Buying a 'large' house (and how to heat it)

As most of the regs know, i'm looking to get out of dodge and move from ct to southern new hampshire. I have some interviews in the works in and around Manchester and it looks like this summer i may just walk away form my current house (i'm upside down over 100k and they refuse to re-fi me, so screw them) and buy a new place in my g/f (soon to be fiance's) name. (or, cash.... i'm considering talking to my grandfather to get a loan from him.) but that's off topic. My credit is already junk anyway and i really have no need for it once i get a new place.

So, long story short, I found a crazy deal on a house in the area i'm looking. It has like 6 garage bays, a 1500 sq foot main great room and crazy space everywhere with tons of bedrooms and bathrooms. it's over 7000 sq feet and has almost 8 acres of land with a view to boot. and it's being sold at such a bargain. (The idea of opening a bed and breakfast or some kind of wellness retreat house here continues to cross our minds. We are very 'holistic' in nature and the whole living on the land thing appeals to us a lot. It's something we have discussed to help offset costs as well as allow the gf to stay at home with the kids when they come. )

Doing the due dilligence on why it's so cheap, the house was part of the assets of a drug raid. The guy pleaded guilty and is currently locked up for the next few years. the house was auctioned as it was taken away from him as it was, i guess, bought with drug money, or whatever else.

It sold at this acution for like 50 grand!!

Who knows what it looked like then. now they are listing for 150k. I assume there's wiggle room to boot. I assume it was face lifted a bit as the stuff inside all looks like the work of a flipper and a lot of the stuff looks new

So, the price IS too good to be true. or is it?

The guy will be getting out some day. He plead out, according to the newspapaer clippings i can find on it, so probably only has a short sentence for the trade off. In 5 years, he might 'want his house back'.

Due to the location and size, i assume this was his 'retreat' to get away from the city, etc. So, i doubt any hood bangers even know of the place. It's also been a few years since this all happened already so it's been a long forgotten place to most by now probably after their boy got clamped.

I personally am not worried. I'm not afraid to protect what is mine and will have weapons in the house to defend it if necessary. But, my g/f is scared. She basically wants nothing to do with the place because of it's past.

So, I've considered going to visit him in jail and see what kind of person he is. I know plenty of people who, on a much smaller scale, have flung a few bags of dope to get by, and they are perfectly normal human beings who wouldn't hurt anyone unless their life depended on it. There's a benefit of the doubt to be found in a personal character. Would a visit saying, 'hi, i want to buy your old house, but want to make sure you aren't going to want it back when you get out or kill me over it' be out of line? Has anyone ever done something like this?

Thoughts?




So, to keep this on topic for the pellet forum, how the heck could i heat that place?!?!?!?! 7000 + sq feet must cost a fortune to keep above freezing. There's at least 1 fireplace in the living space from the pics i've seen.. I'd probably add in 2 wood stoves as well on either ends of the home. And i'd like to have at least 1 pellet stove in the center of the house so that extended times away could keep most of the house warm. There's hardwoods on the property so local harvesting would be the key to feeding the wood stoves. Does that sound like a good way to go? A pellet furnace is probably a good idea too.... but i'm not going to have too much extra cash right away if i buy this in unconventional methods like i think i might. Plus, supplies may be limited in the area. Wood would be much easier to come by with a chain saw and splitter.

Is it too much? I don't have any kids.... yet. I'm fairly young at 32. hoping to have a couple in the next 5 years or so. So for the time being, it would just be me and my gf here, and possibly down the road, a B&B, or rental rooms for skiing, etc. Am i just dreaming that this is the deal of a lifetime? would the maintence costs, including heating, just be way too much to make the selling price worth it. And what if i want to move down the road? would i be stuck sitting on it because of it's past? Would the g/f never feel safe?


Where's the fine line of excess versus deal of a lifetime?

Holly crap! That's a lot of square feet! Multiple stoves or one big honker of a furnace.

yeah, here's the 'great room'. its absurd. lol

make sure it wasn't a Meth lab..

What is the current heat source? It sounds too big to use space heaters for your primary heat source. I would look in to an outside wood boiler with that kind of land(plenty of wood and no neighbors to bother).

Yeah, and buy wood by the truck load! Take a look at how much Alain has burned! WOW!!

http://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/...ow-many-bags-did-you-use.104878/#post-1360853

First the house seems to good to be true. So usually there is something wrong remember the movie the Money Pit with Tom Hanks. if you did not see the movie rent it very funny movie. If its like you said someone trying to flip the house they usually just cover up the problem. So make sure you go check it out and have an inspector look at the house.

and on the heating I would get a pellet boiler with a back up boiler preferably in natural gas. with the house that large its going to cost a fortune to heat no matter what you use good luck. It sounds beautiful hope it works out

omv?

Check the property tax for the place you didnt mention what town but I am a short walk to the Manchester line in Hooksett NH and for 1800 sq foot home on 1.25 acres I pay 6,200.00 a year for property taxes

oh snap!

I wish I paid that. I pay more then that just for the school tax Love NY

I will never, ever complain about Michigan property taxes again. That's over 3 times what I pay for roughly the same size house and lot.

Same here in Maine. Holy crap!

way to good to be true, if he got busted then the "headbangers" know everything trust me, i worked for dept of corrections, inmates that never see the light of day know more about that house than you do. Also you just cant walk into a correctional facility and visit any said person, theres a process and approvals......my advise would be dont dare go see that dude.....the gf soon to be fiance turned into wife in some years can wake up one day and tell u to hit the bricks (never say never)...i would CYA in every direction possible and then repeat the process over and over....not being harsh, just m2 cents.....good luck

you want on the fedex plan?

1 ton of your best please.

Great point. You'd probably vomit if I told you what my hick town charges me for 2400' and 3 acres !

Is it right you have no state sales or income tax?

Was this the house built by a master"mason"? Nh is a great state...but the local property taxes are big...even if you get you steal one. Do not expect curbside trash pick up either for those taxes. Just remember why you moved to Nh and vote that way.

7,000 sq ft?? WTH? If your buying this joint, why worry about heat?


All the other "costs" are gonna match a 7,000 sq ft house (electric/water/insurance/ taxes/ etc)

If its to good to be true, then it most likely is. Cheap and Big works out to be BIG Problems and not so cheap repairs.

"IF" your gonna heat it, what heating does it have now?? How many zones?? What type of fuel?? These are needed things to consider? If Nat Gas, just turn up the stat......

That is correct.

Also, a house that size with bad credit is going to be a problem. Utilities these days operate off your credit score. I would say walk away. Also, being a former Realtor, the cost of a home isn't just the price tag. Think about maintenance, property taxes, repair costs, operating costs, etc. etc.

Our home is large, but nowhere near that. I can tell you big homes bring big problems, and there's no such thing as cheap repairs. Personally, I would walk away. That movie cold creek manor came to mind when reading the story on the home. I can see why the girlfriend has concerns. As far as heating, good luck! I spoke with someone who bought a 5,500 sqft home, kinda like what your talking about. When they moved in and winter set, they went through 1,200.00 in propane in two weeks! The home was newer, but built poorly. Just overall sounds like a big headache. The tax comments on here make me hurt, ouch! I won't complain about my 1,400 a year for my 2400 sqft home on 5 acres.

Garn, a lot of storage, plenty of wood, a strong back, and a weak mind.