House Fixer Uppers - Know What You're Getting Into
Have you been looking at house fixer-uppers? It can sometimes be very tempting to fantasize about what you'd be able to do with a rundown property, whether you intend to flip it for a profit or just want to create a nice place to live in for yourself. But there are some important things you need to take into consideration before taking the plunge. I've listed just a few below.
Do you have the time to devote to renovation? Even if you intend to subcontract all the labor out, you'll still need to be available during the day for the inevitable questions and to iron out the snafus which always occur. If you do intend to do some or all of the work yourself, consider how you'll feel after a few weeks of working all day at your regular job and every night and weekends on the renovation.
Can you do any of the work yourself? Having to hire professionals do do everything can quickly cause the budget to skyrocket. The more stuff you can take care of yourself, the more you'll have left over for those little extras (or your bank account). Being able to do a large part of the remodeling yourself may be the difference between the renovation being cost effective or not. However, there are certain things you should only plan on doing if you have past experience, including but not limited to electrical work or wood floor refinishing. There are some others you can probably learn to do right on the job, such as tiling floors, assuming you research the subject thoroughly before starting.
Is the place worth fixing? There are fixer-uppers that require so much work that after you add the cost of the renovation to the purchase price, you come up with a total that's more than the resale value of the house. Certainly not good if you intend to flip, and even if you just want a place to live, why pay more for the privilege of a long period of hard work? While the process of renovating an old dump into a beautiful new place can be rewarding, losing money in the process tends to take the enjoyment out of it. There are certain markets where many of the fixer-uppers fall into the 'not worth it' category, usually due to the sky-high real estate values that have created stiff competition for properties that need renovating. Unfortunately, that competition means that the prices of many fixer-uppers get bid up to a point of impracticality. Do you want to live in a construction zone? This question, of course, assumes you will actually live there. Some people live elsewhere while renovating. If you've never actually remodeled a house while living in it, you may think it's no big deal. If that's the case, I suggest you do some more research. I'm one of those people who has lived in a house while working on it, and won't do it again if at all possible. But if you think a layer of sheetrock dust on everything in the house, or living without a kitchen, bathtub, or shower for a month isn't a big deal, then be my guest :-) There are a lot of things to take into consideration when purchasing house fixer uppers, but the main one is to make sure buying one will actually save you money when everything's said and done. Otherwise, why not just build a new house?
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