Wanted to buy a old house in a good location, close to Princeton, Nj

umabhi · Post by **umabhi** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 1:56 am

I am new to real estate in U.S. Recently got green card. Wanted to buy a house in a good school district, but would not like to take risk, by investing more. A good old house (built in 60's) with an acre land, close to Princeton is coming for 250k. My intention behind is, even though the house is not any close to latest lifestyle living, it is in a good school district and is coming with an acre land. The estimated value of that house is more than 450k. I would like to take some inputs from home owners, who have already gone through all this. In future, may be after 10 or 20 years, do the price of that house go up, because of that acre land. Please do share your experiences.

Thanks

Lakshya · Post by **Lakshya** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:43 am

umabhi;477133I am new to real estate in U.S. Recently got green card. Wanted to buy a house in a good school district, but would not like to take risk, by investing more. A good old house (built in 60's) with an acre land, close to Princeton is coming for 250k. My intention behind is, even though the house is not any close to latest lifestyle living, it is in a good school district and is coming with an acre land. The estimated value of that house is more than 450k. I would like to take some inputs from home owners, who have already gone through all this. In future, may be after 10 or 20 years, do the price of that house go up, because of that acre land. Please do share your experiences.

Thanks

Land will not play major factor like India for price increase. School will play role here. But same time your first priority should be how many kids in neighborhood (assuming have young kid(s)). 60s House will ask for repairs time to time. 60s house in Princeton kind of cheap. Why its coming in market for this price?

Chakraan · Post by **Chakraan** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 3:29 am

1960 home ?

I found US homes are very fragile, it needs major renovation in every 10 years right from replacing the roof.It is not like brick and mortar house like India where five generation can live in the same house without any problem.

You may have to renovate it for another 100k and make it energy efficient.
Old houses also comes with mold, allergy, dust in the duct pipe etc.

House repair cost is too high for a minor fix if you can't do it yourself.

You better buy a town home or a condo.

NoChaos · Post by **NoChaos** » Wed Oct 24, 2012 8:21 pm

What do you mean by close to Princeton, NJ? Is it in princeton or somewhere else?

If school district is good then go ahead and buy it. Mortgage rate are almost steal (below 3%) & you need very solid reason not to get this free money. Don't buy townhome/condo. Over the years land appriciate and building depreciate.

Few smart people in central NJ (with good school district) buying 1970s houses in $300K+, tear-rebuilt-new & sell it in $800K+. Construction cost varies between $200/sqft to $250/sqft. Around $150K-$200K profit on each transaction.

umabhi · Post by **umabhi** » Wed Oct 24, 2012 8:49 pm

Thank you all for giving valuable inputs. The house is in westwindsor. But school district is excellent. I too have doubts regarding price. Why is it not been sold at this price? I have no clue, how much it is going to cost me for renovation. I have few questions like, do houses on traffic streets cost less. Can I renovate and let part of it for rental income. How to know whether there are any Indian families, residing close by. Thank you.

surabhi1973 · Post by **surabhi1973** » Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:12 pm

umabhi;477683Thank you all for giving valuable inputs. The house is in westwindsor. But school district is excellent. I too have doubts regarding price. Why is it not been sold at this price? I have no clue, how much it is going to cost me for renovation. I have few questions like, do houses on traffic streets cost less. Can I renovate and let part of it for rental income. How to know whether there are any Indian families, residing close by. Thank you.

Do you have a broker. If not, you should engage one. Unless it is FSBO ( For Sale By Owner) and you are actually able to get additional 3% discount, the owner otherwise have spend on buyer's agent, there is no reason not to get broker when you are Buyer. Especially if you are first time buyer, it is even more important. He will also be able to answer the questions around ease of getting permits to have additional kitchen, renovation permit process etc.

Depending on state law, the seller may not need to disclose all the negative aspects. such as presence of sex offenders in the vicinity, past criminal activity, unnatural deaths on the property etc.. You can get all these information by running the background checks..

Lakshya · Post by **Lakshya** » Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:23 pm

umabhi;477683Thank you all for giving valuable inputs. The house is in westwindsor. But school district is excellent. I too have doubts regarding price. Why is it not been sold at this price? I have no clue, how much it is going to cost me for renovation. I have few questions like, do houses on traffic streets cost less. Can I renovate and let part of it for rental income. How to know whether there are any Indian families, residing close by. Thank you.

check on g map and see how far this house from this place?

116 North Main Street Windsor, NJ 08561

NoChaos · Post by **NoChaos** » Thu Oct 25, 2012 12:18 am

umabhi;477683Why is it not been sold at this price? I have no clue, how much it is going to cost me for renovation. I have few questions like, do houses on traffic streets cost less. Can I renovate and let part of it for rental income. How to know whether there are any Indian families, residing close by.

Provide house address, members will be more than happy to answer all your queries.

Usually house on traffic streets are less desirable, renovation cost depends upon type/quality of renovation. It's your house you can rent full/part/room anyway you want.