buying a run down property HELP!!!

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Buying a run down property HELP!!!

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amother

Thu, Jul 02 2009, 8:33 pm

We are thinking of buying a fixer upper. ie: a house that is cheap but needs lots of work. Has anyone done it and what were your experiences...

What did you need to fix was it bad, how was having the work done and how long did it take and how bad a condition was the house before you fixed it up?

PLease if you have gone through it help!!!!!!!

greenfire

Thu, Jul 02 2009, 8:37 pm

all you need is a tool box ... anything can be done ... Wink

DefyGravity

Thu, Jul 02 2009, 8:43 pm

We bought a fixer-upper and we've slowly done a lot of work on the house. It really depends what you need to do. So far we've gutted the kitchen, redone the floors, and are currently putting in a master bath and putting an addition onto the house.

Anything is doable if you have the money and don't mind dealing with contracts and building permits.

amother

Thu, Jul 02 2009, 8:46 pm

Log on to HGTV.ca and watch episodes of "Sarah's House". SHe is a great interior designer who has done this with 2 houses and a summer home.

acccdac

Thu, Jul 02 2009, 8:48 pm

you'll also have to deal with a lot of dust.

as long as foundation wise the house is good then go ahead and do it. Anytime there is an issue of the foundation or a wall not being stable will cost much more than you think. Also once you tear down a wall cause its structurally bad, other things will have to come down too.

greenfire

Thu, Jul 02 2009, 8:51 pm

the expensive things to try to avoid would be a bad roof, bad furnace, or water damage ...

Tova

Thu, Jul 02 2009, 9:02 pm

And mold. Definately test for mold. Removing it can be VERY expensive. When we were buying our house, our sellers had a contract on another house where a $30,000 mold problem was found.

Rubber Ducky

Thu, Jul 02 2009, 9:17 pm

Be sure to get a good inspection of the house so you'll have some idea of what you're getting into. Foundation work is extremely expensive. Mold is very bad. Nearly everything else can be dealt with.

I'm a freelance kitchen designer and space planner (and a graphic artist/instructor too), and DH and I are both pretty good do-it-yourselfers. We bought a fixer because DH knew that I'd end up reconfiguring whatever we purchased so at least we should start with a house that badly needed a transformation!

We bought our home 10 years ago, and so far have replaced the roof and furnace, turned a dilapidated screen porch into a study for DH, carved out a bedroom for DS#1, and are now slowly building a new kitchen/breakfast room where 2 bedrooms used to be. We have hired out some of the work (plumbing, electric, moving walls), but are doing much of it ourselves, including design (of course!), finishing floors, painting, and building all of the cabinetry.

B'hatzlacha!

JollyMommy

Mon, Jul 20 2009, 9:51 pm

one really important thing: HIRE A CONTRACTOR.

Ppl who haven't bought a fixer upper will tell you to contract yourself because it will be cheaper. they are TOTALLY WRONG. We interviewed 4 contractors and chose the cheapest one- who had many, many good references.

In less than 2 months, here's what we did:
1. totally remodeled the kitchen including breaking walls, new cabinets, new floor, new granite
2. repiped the house
3. added a bedroom and bathroom
4. painted everything
5. new windows in whole house
6. installed new air conditioner and heater (they didn't have one before!)
7. put up new light fixtures in most rooms

the cost was about $60,000 which is an incredible METZIA! It would have been a lot more if we contracted ourselves.

also- appliances are not included in that price. We spent about $10,000 on new ones. Shop around- Lowe's does a price match.
we've been in the house 2 years and are very happy.

amother

Mon, Jul 20 2009, 10:22 pm

We bought a foreclosure house that had been uncared for and disgusting.
The kitchen, bathroom were gross.. aside from that the inspection confirmed that it was mostly cosmetic work that had to be done.
We ended up redoing the kitchen, bathroom, flooring, moldings, install lighting, painting, change all doors in the house, and some structural changes (add a bathroom and bdrm, convert garage door to regular door).
It was a HUGE endevour. I dont know what we were thinking. Actually, I do. The price was right.
BH my husband is very handy and did all the work himself, including tiling and a lot of the plumbing and electric.
Took 5 months till we moved in, still tons of work to do, but so far it looks beautiful.

We DID NOT hire a contractor, and I am sure we saved money. The electrician we hired was a neighbor that gave us a great hourly rate ($35/hr),the plumber also gave us a great price. They both became friendly with my husb and ended up showing him how to do a lot of it himself.
Aside from that, my husband did everything else himself. I was able to shop around for the materials myself (doors, bathroom vanities, etc) which I am not sure a contractor would allow.
Let me know if you want more info.

ROFL

Mon, Jul 20 2009, 10:29 pm

If you have kids Please watch out for lead posioning. Any dust with lead paint is dangerous

amother

Mon, Jul 20 2009, 10:38 pm

Thats only for homes built before 1979

Pizza

Tue, Jul 21 2009, 1:42 am

decide if you are planning to do it yourself or not
either way, call in a few contractors to get a sense of how much the improvements will run you (figure 60-70% of the bid if you are doing it yourself)
add that amount onto what your purchase price is.
add on the additional rent for the month(s) you will be living elsewhere while renovations are being done
add on an extra budget for pizza on nites you are too stressed, and shrink fees for you, dh, and marriage counselling
that is your true price, more or less

good luck Tongue Out

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