move a house

[muldoon]

Has anyone considered buying a house that needed to be moved?  I have been thinking about this a bit lately and see some possibility with the idea.  Here is one that logistically would make sense, but to be honest I don't know if I should be trying to talk myself out of it.  What do you guys think?

http://houston.craigslist.org/reo/1043677539.html

I'm sure there would be no shortage of finish work on a house like that, so plenty of questions, answers and pictures for the forum either way.   

[Terry]

 I've seen houses moved to other locations and fixed up really nice. I know it is rather pricey here to move a house by a qualified house mover. However, I looked at the link with the house and think its a good price and a really cute house. Maybe worth considering. 

[harry51]

If the house is as good as it looks and sounds in the ad, I see some real value there. The devil, as usual, will be in the details. Here, there are expensive permits just to move the house, as well as the usual expensive permits and fees to establish it on a new property.

Below is a pic of a 110 year old house a friend bought last year for $1.00. It was the priest's house on the grounds of a historic Catholic church located about 1/2 mile down the road from my friends property. Moving the house, all permits, new perimeter foundation, fees to the power and phone companies and the Highway Patrol for the trip down the road cost another $45K. He had to re-roof the house, rewire it, plumb it to a new septic system, and it needs paint and repair inside from a bad toilet water leak that damaged floors and ceilings in several areas. He also had to either post a bond or deposit $20K in a surety account with the county, refundable upon passing his final inspection and receiving the certification of habitability. They told him they've had too many similar projects that haven't been finished and turned into abandoned eyesores in the past, becoming a public nuisance.



He's 71 years old, and doing the work on the house in his spare time between auto machine work in his on-premises shop. He says he doesn't care if he ever lives in it or not, he's just having fun restoring it!

[muldoon]

Appreciate the insight, the more I look at the idea the more I am starting to think this may be the way to get going on something that could be habitable this summer.  I did look at this a few years ago and the prices just did not make it work.  20k for a "fixer upper" (read complete junk) and 20k to move it = better to build in my opinion.  2-3k for a decent structure + 15k to move it ... maybe so. 


I am looking at this one too.  it's just 500, I bet they have more than 500 just in the floor.. 
http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/reo/1009901753.html

[cassandra_31]

I think it will depend on the next location where you will move the house.If you feel that it is much comfortable to move then  why not.Sometimes it's nice to change for much better purposes.