Potential home repair costs

My husband and I have been looking for a home since March and we saw one yesterday that we're debating bidding on. It's a colonial in the area we wanted and we can just barely afford it...its at the high end of our budget. The only problem- it would need some work...like the front entry way tile needs to be redone and the bathrooms are kind of old. The big thing is- the outside of the house is PINK with blue trim. I know that bathrooms could probably wait until we have more money but we cannot look at this pink house everyday! How much does it cost to fix this- I assume we would have to have it painted, right? We're torn beacuse it would cost us everything we have to get in this house and we would have very little to actually do repairs. Any advice or words of wisdom?

If you do the work yourself, then it shouldnt cost too much. Painting something a different color is the cheapest way to change the look of something BY FAR since paint isnt that expensive.

However, if there is more to it than painting or you plan on hiring contractors to do the work be prepared to shell out A LOT!!

Home Improvement projects are ridiculously expensive! The only way to get off cheap is to do the work yourself - but if you/your husband arent really good at this sort of stuff then doing it yourself may cause you even more expense. Unless you already own your own home you are probably not prepared for how much all this stuff costs. Its really outrageous (and you thought the wedding was overpriced!)

I know my answer is a bit vague but thats all I can say without knowing more info. Hope that helps.

sam,
Other than the paint being pink, how is it otherwise? Is it chipping? The prep work is what's going to cost you, not so much the painting.

The pink paint seemed to be in good condition. Hubby and I are new to this and we don't know about a lot of these home owning things. He works a lot and I can't see myself getting on a ladder and painting the house!!!! The inside I can do but the outside is beyond my level of handiness...
Anyone else?

My mom just got her house painted which is a tall, big 3 stroy home and it cost about $8,000. Be careful when buying a home that needs some work. MY Fh is in construction and he always says when buying a house that needs some tlc make sure the bathrooms are good and the kitchen. the rest is easy.

Good luck

Yikes- I was thinking hundreds not thousands. The bathrooms definately need to be updated but the kitchen is about a year old. I didn't realize painting could be that expensive! Maybe this isn't the house for us....
Thanks for your input!

I can't speak for redoing the outside of a house but as a new homeowner I can tell you that things add up. Closing costs can be a lot of money (make sure you get a good estimate-usually about 5% of the purchase price if I remember correctly) and the lawyer's fee. Factor that in to your overall costs. Our place is in excellent shape and the work we want to do is aesthetic but things add up faster than I ever imagined.

I don't mean to discourage you at all. Actually I want to encourage you! It is so hard to find a home that fits within a budget and is something you like! If your offer is accepted you will have an inspector go through it and he will tell you what needs repairing and the rest is what you would like to change. My best advice would be to get realistic estimates of closing costs and what you mortgage plus taxes would be month to month. Also, look at the potential the home has, not what it is now. How much for how long can you live with some things?

GOOD LUCK!!!

Thank you to everyone who responded....
We have been working extensively with a mortgage person and we know how much cash we'll need from the start. We also have been pre-approved and we're not under a lease so we're ready to move...it just seems like all of the good houses go so quickly. We've had 2 already- one needed so much hidden work that we backed out of the deal and one we were outbid and swindled by the listing agent. He never even told the homeowners that we wanted to bid because he didn't want to share his commission.
We didn't love this house- but it had a lot of the major stuff that we wanted. We figured with some work, we could make it our home.
My brother-in-law is in construction (unfortunately 8 hours away) and I just got off the phone with him. He answered questions I had about the inside of the house- like one of the bedrooms had a floor that sloped. He said it sounded like a structural defect that could be fixed- but it would be extensive work. With the questions I had about the interior, he said the outside would be the least of our problems, and if this house was at the top of our price range then we would be in trouble when we finally got in. I guess I knew this one wasn't for us....but I just needed someone to tell us that!
Thanks for all of your help and I'm sure you'll hear more when we decide to bid on another.

Hi Sam.
The true cost of a house is the purchase price plus the cost of making improvements. Make sure that you hire a licensed Professional Engineer to inspect the house before you buy it.
Hidden defects can be very costly to repair...Good luck.
Danny Isla, P.E.

Isla Engineering