I don't know about reno costs, but I love love the pink/peach bathroom tiles. I'm not being snarky, I really love them. I would love to build a bathroom around those tiles. Congratulations on buying your house (whenever that may be!)

Impossible to tell based on not knowing what you want to do, and whether DIY plays a part. "Reconfigure" could mean just eliminating the island peninsula, or opening up walls and changing the structural framing. Big difference. With $100K play money no matter what house you buy you should be able to remodel something though. Don't overlook this assessment is frozen so your taxes will raise by quite a bit.

But, it looks like you have a buyer @Louise Smith for the salmon color fixtures that will offset a little of your cost.

@Louise Smith I love the pink too, actually- with some updated wallpaper, floors and fixtures, it could be so cute.

@3onthetree what do you mean about the assessment being frozen? Can you clarify there? We have DIY'd our last 2 kitchens so I think we'll hire this one out, probably won't need to take down walls, I think open floorpans have hit their peak and we'll start seeing more defined spaces in houses over the next few decades. Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate it.

Would need to know more about what you want to do to an estimate. Even in this area redoing a kitchen will take half or more of that $100K,

I'd try to do testing for asbestos-that way, you know that wherever you might disturb it (can be walls, can be under floors..) you need to abate it first. Every state has its own rules as per abatement, if done on a little scale-I don't know NJ ones. But the year the house was built suggests asbestos might be there somewhere

It seems the kitchen was remodeled later, so might be less work there-or you might decide to leave it for now, ot tweak just a bit.

I also like pink tiles:) They seem original, if you like them and the plumbing is fine, I'd work with them.

It's a livable, big, nice house, you can decide you tackle only parts such and such for now.

i'd get an idea of what I'm looking into, maybe rough estimate from a couple of local GC's..I understand it's probably hot market and sellers might not want to wait for all that?

Do consider different scenarios though when defining your scope of work.

what do you mean about the assessment being frozen?

When I looked at the property taxes, it has been frozen since 2008 (doesn't list farther back) at $244,700.

I am thinking 100k could get you a kitchen and a bathroom. This would be using existing layouts.

I don’t know what you have in mind for refiguring. The basic layout seems fine, what concerns you?

Keep in mind too, there are ways to cut corners. For example, you don’t need to tile all the walls in the bathroom, just the shower and floor.

Hi, Jessica,

Kudos to you for doing some homework before committing to purchase a home and then finding out you don't have the resources to do what you want or need to do. Lots of resale homes are purchased by folks who use HGTV as their remodeling cost data source only to learn the disconnect after they're stuck with the home.

Each remodel poses its own set of challenges based on existing conditions and how much "surgery" is required to realize the homeowner's vision. It's more than a little dangerous to guess at costs without a firsthand look at the home. I suggest you find a reputable local remodeler and pay them for the time it takes to tour the home with you, develop a basic scope of work and a cost estimate to accomplish what you have in mind.

Best wishes for a successful project.

I agree with Charles Ross. Having a sense of what your remodeling costs could be will help you to decide whether you can afford to do want you think you to do. Also, you may want to see how the kitchen layout works for you before deciding to make big changes there. Maybe replace the counter (and making the breakfast bar be one-level) first? I would want the wallpaper down and maybe some painting done before moving in.

I grew up not close to Cranford (and in a house very similar to this one!). I love to get back to that area when I can. Good luck!