blue sky thru the ceiling) and roof on the porch entry, siding-even the old wood siding was removed, eves need wood replaced, gutters and down spouts, windows repaired/replaced, junk hauled away, wood in the floors buckled everywhere there was a water hookup, they put a washer and dryer hookup in the alcove off the kitchen that should have been a breakfast nook, all new plumbing, toilets were broken, sinks removed, it would need a complete re-working of the kitchen, walls with paint peeling off in sheets-probably due to water damage, plumbing redone, needs electrical re-wiring (still has wiring from 1920) and the furnace and heat ducts-who knows?  there is broken glass and trash inside and all around the property.  Why would people wreck a beautiful building like that? 

If I can get there tomorrow, I will try and post pics of it.  It needs someone with deep pockets to love it and fix it.  I would cry if it gets torn down.

I was just trying to ball park the repair cost to fix this abused beauty.  At least $10,00 for the roof, ditto (almost) for the siding installation (did I mention in a couple of spots you can see daylight through the walls, also?) electrical-the least expensive-I could run plugs and switches, plumbing-yikes-who knows how much that would be, toilets were broken in half and left there, no sinks, no sink in the kitchen, heating at least $1500 for a new furnace and maybe new heat runs), floor repairs-maybe joist and/or foundation work with the water damage, plaster repair.  The list goes on and on. 

Oh, and i found out there aren't "grants" given to private individuals who want to save a home, but  there are low interest loans.  Which would work, if I didn't have to start making any payments right away and if the real estate market was normal we could sell our current home.

Oh, I am soo sad about this house. 

Mama
   


 

[omgasmurf]

it'll probably needs like 60,000$ + of work. It could be done but like you said the house needs someone with deep pockets.

can't wait for the photos.

[Mama Jackson]

Goll darn, razzle flats, stupid batteries...

Need to get camera batteries.  Pics soon.  Sorry.

[Mama Jackson]

I don't know what I am doing...
I hope you can find the pics.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26810646@N03/sets/72157605186238589/

[omgasmurf]

wow. the house does have some amazing potential. i've seen worse houses get remodeled into beautiful gems.
i can see the kitchen to be an amazing area and there is alot of light that the house gets.
man if i had some money i would totally help you out on fixing that baby up.

[scottr]

it's a beautiful house. i love the wood trim. like omgasmurf, i wish i had some money to help you out. i really hope you can pull this off. good luck!

[VeeFan]

I love the glass doors, and the trim in the dining room. I hope you're able to save this one!

Edit: It's in situations like this where I think the city should either make this tax deductible or offer some sort of stipend for revitalizing homes like this.

[BillyChilly]

I hate to resurrect an old thread, but I wanted to pass along that this restoration won't be possible.

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2010/04/flint_firefighters_respond_to_1.html

Bummer, but not surprising, as the house was in pretty bad shape.  Arsonists don't care about historical houses.

J.L.