How far gone is too far gone?

[Joseph Cooper]

For me nothing is too far gone. Call me optimistic but coming from a construction family I tend to see the potential in every home. The only time I get nervous is major fire damage. It just seems like there can be in detected issues that might pop up late in the project. Major fire damage is too far gone for me. Tear down and rebuild to get a predictable finished project would make me more comfortable. 

I like the ones nobody wants to touch. True it always takes longer and costs more than expected. My opinion is that almost any home can be brought back to a glory filled life and generally at a better value than rebuilding.

take a look at the pictures below. This is a 1964 single wide mobile home with a couple of framed in poaches on 1/3 acre. It looks bad. The roof needs a little repair and the entire thing needs to be redone. However, since it is in CA there are a lot of hoops to jump through to remove it and build on the lot. There is water power and sewer. 

Being a buy and hold guy the potential rent will cover the repairs in 1 year and in 5 years would pay for a replacement or in 10 years pay for a new traditional construction home. The increased rent on a new home would take 20-30 years to pay off. 

Would you update and rent, remove and replace/rebuild or run away and take a long hot shower.

[Joseph Cooper]

Quote from @Gene Hacker:

It is all about the data.  What do the numbers say?  After taking all emotion out of it and crunching the numbers (with conservative estimates), if it looks like a good idea then go for it.  

 The numbers say it all. The property is free and clear (no cost to me). It will rent for 1,000 -1,200 after renovations (12K-15K) The major benefit of sticking with the existing dwelling is that property taxes are low low low right now. I expect property tax to more than quadruple with a new home on the lot. The renovation investment allows this property to pay for future improvements. The more time it stays rentable the greater the improvements in the future.

Thanks for your response Gene.