All Forum Posts by: Annetta B.

Wow, so much great advice! I'm delighted. For those of you who are interested, here is my little story. 

My parents gave me  this old bank built in 1904, in a small town in rural Ontario, Canada. Its about 30 min from a medium size city. It has a lovely river running through the back of the houses. They spent a fair amount of money fixing it up and its lovely inside. The driveway has an easement with next door, which caused problems. The people next door walked away from their house and I made them an offer. Probably too high alas! i was worried that someone horrible would move in and make my house unsaleable. Fences don't work because of the driveway situation. I thought i would just fix it up and rent it out as it is a duplex. 

skim coating? I'll check it out. Thanks. 

Thank you so much for your comments. Thats very helpful. I was thinking along the same lines but needed some support on this. Thanks again! 

I have taken drywall off all the exterior walls but left the inside walls. The drywall is a bit bumpy, smelly and in need of some repair. The electrician suggests i take out all drywall but thats more demolition cost, more dumpsters and more drywall installation. However, will the old drywall look awful next to the new beautiful drywall? Should i just do it all over? 

Yes, thank you for reminding me. The dormers wouldn't change the rent too much it's true. Although I do want long term happy tenants. Definitely French doors on the bottom though! That would make a difference I think. Thank you for your input. It's hard not to get carried away. 

A small town, a view of the river and no bathroom window with a sloped ceiling. This will be a rental property but adding dormers would just make the house so much more open feeling and open up this view of the river. It's on the Main Street of a small town. I don't intend to sell for a long long time but would dormers really add to its resale value years from now? There is a lot to do even without the dormers. It's a duplex. 

I just baught a house on a river in a small Ontario town near Kingston. It's a duplex which I was going to rent out (both sides) 

I have come to the conclusion that it needs to be gutted. I'm wondering how people figure out if it's better to renovate everything or start again. I don't thin k there is much of historical significance as there was a fire and it was rebuilt in the 40's or 50's. It seems to look ok from the side with new sideing and windows. I guess I need an inspector to look at the basement and walls? 

How do people decide when a property is worth renovating or tearing down? I baught a property where a very old stone house burned down and a wood house was built in the 50's I think. It's been trashed by a family and it's a total mess. Some floors are crooked. Basement floods but the location is a small town near Kingston Ontario (real estate ticking along slowely) but it's on a lovely river in a small town. Not sure which way to go. 

True. I wondered about steel bars in the walls reinforcing the front. Still probably easier to pick a different house. One day someone will have to deal with it and there is a danger it will get so run down that it ruins the whole street. Thats my major concern really. Thanks. 

Thank you. Actually it does help. I will ask the township. Some of it is subjective i  imagine...do people like to feel that a car might end up in their living room? It happened in the old days twice before they put a cement barrier up. hmmm the property could provide cash flow but probably not be a very good investment in terms of resale value.