It is no secret that my husband and I love to fix up houses, whether to live in for a while or to turn around and sell. It is something we both really enjoy, and we both have talents that help us work together to get the job done with little work being hired out (To see the full makeover of the above home, click HERE). With HGTV’s show Fixer Upper as one of the most watched shows on the air, as well as countless other home renovation shows out there, it is no secret that there can be great reward in buying a fixer upper. Many times, they are priced well below market value, and many of them have built in equity right off the bat. The rewards CAN be great, but if you don’t know what you are doing or what you are getting into, it can also be a massive disaster.
Since I have had the opportunity to “flip” several houses in the past 10 years or so, I thought I would give some of the insight that my husband and I have on this subject so that if you are interested in purchasing a fixer upper, whether for yourself to live in OR to make a profit, you will have these tips at your fingertips so that you don’t go in blindly. Isn’t it always good to know someone who has been there/done that and made a few mistakes along the way and can teach you so that you don’t have to do the same??
1) Good Bones are KEY.
The truth is, looks can be deceiving- even bad looks! You already know that when you buy a fixer upper, you will be doing a lot of work, but always always always make sure that you know that the actual bones (structure) of the house is in good shape. Cosmetic changes are no issue, but the structure of a home is definitely an issue. If the structure of a home is not sound, then you will be in way over your head and budget before you know it. If you know that this is a property that you are willing to invest in for your future because you will make it your FOREVER home and you are willing to have all of the proper work done to restore the structure and make it sound…then this is different. Understand that it will be a lot of work and money. The truth is, for 95% of us that buy fixer uppers, this is not something we want to mess with. Good bones are key- and you need to be very sure that the property has them before proceeding to buy.
2) Location Location Location!
It is so funny because we always hear that location is key. Well, this is so true. It doesn’t matter if you are going to resell or live forever, if you don’t have a good location, you will never get the full potential out of the property. For resell purposes, you need to understand and do some research on the best locations for selling and choose wisely. There have been homes that we have flipped to sell that have sold immediately, simply because of the location {and a beautiful home too}. Those homes are ones that we could have sold over and over again. There have been other homes that were just as pretty, but their location wasn’t quite as good, so they sat for sale a little longer. They did sell, but not quite as quickly. If you are buying to live in yourself, then you know the location you desire to live in, and that is the location you need to be looking for. Don ‘t settle just to settle, or you will never be happy. We made that mistake early in our marriage. We bought a property with lots of land, and it was gorgeous. It wasn’t a fixer upper, although I changed some things. It was already a great home to begin with, BUT it was not in the location we wanted at all. We simply loved the home and thought we could be happy where it was. We were wrong. It was so far from everything we liked to do, and it was very inconvenient. We did sell it, but it took the right person who truly wanted to be in that area. Think about those things before purchasing a fixer upper. You never know if you may decide to sell later, even if you think you won’t now 😉
3) Know Your Budget BEFORE You Buy!
This one almost seems silly, but it can get you. Before you ever decide to buy a fixer upper, you totally need to have a very set budget. Go ahead and factor in some extra, because I can promise you that something will come up that you did not expect or factor into the overall budget. When you know your budget upfront, you will be able to negotiate better during the buying process, and you will also have a much better eye when looking at the property. What I mean by having a much better eye is that when you are scoping the home to see what needs to be done, you can have your budget in mind and immediately know what you can and cannot afford to fix. If the home needs only cosmetic changes, you can look to see what your budget would be to change those things and run that in your head right there. Are you going to be able to do what truly needs to be done to make you feel good about the home, or is it just too much to do with the budget you have? Don’t fall victim to loving a home that is over your budget. You definitely don’t want to be in a home that you can’t afford to make the way you want it. You will never be satisfied, and if you are trying to sell for maximum value and you haven’t made the proper changes, nobody else is going to be satisfied either. So, keep that budget in mind and STICK to it!
4) HGTV is NOT Real Life.
Ok, so HGTV is real life, to a degree! Sure, we all love Chip and JoJo. I haven’t met many people who don’t love them or their show, but the truth is- that is a show. They are SUPER talented at what they do, and she has an eye for design unlike many others. He is incredibly handy and can do any work that needs to be done. They are a great team…but in case you didn’t realize, there are countless people behind the scenes that the show rarely shows- they are called the contractors! It is definitely not just Chip and JoAnna doing these homes by themselves. Far from it. All of the home renovation shows on HGTV make it look like it is so easy and that the process is fast. I mean, they put it all into a 30 minute segment and we see the start and finish and think WOW…I can do that. Well, you most definitely can do that! NO question about it. But, what you need to realize and understand is that these shows have factored in money for all of these extra workers to help get these jobs done in a quick manner, and they also typically show the home staged in the end- which is not included in the budget. These buyers do not keep all of those gorgeous furnishings. In fact, I think you would be amazed at how much those furnishings actually cost to keep, but a home that has nothing in it is not nearly as appealing as a home that is dressed to the nines. So, all in all- the process is much longer in real life. It is often a long process with lots and lots of frustration and sweat equity. We do most of the work ourselves, with no contractors- and when you do it like that, you have late nights after work, long weekends and many sacrifices. It has always been worth it in the end for us, and we love doing it, but you need to be prepared ahead of time for the work involved if you choose to do it yourself. Also, all of the “extras” like home decor adds up too. I am a very frugal decorator, but even at that- when you are furnishing a whole house, it adds up and needs to be factored in to the budget as well. Many times, it is left out and the homeowner is left feeling unhappy in a bare home. I truly believe home decor is what makes a house FEEL like a home, so be sure to factor that in.
5) Know Your Limits.
Know your limits. Know what YOU can do yourself and what you will want to hire out. Maybe you are like my dad and my husband and can do literally every single aspect yourself. That is great. Do you have the TIME to do all of that? If there a part that you know you can do but would be faster and easier to hire someone else to do it? Be sure to sit down and figure that out at the beginning so that you can manage your budget to include what you will do yourself and what you want to pay to have done. Time is money too, so be wise. Example: I hate to paint walls. Sure, I love to paint furniture and fun stuff- but painting walls is my absolute least favorite thing to do. CAN I do it? Sure. Do I want to do it? Absolutely not. There have been times that it was in the budget for me to hire that out (like at our foreclosure home), so I most certainly did! They were 1000X faster that I could have ever thought to be, and that was one less thing I had to worry about. There have also been countless times that hiring a painter was not in the budget, such as our mobile home. In this place, we are on a super tight budget because this is not a place that we will live forever or that we will ever make a profit on. It is a temporary house that I want to be our home until ours gets built. Any money that goes in will not be gotten out of it, more than likely; therefore paying someone to paint was silly….so me and my hubby did it. We didn’t like it, but we did it 🙂 So, know what you can do and what you are willing to pay to have done. Factor all of that in and go for it. And I may should add this…just because you CAN do it doesn’t mean you SHOULD do it. If you know that you are not good at electrical work, but you could probably do it and make it work- HIRE someone. You don’t want to live in a home with shoddy work and neither does anyone else.
6) Don’t Be Scared!
So many people want to take this leap, but they are just too scared. They are always scared of what may happen. What if it doesn’t sell? What is something major is wrong, and I don’t have the money to fix it? Do your research in advance. Do a home inspection before buying. Do what you need to feel a little better and GO for it. Sure, things can always come up. It is silly to think they may not…but without risk, there is no reward.
7) Look Past the Ugly!
I say this one ALLLLLL the time. If you are around me much, I am sure you have heard me say it a time or two. You have got to look past the ugly. Do not look at what is there, but look at what could be there. Paint is nothing. Wallpaper is nothing. Sure, it needs to be changed…but it is such an easy fix that will change the look of a home dramatically. Even cabinets, if they are in good shape overall, are nothing. Paint those bad boys! Change out some hardware! Knock down a wall {if it is a wall that you can- ask a pro if you do not know!} and make it more open. Lay new flooring, change out some light fixtures, put in new windows if they need it…all of these things are simply cosmetic. That doesn’t mean they won’t add up if you aren’t careful, so have them in the budget ahead of time. But all in all, those are super easy things to change and the impact in the end will be huge. Many times, a fixer upper home simply needs lots of cosmetic changes- and that is all. It still takes a long time with lots of hard work, but when you take it one step at a time, you will be there before you know it. Heck, you can even paint the brick on the outside and change out some shutters for a relatively small amount of money with a huge impact. There is so many things you can do to make a house look and feel like a new home.
Here is the AFTER of the above home 🙂 (See full post of before and afters Here.)
There are probably 100 more tips I could share, but most of them all fall within these lines, so I will stop here. The truth is, you just need to know what you are getting into before you take the jump. That is the long and short of it. I hope these tips help you if you have been thinking of taking that leap to buy a fixer upper. Trust me, it is a very rewarding experience that NEVER gets old. Those before and afters are always so much fun to see come to life. I get a sense of pride every time I see that we have turned something that was unloved and neglected into a beautiful home. If you have any basic questions about this process, feel free to contact me!
Pin for Later!
Last Updated on September 21, 2016
Leave a Reply