Interior reno $ of 1500sf house in Forest hills

I'm looking to purchase a small two sotry, 3-bd, 1.5/2 bath wood-frame home in Forest hills this summer to settle down in for the next 8-10 years and start a family. These houses are generally about 1300-1600 sf (most with finishe basment) and built in the 1920s/1930s. Houses in "relatively" move-in condition (updated, but NOT to my taste) are in the $650-750K range. Houses that need a complete... [more]

I'm looking to purchase a small two sotry, 3-bd, 1.5/2 bath wood-frame home in Forest hills this summer to settle down in for the next 8-10 years and start a family. These houses are generally about 1300-1600 sf (most with finishe basment) and built in the 1920s/1930s. Houses in "relatively" move-in condition (updated, but NOT to my taste) are in the $650-750K range. Houses that need a complete interior renovation are in the 550-650K range, but I could do it exactly the way I want to! At around a $550 sale price, I would have a 130K renovation budget at the time of purchase. Does anyone have an idea if this amount would be sufficient for a complete interior renovation for this type/size/age home and how long it would take? I'm looking for a modern, clean-cut look, and I am fine with medium quality materials. I would likely keep the kitchen/bathroom layouts the same to keep costs low. A big unkown with these old homes is the electrical/plumbing. If all the electrical/plumbing needs updating, how much would it add? Another potentially expensive unkown is the the windows. How much would adding all new windows cost? I would be able to save about 15K every 6 months to continue renovation so my inital budget would not have to cover everything. For example, I could install new windows six months down the road. Does a reno make any sense or is it not an option? [less]