All Forum Posts by: Jennifer White

Thanks for the input!  Very helpful!  Yeah, I was thinking closer to the $20k mark.  We will be moving the stairs, but I'm lucky that my father builds stairs for a living.  Do you all have anyone you work with that is responsive?  I'm having a hard time getting people to follow through with bids.

I just bought a house in a neighborhood where most of the houses were built in the late 1920's to early 1930's.  We've gotten all of the mechanicals up and running (finally - took nearly 3 weeks just to get an electric meter installed) and are now moving to the roof.  Most of the neighborhood has had shed dormers added to increase the usable upstairs space and I'm looking to do that to this house too in order to add a bedroom that an average adult can use (the upstairs bedroom is chopped up into two tiny rooms that a twin bed cannot even fit into and the ceiling heights are not to code.)  Problem is, I've been chasing contractors for two months for estimates.  I finally got three to come out and can't get responses from these people.  So, I called another and got him out.  He gave me an estimate of $25k, without permits or architect fees, to replace the roof (it's a 24x26 box with a 12/12) and do the exterior of an appx. 12 X 20 shed dormer with two low end windows and vinyl siding (no sheet rock/electric, etc. - I can do all of this myself.)  This sounds really high to me for an added appx. 250 SF of unfinished space.  Maybe NJ really is double the national average on cost.  Anyone else had any luck with dormers or can recommend someone you've worked with?  Is it worth the money for the additional space?  How much do you pay on avg in NJ for a project like this?

Any advice/input is much appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

I just closed on my first house!  Now the fun part of rehabbing it starts.  Thank you for all the advice! :)

Thank you for all of the suggestions!  This is very helpful information. 

Hi All!  I'm newer to NJ and looking to buy a fixer just north or northeast of Trenton that I'll live in for a few years and build some sweat equity in.

We've put in a few offers on REO, but we're not getting responses. According to our realtor, the banks taking their sweet time on these properties is a trend lately. It also seems like I'm seeing fewer and fewer properties available since I started learning the market in the local counties (Middlesex/Mercer-ish area) a few months ago. I'm currently working with a realtor, but we're not really getting a ton of leads from her. Any ideas on where to find more available inventory other than the realtor sites (redfin, zillow, etc.)?

Perhaps I need to shop for another realtor that deals with more of these properties?  First time doing this, not really sure!  Any advice is greatly appreciated!