Anyone ever take down an older home and rebuild

It could be a close call. Is the house level and solid? Does the current floor plan work for you? Does the kitchen and baths need updating and/or replacing? Those 2 areas alone can run into many tens of thousands of dollars to renovate.

A house that old, if it has original plumbing and wiring, would also likely need some, if not all of it replaced.

And once you start opening walls on an old home there's no telling what you may find------dry rot, termite damage, mold issues etc.

Plus, is the current house laid out how you like or would you tear out walls to reconfigure and open things up to better suit your needs?

The bigger question is are you planning on doing much of the work yourself to save on labor costs or are you having someone else do the work? Sweat equity is a good thing----if you know what you're doing, if not, the labor costs add up quickly.

Should have mentioned this in my previous post.

One of my nephews and his wife outgrew their starter home in River Ridge and found a house on a much larger lot just a few blocks from their home and bought it.

They decided the older home on the lot would not fill their needs as far as square footage, configuration and what it would cost to make it like they wanted, so they had it torn down.

It was basically a 1 story ranch style house and they built a 2 story 4 BR, 3 bath home in its place and they couldn't be happier with their decision.

Pay heed to what Gumbo has told you. All spot-on.

I will always opt for the repair/renovation if at all possible, but that’s me doing virtually all the work. Love it. But if you have to sub a lot of the work out that may not be the route you want to go.

Yes. The re-surveys (one for the demo permit and another one to merge two parcels) and permits took way too long, expect delays. Beureacrats never hurry.

Treat the demo, clearing and filling, etc. as seperate contracts. Pay cash as much as you can as the parish won't see that as part of the final home closing.