Mom (me) sees a world of trouble. DIL teaches. DS is a paramedic finishing his B.S. so he can start training as a medical tech. DGS is four. They currently own a similar-age, already-restored-when-they-bought-it house of 1300 sq ft on a double lot in NW Chicago with adequate HVAC, plumbing, etc. and an oversize two-car garage on alley. They just completed an open-plan kitchen there. Same multi-use neighborhood, but on busier 2-lane Chicago street.

Home values where they are are similar to the overall neighborhood around the prospective house, but prospective house is in small enclave within that neighborhood with higher market values. Guestimate $350K median home value in present location; $500K in prospective one.

My idea as best use of prosective property: Sell the two lots to someone who wants to build a four-flat. Salvage woodwork, stained glass,whatever. Sell salvage or use it to build new home in better, all-SF area. Or tear down and build new on existing double lot. I don't see logical renovation of existing old house. Do YOU?

Why are they even considering this property? Because it's been inherited by a family member who doesn't know what to do with it in its condition and would sell to them 'at a discount'.

I like the idea of taking all salvagble materials and selling/donating or what ever so that they can be reused and kept from the landfills. In areas of period homes, typically there are many salvage yards that have everything from mouldings, stair parts, windows, etc from period homes that might buy items from you.

I think the biggest mistake made when considering remodeling an existing home is that many dont spend the time or money to investigate the things that you dont see, such as the condition of plumbing lines, sewer lines, electrical, foundation condition, etc. All the elements of the mechanicals that make a house work. It's pretty tough when you are looking to buy and can't dig down in places or open up walls to investigate, but if the property and house are yours, you might want to consider doing some physical searches of what you normally dont see to check out the current condition.

Remodeling an *entire* homely old house, saving only the woodwork, doesn't strike me as wise, even if the people doing it had no other claims on their time or money. I've seen couples prioritize remodeling a house while time slips by and their children grow up. Suddenly the best years of their family life are gone -- and there's still more woodwork to be stripped!

There are thousands of similar homes in Chicagoland. Few are going to be renovated As They Were Originally -- certainly not inside. People live differently now. We want luxuries like indoor plumbing, air conditioning, eat-in kitchens, bedrooms with closets, etc. Tiny 'front parlors' and 'back parlors' and miniscule kitchens don't lend themselves to today's families. There has to be some 'give' or everything will be torn down as obsolete.

Gosh, we've stayed in National Trust listed properties in England where we had electrical lighting, central heating, flush toilets. The Georgian House at Hampton Court Palace even has an induction cooktop in its modernized kitchen!

Despite my attraction, I take an attitude similar to yours: I have to be able to envision with a fair amount of detail just exactly how the renovated house will look and work. In fact I go further and require a fairly detailed picture of exactly how the transformation is going to happen, from a financial, design, demolition, re-construction, legal, and neighborhood perspective.

Understandably, all of this involves way too much thinking and investigation and planning for many people, who end up deciding to just "dive in". Well, God bless them and their perseverance in the ensuing years, but I agree with you that a little more hard thinking up front could have led to a better way to get what they want.

If its main claim to fame is woodwork and a stained glass window, GOOD LUCK! Layout should be number one, and how soon will it be before you get tired of heading to the basement to TCB.

I hope they're not putting to much emphasis on your comments about the property being above "median" values. That's only is relevant when you go to sell and things could change by then. I say buy in a neighborhood you like, and let your executor worry about what your house is worth to "the market".

The neighborhood is a concern of mine. Many areas in the city are 'in flux'. This little portion of this neighborhood is considered 'much nicer'. However, the overall neighborhood isn't 'nicer'. It's rapidly changing, with more immigrant families living 'doubled up' -- much the same as is happening in the neighborhood in which they already live!

In Chicago if you teach in its schools or are any kind of city employee, you MUST live within the city boundaries. (This was started to prevent 'white flight', although of course that wasn't the stated publicly.) Most middle class city employees (of all 'colors') live in the farthest-out neighborhoods. The wealthiest can live in Lincoln Park, Gold Coast, etc.

My DS, DIL and DGS are young. I don't think they can say they'll be living in whatever home they buy now until they die! Heck, my DH and I considered the added value of a nice home in a stable neighborhood before moving nine years ago. We'll probably need the cash it brings before we die.

What do I think? I think they need to explore the true cost of all options.

1. sell the property and invest.
2. tear down and build new.
3. remodel
4. remodel enough to keep it as an investment property. (this is a different type of remodeling as we all know.)
5. keep the current home as an investment, and live in the remodeled house.
6. sell the current home, sell this property and get a NEW house from both proceeds.

Try to put a dollar value and time value on all of these options. Help your son and DIL look at possibilities that they may not have considered. Then when the time comes, it will be their decision... Even a foolish decision is theirs, and they will learn from that.

Their present home is in a 'good' school district. That doesn't change the fact that the kids going into that school are often struggling. DIL's pre-teen niece has just been taken out of that 'good' school and put in parochial school, entirely because of her involvement with questionable friends -- typical classmates from the neighborhood.

The prospective property neighborhood has a typical Chicago school -- not good. There is a public 'magnet' school located there that is very good. There is a parochial school option -- for $6K a year, plus, plus, plus.

I'm not anti-city. Suburban schools can be lacking too. I just had lunch with an old neighbor. Her DS and DIL live in a far, fast-growing suburb. Her DIL is thrilled that their eldest child will have PE three days a week and *either* art or music once a week. She is a teacher in the same suburb, but in a different district. Her pupils have PE one day a week and art/music now and then. My old neighbor pointed out that the school her DS and mine attended (in another suburb) had, and still has, PE every day and art and music three days a week. I should add that my DIL teaches in the inner city; no 'enrichment' there.

I don't really understand why my 'kids' choose to limit themselves to living/teaching in the city now that they have a child who will be entering school. I understood and admired their 'giving back' dedication up to now. (They are both wonderful people, raising a really NICE child -- who has yet to be exposed the children in his neighborhood. He attends a parochial pre-K.)

Thank you all for 'listening' and for your ideas. It helps!

All new windows, door, backyard overhang, holes in walls spackled, bricks pointed, new water line in, new pipes and electric lines were needed. This house had never been renovated, and sat vacant for thirty years. Surprisingly, and a testament to the neighborhood, none of the wonderful old lighting fixtures or interior woodwork were stolen or damaged. The old stove was clean as a whistle once I scrubbed off the dust--and lit with the first match when the gas was hooked up. (I moved it to the basement when we ordered a new one with a bigger oven and may use it in another house. Ditto for the old copper water heater.)

To fix all the problems, add a half-bath on the first floor and upgrade the kitchen cost less than 30k, but we did most of the work ourselves and put it nice appliances, but not expensive ones. I disregarded suggestions to add vinyl siding and opted to paint the original metal siding, and am glad I did.

The house is far from a designer home but is a classy old place that's comfortable and secure, and preserves some of the charm and character of its era. And with its river rock foundation and double-thick brick walls, I'll bet it will be standing long after many of the expensive new homes being built in the area with modern techniques are history.

Zillow's estimate is now $150, and I think that's low based on recent sales in the neighborhood.