How to find a tear-down property to briefly rent, not buy

March 19, 2023 2:06 PM

I'm planning to shoot a feature that requires damaging a house extensively throughout the course of the film. We could shoot anywhere there are good tax incentives (NM, GA, even Canada, etc) but this location is important enough that finding the right property would dictate where we shot. More inside.

We need to find a property that we could rent for 3-4 months after the owners moved out, and then damage in ways that won't matter because it will be torn down anyway. (I know that A Ghost Story was shot this way -- by finding a house slated for tear-down.)

We'd still be able to pay a lot for the site rental, so it's not like it's a super low budget indie. It would just save us a ton of money to not have to build a house before tearing it apart.

So I was wondering how one goes about finding a property like that, as by nature it feels outside a location scout's wheelhouse -- and besides, we don't know where we're shooting. (We've already run the numbers and building a fake house on a soundstage is prohibitively expensive.) Any suggestions are welcome!

posted by egeanin to Media & Arts (15 answers total)

I would find appropriate properties for sale and contact the sellers and once they disappear from listing sites, contact the buyers. You might find a seller willing ti delay sale if their carrying costs are covered or a buyer who can rent whole they plan their new home.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 2:10 PM on March 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Seems like asking a few brokers in select cities to find you something might work. Give them a commission on the sale. You only pay one commission, but have multiple people looking for you in multiple locations. Knowledgeable brokers would not have to do much work to identify good places in their towns.
posted by Mid at 2:50 PM on March 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

You could contact fire departments for leads. There’s a thing where people looking to tear down and rebuild will offer the house to be torn down to the fire department, who sets it on fire and then puts it out as training. You might be able to find a candidate this way, and depending on how you plan to damage the house, they might find it helpful to have a less-than-perfect structure to train on (since a lot of fires are in abandoned or condemned buildings).
posted by kevinbelt at 3:11 PM on March 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

There's bound to be a house in Detroit that can suit your needs perfectly. There are many houses that are currently sitting empty.
posted by ashbury at 4:03 PM on March 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: In my area of Georgia (Macon/Macon-Bibb County), the mayor has made it one of his platforms to fight blight - specifically by removing a lot of old run down structures. So I'm assuming in addition to the list that he has of potentials, his office probably also has lists of houses that don't quite meet that standard, but still would be good if they were removed. This would potentially be the case for many cities that are focused on blight as their project. I offer that as a general suggestion, but also we're a filming-friendly city, so it specifically might be worth checking into.
posted by bizzyb at 4:11 PM on March 19, 2023

Best answer: I think there are several issues here. One, is timing. How soon are you ready to shoot? If you found the right candidate tomorrow, would you have to wait 6 months to shoot? Time is money (carrying costs) for anyone who is going to tear down a house and rebuild it. Two, is insurance. Insurance for the property owner. Liability insurance mainly.

This was many many years ago, but my parents bought a house that they pretty much took down to studs and foundation in some parts and rebuilt it. I know they would have taken some rental income, but more likely because of insurance, a contract to sell and buy back, the house. When I flipped my kitchen with the family room, we let the kids take crayons and markers, and go to town.

I would look to buy the tear down, mess it up and then sell it for a little less than you paid. In my area, the acreage goes for about $500,000 per. Buy a tear down property in a good neighborhood for say $650,000 and then after using it, resell it for $500,000 with the difference being the "rental cost".

The are other issues with tear downs. Tax ones. Some jurisdictions require you to keep up one wall to get certain tax advantages. I would find an experienced real estate professional in the area of where you are shooting some other scenes and work with them to find the appropriate property with the appropriate (rental or purchase) arrangement. There are builders that speculate and specialize in tear down and rebuilds. I am quite certain that depending upon what you are willing to pay, it will be a good offer for them and you.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 4:16 PM on March 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: A group of artists in Calgary, Alberta does something like this. Their first exhibition - Wreck City - involved turning a block of houses slated for demolition into an experiential art space. They might be able to help you with the process of identifying possible locations.
posted by lulu68 at 4:17 PM on March 19, 2023

I feel like this might sort of be part 2 of your last question about filming and location scouting? And the thing I see from that question is that you talked about state film commissions, but I think in practice you need to be contacting regional/municipal film commissions.

Like, in my neck of the woods, there is an Ohio Film Office, but they themselves suggest that you contact a regional film department like the Greater Cleveland Film Commission to get into the nitty gritty about actual options for filming.

So you might be sort of casting too wide a net? Rather than approach this as "anywhere that has a house from New Mexico to Canada", start by narrowing your search to a smaller region (echoing the "Detroit" suggestion, I think the Rust Belt/Great Lakes area would not be the worst place to start) and then reach out to the various appropriate regional film commissions to see if they think there's even a chance you could find a house you can destroy.
posted by soundguy99 at 4:50 PM on March 19, 2023

I would look to buy the tear down, mess it up and then sell it for a little less than you paid.

I was going to suggest this, and in another time I would. But be careful with this right now. With interest rates rising, property costs -- at least around here -- are falling. If you can't take a hit on the value of the land, don't do this. Also, if you're doing this in a place with many tear-down houses for sale (detroit) be prepared for the possibility that it could take time to sell and you'll have unknown carrying costs as a result.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 5:58 PM on March 19, 2023

Best answer: Search your municipality for newly filed demolition permits. When a builder buys a property, it can take a while for permits to go through, and they would probably be happy to rent the house out during that time if you can convince them they're not going to get sued when one of your crew breaks their leg.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 6:55 PM on March 19, 2023

I have no idea how to answer your specific question, but would urge you not to demolish the house until after reshoots and pick-up shots are complete! 🙂
posted by Dr. Wu at 7:09 PM on March 19, 2023

Newfoundland has an excellent film scene. So you'd be able to hire crew here. They also have fairly reasonable real estate prices. Is buying a house and wrecking it and then selling the lot feasible?
posted by stray at 7:55 PM on March 19, 2023

Have you considered house movers? These are scattered all over the place. They buy houses someone wants off their property, or where roads are being extended, usually for nothing, move them to used house lots they have, and sell them to people who have a lot and are willing to pour a foundation.
Generally the cost of moving is about $1000 a mile, though this may have gone up. Very often they'll throw in the house if you pay for the moving. It seems that you might either be able to pay one of them to let you trash a house, or ask if they know where there are houses they've been offered and didn't take, which will thus be torn down.
Another option is people doing renovations: I've known several people who took a house down to bare studs and replaced insulation, drywall, wiring, pluming, and basically everything. I'm sure if they had the time they'd be happy to take money for damage that becomes irrelevant when the house is gutted. In this case talking to renovation specialists would be the way to go.
posted by AugustusCrunch at 12:36 AM on March 20, 2023

Response by poster: RE: all the mentions of insurance -- yes we will have production insurance, can't get financed without it! Also not going to buy any property -- seems too risky and complicated. But there are some very good ideas here about who to contact about renting tear-downs -- thank you!
posted by egeanin at 9:48 AM on March 20, 2023

Oh, I see I read too quickly when I said you should hire a broker and pay a commission on a sale - but you could do the same thing with a commission on a lease. Just set a flat amount (5-10k?) or a percentage of one year's rent as the commission and set the real estate brokers loose.
posted by Mid at 11:01 AM on March 20, 2023