What we want is a house that structurally ok, but needs to be redone (by us). DH is an electrician, and we are both pretty handy.
Will this save us money? We don't even have to move in right away if it is unliveable, we can stay where we are until it is up to par.
Do these kind of houses even exist?
Cindy
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Re: How do we find a house that is
I am sure they exist. I think it is worth it if your husband is handy. I have a friend that used to do this all the time, buy houses, fix them up and sell them. Why not check out some real estate websites? You could see right there on some of the pictures what needs work. Good luck!
Teri
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Re: How do we find a house that is
they definitely exist! All we've been seeing is fixer uppers! Depending on the areas, I'd imagine most fixer uppers to be substantially cheaper than those that don't need too much work.
In the areas we like, the difference can be about $40K +. I'd just call RE agents and let them know you're interested in them
lorimari
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Re: How do we find a house that is
Hi Steph!
A fixer upper may not necessarily be cheaper especially with the prices of homes here.
Example - we looked at a house that was a handyman special - it listed for I think $290,000. We brought my father and with his contractor calculator (haa,haa) he estimated that it needed about $70,000 worth of work and that is us doing it ourselves!!!! It needed everything - kitchen, 2 bathrooms.....so much.
So if we did get it and fix it we would have spent $360,000.
The other thing to consider and this has happened to us in our home is that we go to start a project thinking it is going to cost 'x' amount of dollars. Well, something always comes up and the project ends up being a lot more money than expected and let me tell you, we have found quite a few surprises along the way.
On the other hand - if you find a really great deal on a fixer upper and it doesn't need to be gutted and it is liveable than I say go for it.
Was I any help
LIPrincess00
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Re: How do we find a house that is
I am (finally) working with a real estate agent who is showing us houses that can be lived in while we do work on it. I have to say the houses we are looking at are cheaper.
anna
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Re: How do we find a house that is
I agree with Lori, we saw fixer uppers that were also a pretty penny!
I think you can get a nice house for less in other ways, for instance if you dont mind living on a busier street, or near a school, etc.
Ask a RE for advice. We used a GREAT guy. Hes in the area too. I have to look for his info.
Claud2001
Posted:
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Re: How do we find a house that is
Posted by lorimari
Hi Steph!
A fixer upper may not necessarily be cheaper especially with the prices of homes here.
Example - we looked at a house that was a handyman special - it listed for I think $290,000. We brought my father and with his contractor calculator (haa,haa) he estimated that it needed about $70,000 worth of work and that is us doing it ourselves!!!! It needed everything - kitchen, 2 bathrooms.....so much.
So if we did get it and fix it we would have spent $360,000.
The other thing to consider and this has happened to us in our home is that we go to start a project thinking it is going to cost 'x' amount of dollars. Well, something always comes up and the project ends up being a lot more money than expected and let me tell you, we have found quite a few surprises along the way.
On the other hand - if you find a really great deal on a fixer upper and it doesn't need to be gutted and it is liveable than I say go for it.
Was I any help
I have to agree with Lori on this. Based upon what we saw (almost two years ago), the handyman specials aren't that much cheaper! It's one thing if you are a contractor and you're just investing in a property to fix it and then dump it - you'll be using all builder quality materials/appliances, etc. so it's cheaper...but, if you're idea is for this to be YOUR home, you're going to want nicer materials, better appliances, etc. and that's where things get costly.
Good luck! You never know...you could come across a diamond in the ruff!
