Home Repair-Source it myself or find a good general contractor to run the show? Tulsa

[inactive]

Since relocating to Tulsa in May, I am currently living in a house owned by my father (was my grandfather's before he passed in 2009). My wife and I are debating between buying this house (my preference), or buying something else (her choice).

We could not afford a house as large as this and in Midtown (my preferred location) on the open market, but my father said he would sell me this house for what we can afford to pay (probably around $20-30k under market) if that is what we wanted to do.

The reason my wife is skeptical is the house is not updated. Well, the high dollar items are recent; since 2006 it has a new roof, new siding and gutters, driveway, A/C and gas furnace, shower floor pan and drain, a few piers under the garage foundation (rest of the house is good to go). The replacement and known condition of these big-ticket items are part of why I like the house - I know what has (and hasn't been done) and know how it has been taken care of.

The cosmetics are what are lacking, as I mentioned this was my grandparent's house. It looks new.... if you bought it in 1972 or 3 when they did! So I am wanting to price some items to update it, aesthetically:

Kitchen
-countertops (granite or similar, OK with tiles) and back splash
-Sink and faucet
-possibly paint counters white

Flooring (house is on slab, no crawl space)
-den in inexpensive (engineered? no need for fancy rare hand scraped stuff) hardwood (240 sq ft)
-living/dining room, hallway, 3 bedrooms with carpet (approx 1000 sq ft)

Paint
-entire house (1650 sq ft, only 8 ft ceilings throughout)
-ceilings
-baseboard and molding in 2nd color (white)

Windows
-7 “double wide” (but no divider between windows, so I have heard some people can do this as 7 windows, not 14)
-4 single

Patio Door
-Replace, possibly with French door

Bathrooms
-replace pink sink (yes, pink) with white
-new sink faucets (2)
-paint vanity cabinets white


I am normally pretty handy, but have been traveling for work, when I am home I chase my 17 month old, and my wife is pregnant with our second child. So I'm considering having the work all done for me. It struck me the other day that possibly a good contractor, with a network of good and reliable subcontractors, may be able to get a competitive rate over sourcing this from a bunch of big-box retailers or specialty stores.

Have any of you done this before, and did it save any money? Anyone have a ballpark (really rough estimate) on how much it would be to have this work done?

I appreciate everyone's input!

 

[NikatKimber]

send me an email. See my thread about closing on our home. We are in the middle of doing pretty much the same stuff. I'm on my phone, so I can give more detail tomorrow when I'm on a pc.

 

[nobuttbrian]

Most GC will charge 25% for everything. You can save money if you have the time to meet several subs for everything. I am in propety mgnt. And have a list of sub contractors if you want Pm me next week and I can give you a list

 

[mr ed]

Buy your own vaseline and don't expect a kiss.
I am doing the same thing to my brothers house.
Everything is costing way more than the estimates from 6 months ago.
Since the housing boom is over everybody is doubling-tripling the prices.
He got prices from contractors first. They were so high he could have bulldozed the house and built new for what some of them wanted.
Even with me and him doing most of the work he's still gone way over his budget.
The biggest problem is these contractors are running several jobs at once and you will end up being upset with how long it takes cause half the workers won't show up on time or at all. Nobody wants to work.
They want the job and will make all kinds of promises. But when it comes to actually doing it, they will take twice as long and want more money to finish.
If you don't pay up they just put a lien on your house.

He went with a contractor for his shop building.
Was supposed to be done by Labor day.
They finished it last friday plus claimed materials went up and wanted an extra 2k. This was from a prominent building contractor you hear advertised on local tv and radio. My brother said "No more contractors for him".

From your description expect quotes from 40k + up

 

[NikatKimber]

Check your email cards!

 

[HMFIC]

Even if you don't do all of the updating right away, you'd be a fool not to buy the house for that price and start working your way up.

There are many times in my life where I wishe I had bought a small starter house in my younger days and started fixing it up and then flipping up to larger houses and making money along the way.

By now, I could be living in my home with no mortgage payment if I would have only been patient and thoughtful about how I did it.

Good luck...

 

[kroberts2131]

My brother just did the same thing with a house. He paid like 20K for this dump of a house and now it looks brand new. He got alot of his stuff from this place in muskogee. I can't remember the name. If you take the BA all the way to muskogee (not exiting at 69) and get off on Peak Blvd its right at the intersection of Peak and York. They are super cheap. He was paying like 1/3 less than lowes/home depot for everything. The wife and I are using them when it comes time to do crown molding and such. You might check them out. When I see him tomorrow I'll get the name and put on here for ya .

 

[imhntn]

Be your own contractor. I have never found any that do the job the way I would and they just frustrate me. I can sub it out and get it done well.