Bigger Isn't Better

The Rehab "White Elephant"

When isn't bigger better? (Try saying that 3 times!).

When it's a major rehab.

The dividing line seems to be about 3,000 finished square feet.

Below that, and "bringing up" a house with the proverbial good bones can be done for as "little" as $150k or so, spent strategically (Kitchen: $40k; painting, wall and floor coverings: $30k; windows, roof(?), and mechanicals: $50k; bathrooms: $25k; landscaping: $10k

However, the budget for tackling a very dated, 4,500 square foot-plus house might be easily go north of $500k.

That's a lot to pop for, at the moment. Especially if you have to pay for it out-of-pocket (vs. financing at today's cheap mortgage rates).

And it adds inventory to what is already the weakest part of the housing market locally (nationally, too).