Thanks for your reply. The 20k for the basement is most likely an overestimate, but we like to prepare for the worst case scenario until we know more. As for why we'd spend that much, we're very attached to this specific neighborhood, and there's only one other house for sale there, and it's 330k and huge. We don't want to spend that much, nor do we need that much house. Our other option is to keep renting at 650, since we already live in this neighborhood. But even with the renovations, we're getting a good deal, I think. The house is on a lake and recently an 800 sq ft house sold for 260k. This house is 1200 sq ft and only slightly worse condition.