Buying a Fixer Up Home

The contractor can help find structural issues with the home that the home inspector may not find. They can also give you a rough idea of what the most problematic areas are of the fixer up home and how much it may cost to repair and fix up the home to your satisfaction.

As I’ve just mentioned, structural issues with the fixer up home should be your chief concern. A crumbling foundation or sagging floors could cost you many tens of thousands of dollars to repair. Also, most likely the fixer up home will need a completely remodeled kitchen and bathrooms. Understand up front that a remodeled kitchen will set you back a minimum of $15,000, and most likely much more. Bathroom remodels can also cost you up to several thousands of dollars or more, depending upon the size of the bathroom and the types of amenities you want to see in the remodeled bathrooms.

If on the other hand the fixer up home simply needs some TLC, such as a paint job and various diy repairs, then the fixer up home maybe a diamond in the rough. Rarely this is the case, however, so you need to be fully committed to the work and money ahead to refurbish the home to something you actually desire living in.

Time for Return on Investment on Fixer up Home

It’s also important to keep in mind that it may take some time to recoup your investment in fixing up a home. It really depends on two key factors: (1) the state of the local real estate market when you attempt to sell the home and (2) the amount of money you sunk into the home to restore it to a marketable property.

Suffice it to say the more money you put into the fixer up home, the more difficult it may be to make a positive rate of return on your investment in a reasonable timeframe. This is why it is so important that you don’t buy a money pit when looking into buying a fixer up home, and that you’re truly committed to being a DIY homeowner to make the many repairs and improvements to the home yourself. If you subcontract all of the remodeling and repair work out to various contractors, chances are it could take years to recoup your investment in the fixer up home, unless your local real estate market experiences a sudden boom. So before buying a fixer up home, make sure you know what your buying and have a plan, and estimated costs, in place before making the commitment.

There’s a reason why fixer up homes are often listed in real estate magazines as a “Handy Man’s Dream”. There’s no truer words written so be cautious.