gut reno costs in Hamilton Heights, in general

You don't want to live in construction site, it's unhealthy and it may slow down the work. For example, the contractor may want to do the plumbing work for the entire house instead of floor by floor. 250k for 220-2700 sq ft is possible assuming for interior work only and there is not much structure work. It depends on your scope of the work.

i would first do the plumbing and electric in the whole house, then fix the lowest or highest floor and move in. it will not be pleasant though.

Could not agree more with karhu. It's a nightmare. I believe you mentioned children on another thread? If so, completely bag the idea and just rent a nearby apartment as the renovation goes on. It sounds expensive but it's much cheaper and easier than the multitude of horrors that can ensue when low end workers (that your contractor will hire no matter what he/she says), massive amounts or debris, lead paint, open electric wires, and children are put into a confined space.

I do not think 250k is unreasonable. We renovated 1600 sq. ft. for just over 100k and we have, more or less, exactly what we want. However, we didn't make any structural changes. The biggest costs were the bathrooms, the kitchen and the plastering.

It depends on the definition of gut renovation. Also is this a multifamily that is being combined to single or already single family? If you are gutting and lets say moving staircases it will add to the costs. Depending on what else you need to upgrade. Then of course make sure you put it out to bid as have friends who are doing a gut reno of a multi family to single family and there was a wide range of bids.

A couple of places we are interested in need no structural changes, but electrical and plumbing would need work... then of course floors, walls, kitchens and bathrooms all need to be redone. We figured it would not be a good idea to live there with work going on, esp with kids, but thought I'd see if anyone had found a way to do it!

You will need to replace mechanicals, plumbing, electrical before you do anything else in a "gut reno". It's not really possible to stay at 250k for a 4-floor house if you include replacing the infrastructure.

Of course, it's possible for well under 250k to sand floors, paint walls, deep-clean, and just move in, if the kitchen & bathrooms are functional (limiting work to just changing the toilets/vanities).

Check out brownstoner.com, especially the reno blogs. It is possible to live on one floor while work is being done on the others if you don't have kids, but really, with kids, the construction dust is not the healthiest thing for the kids. If you absolutely have to do reno with the kids, I would recommend living on the top floor, and making sure that there is a "sandwich" floor between you and the children. My 2yo's lead levels went from undetectable to 7 moving into our gut reno before it was 100% finished. I had to change tacks and do deep clean before continuing with work.

At a minimum, assuming you hire a GC and architect, you're looking at 300+/sqft. So bid accordingly.

so for 2400 sq ft we should add at least 600K to the price tag? I think we may reconsider going that route if that's the case!

That sounds very high to me, nyc10023. Unless the place is stripped to the walls and just a total wreck.

mrs1007--you seem all over the map. The Lenox or a gut reno of a townhouse? That's a fairly wide swing. Maybe you're search is too broad, especially if you haven't targeted exactly where you want to live.

you, that is.

Based on your description, I believe you can do it around 250k. Of course you can go as high as you want. Again, you really don't want to live in the job site. A friend of mine did it because he was taking the responsibility of a GC, he managed subs according to his own schedule and did a lot of DIY. He saved some money at the end but the overall time frame is much longer.

We are exploring many different angles, but the main issue is that we would like to be out of our current apartment before next Spring. We are open to many options as far as housing goes, and a handful of neighborhoods too.

Our main issues are that we'd like to stay in Manhattan, app. 30 min or less from Times Square, near some park space for the kids, in a generally safe area that is not too noisy at night. We'd also like to live near enough amenities that we do not need a car. We have explored Sugar Hill, FDR area of Harlem, Hamilton Heights and Morningside Heights and have liked different things about all of these areas. We've heard good things about Hudson Heights and Inwood but have not gone up that far yet.

Though we seem all over the map, all of the types of places we are looking at have one thing in common - space. We love the idea of buying a townhouse in one of the areas above - we just don't think we can afford it without it needing some kind of renovation, and based on some quotes above maybe not at all! We're looking more in the 650-850K range, honestly.

Or, maybe we should continue to rent while we save more for a downpayment - just hate to miss out on the ultra low interest rates if we can find something that works!

Spring would be aggressive time line if you do the renovation. Can you go month to month on your lease?
New construction would obviously be feasible - assuming it has enough space.

This dilemma sounds so familiar. We were all over the map, too. Eventually you'll just see the perfect place. But I wouldn't rush it; especially if you're moving a family in and intend to stay. I suspect rates will be low for some time.

Eliz: 300/sqft for a gut reno of a townhouse that needs full replacement of infrastructure (I haven't even gotten to the facade yet) is not high at all. It's less about total square footage than it is about the number of rooms. 2200-2700sqft sounds small for a 4(?) story townhouse to me. THs are typically built about 50 feet deep. Because you're paying almost the same amount for gutting a larger TH, the number/sqft decreases. IMO, may as well go for a 3600+ sqft TH, it will cost you not much less to reno.

If you are able to act as a GC and co-ordinate the trades, you will save but this requires time and expertise.

I'm a low-baller when it comes to reno costs.

maybe you can look into doing a 203k Loan

It is at least $300 sq ft. Unless you want to go low end. It is possible but a typical gut reno is 300 sq ft