Woo, house hunting

"vorspringing" (vorspringing)
10/25/2014 at 20:11 • Filed to: None

So, I finally decided that I loathe my 1 1/2 hr one-way commute enough to move and have started house hunting (work has also been insane, which is why I haven't been around much.) Round 3 of viewings tomorrow morning - trying to decide whether it's better to choose a place that already has an old but existing garage that I can modernize, or just plenty of room for one to build from the ground up. I'm looking at a couple of older/historic neighborhoods, so none of the houses have an attached garage, they're all separate. Fortunately, not so historic that I can't build anything, just enough so the houses are interesting and made of actual wood.

DISCUSSION (22)

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > vorspringing
10/25/2014 at 20:18

Building from the ground up will be much more expensive than just modernizing an existing, unless it's in really bad shape.

AM3R > vorspringing
10/25/2014 at 20:40

modernize an old garage would be cheaper and faster too.

It sucks, I have tons of space to build a garage (end unit) but I'm a townhouse so I cant.

vorspringing > Little Black Coupe Turned Silver
10/25/2014 at 20:40

The ones I've seen so far have varied from pretty decent shape, to at risk from the next strong wind. I'd have to widen the door on any of them for a start - 1920s era garage doors are not modern car friendly.

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > vorspringing
10/25/2014 at 20:44

True. But anything will be better than having to pour a new concrete pad. That's what kills you in building a new one.

vorspringing > Little Black Coupe Turned Silver
10/25/2014 at 20:56

I may end up having to do that anyway - a couple of them have been dirt floor with walls on pilings.

jkm7680 > vorspringing
10/25/2014 at 21:56

That's a long commute, Damn.

If you've got money, and time I'd suggest renovating an existing house or buying a good priced house without a garage and having a pre fab one put up or something.

vorspringing > jkm7680
10/25/2014 at 22:05

Sterling to DC every day - and the Silver Line saves me precisely 0 time, I tried for a couple of weeks then gave up and went back to driving. Hyattsville/Mt Rainier has a lot of really neat old houses that need a little work I could do myself, and the ones that don't have a garage have space for one.

jkm7680 > vorspringing
10/25/2014 at 22:28

Gotcha, Maybe the Occoquan area?

tromoly > vorspringing
10/25/2014 at 22:32

If you find a decent house with a really bad garage that's on a concrete pad, you may be better off getting one of those and building a new garage on the existing pad.

I can fully understand you're wanting to move closer, the race track I worked at with my dad was an hour drive each way, while my new job is a three minute commute from my apartment, having a MUCH shorter commute is very, very, very good.

Best wishes with your searching, you'll find a house you enjoy soon.

vorspringing > jkm7680
10/25/2014 at 22:34

Nah, I have friends who live in Newington and Kingstowne, and their commute is only marginally better than mine. Plus, I'm kind of in love with the neighborhood already - I've always wanted an old house.

jkm7680 > vorspringing
10/25/2014 at 22:42

Haha, Nice.

I live somewhat near Occoquan, It itself isn't a terrible area. But where I currently live is a different story.

vorspringing > tromoly
10/25/2014 at 22:45

Yeah, I think that's where I'm leaning. Almost all the garages are going to need some work to really be usable, but if they've got a pad that's a huge advantage.

A 3 minute commute would be amazing - unfortunately the house prices next to work are officially insane.

tromoly > vorspringing
10/25/2014 at 22:55

Yeah, a commute time reduction of 95% is pretty extreme, I imagine if your commute was reduce 66% to a half hour it would be far, far more enjoyable.

Did I read that you work in DC? I can't imagine anything within 20 miles being reasonably cheap out there.

OPPOsaurus WRX > vorspringing
10/25/2014 at 22:59

F all that. Buy land and I'll design you a garage with a house attached

vorspringing > OPPOsaurus WRX
10/25/2014 at 23:07

But...original Sears Craftsman houses! *design nerd flail*

vorspringing > tromoly
10/25/2014 at 23:15

Yeah, cheap is relative. But the area I'm looking at moving to is significantly less expensive than where I am now despite the fact that it's historic and inside the Beltway, which usually makes house prices extra stupid.

shop-teacher > vorspringing
10/25/2014 at 23:56

It's quite a bit cheaper to buy one that already has a fixable garage, than to build it new. I spent $5k fixing up my garage, which beats the hell out of the $20k it would take to build it new.

vorspringing > shop-teacher
10/26/2014 at 00:11

Thanks - all the numbers I've been working so far are completely theoretical. How much did you have to do?

shop-teacher > vorspringing
10/26/2014 at 00:18

New 18' door, reframe/expand the opening from 16' to 18', new roof, new soffit and facia boards, and some siding repair. Still needs some electrical work, but that won't be too expensive. The only bummer is the floor is cracked and spalling. Gonna have to get that resurfaced one of these days. Rolling around on a creeper is a real PITA.

shop-teacher > vorspringing
10/26/2014 at 00:30

One other thing to consider, sometimes zoning laws and building setbacks have changed, and you'd no longer be able to put a garage where you used to be able to.

I live in an old neighborhood (in an old Craftsman house, actually), and if I tore my garage down, and rebuilt it, I'd have to build it two feet closer to my house. Which doesn't sound like much, but it would be enough that I'd lose my truck's parking spot.

OPPOsaurus WRX > vorspringing
10/26/2014 at 01:00

I don't know if your joking or not but sears did sell house in kits out of the catalog

vorspringing > OPPOsaurus WRX
10/26/2014 at 01:04

Totally not joking - the houses I'm looking at are original Sears houses, they're really well built and have a lot of awesome detail. Garages (when they have them) are tiny though.