Buying a house - would you purchase a fixer-upper?

[ashfern]

We just did this. We bought a 1970's ranch on a basement that had never been updated. It had been on the market for about 7 months before we put our offer in. We started the work Aug 2019 and had enough work done to move in at the end of Aug. We still had workers here doing interior work and didn't have a functional kitchen until the end of Sept. We had the windows replaced and just (a couple of weeks ago) had the siding & trim painted. Last thing needed is to paint & hang the new shutters but those just came in today. We scraped the popcorn ceilings, took off wallpaper, removed carpet, replaced all the hardware, restained the doors, painted, installed wood floors, gutted 3 bathrooms, gutted the kitchen, had to get a new electric line put in, removed a fireplace, all new lighting, divided up a huge room in the basement to add a bedroom, replaced the single-pane windows, replaced the rotting garage doors, and a bunch of other things. We're about to refi now. Just a couple of photos of before & after. 

[Spryte]

Ah, I’m sorry.  It’s disappointing.  But you’re making the best choice and you will find the right home!

 

FWIW, Dh, kids and I fell in love with a house that was on a lake a few months before we found ours.  Only a fortunate coincidence led to our being there on the 4th of July that year (agent gave us a pass to the community to check it out), and we realized that we could never, never live with the locals.  The level of drunkenness and cursing at the beach right beside the house! Oh my.  Nope.  Anyway, I grieved because ... that house fit us so perfectly.  But location.  Eewww.  We found our current house and I’m soooo grateful we waited.  
 

You will find the right house, too!

[Spryte]

5 minutes ago, ashfern said:

We just did this. We bought a 1970's ranch on a basement that had never been updated. It had been on the market for about 7 months before we put our offer in. We started the work Aug 2019 and had enough work done to move in at the end of Aug. We still had workers here doing interior work and didn't have a functional kitchen until the end of Sept. We had the windows replaced and just (a couple of weeks ago) had the siding & trim painted. Last thing needed is to paint & hang the new shutters but those just came in today. We scraped the popcorn ceilings, took off wallpaper, removed carpet, replaced all the hardware, restained the doors, painted, installed wood floors, gutted 3 bathrooms, gutted the kitchen, had to get a new electric line put in, removed a fireplace, all new lighting, divided up a huge room in the basement to add a bedroom, replaced the single-pane windows, replaced the rotting garage doors, and a bunch of other things. We're about to refi now. Just a couple of photos of before & after. 

 

Is that a *red* shower?!?  Oh my!!!!  
 

Nice work!

[ashfern]

1 minute ago, Spryte said:

 

Is that a *red* shower?!?  Oh my!!!!  
 

Nice work!

Why yes it is. That was the basement. We also had avocado and peach. Both of which had lovely dark pink carpet, in the bathroom. 🤢

[Spryte]

3 minutes ago, ashfern said:

Why yes it is. That was the basement. We also had avocado and peach. Both of which had lovely dark pink carpet, in the bathroom. 🤢

Wow.  Just wow.

You get the prize!!!  
 

 

[prairiewindmomma]

Really thank your friend for being honest with you. A functional house is a blessing, but a money pit house is a heavy ball and chain on your neck.

We have fixed up four houses. I don’t have any problems with painting, re-roofing, re-flooring, re-landscaping, upgrading light fixtures or redoing electrical boxes. HVAC and plumbing (re-plumbing a House is about 20k here) can add up really quickly.

Whatever you buy, set aside 3-5% of value yearly for maintenance. The maintenance needs to be kept up and IME, having the cash on hand is key to being able to avoid refinancing your house or running up lines of credit to pay for major repairs.

[Spryte]

1 minute ago, CuriousMomof3 said:

We have a shower in the basement in the house where we live now that is shingled.  I can only assume that there were left over roofing shingles, and they decided not to waste them.  I mean, it makes sense that they would be waterproof and stand up well to all the water, but it's a little weird.  They aren't placed like tiles. They overlap just like shingles on a roof.  

Ooooh, we might have a tie!!!!  

[Scarlett]

25 minutes ago, Arctic Mama said:

The red is one I’ve never seen!  We still have our yellow bath tub and tile because I think it is charming, but I carefully updated the floor and paint to a modern iteration that worked with it instead of clashing.

Our first house was built in 1950.  It had pink tub, sink, toilet and tile half way up the wall and all the way up the wall in the shower.  It was a beautiful color of pink and I never wanted to change it either.  We changed the flooring at some point....

[Corraleno]

1 hour ago, ashfern said:

We just did this. We bought a 1970's ranch on a basement that had never been updated. It had been on the market for about 7 months before we put our offer in. We started the work Aug 2019 and had enough work done to move in at the end of Aug. We still had workers here doing interior work and didn't have a functional kitchen until the end of Sept. We had the windows replaced and just (a couple of weeks ago) had the siding & trim painted. Last thing needed is to paint & hang the new shutters but those just came in today. We scraped the popcorn ceilings, took off wallpaper, removed carpet, replaced all the hardware, restained the doors, painted, installed wood floors, gutted 3 bathrooms, gutted the kitchen, had to get a new electric line put in, removed a fireplace, all new lighting, divided up a huge room in the basement to add a bedroom, replaced the single-pane windows, replaced the rotting garage doors, and a bunch of other things. We're about to refi now. Just a couple of photos of before & after. 

You did an amazing job!

That red shower is really... something. 😳  And is that an industrial toilet paper dispenser on the wall??

[ashfern]

20 minutes ago, Corraleno said:

You did an amazing job!

That red shower is really... something. 😳  And is that an industrial toilet paper dispenser on the wall??

Thanks and yes for some unknown reason it had that dispenser. 😂

[katilac]

2 hours ago, ashfern said:

Why yes it is. That was the basement. We also had avocado and peach. Both of which had lovely dark pink carpet, in the bathroom. 🤢

A red shower. In the basement. So many Psycho and horror movie jokes floating in my head right now. 

[KungFuPanda]

2 hours ago, Scarlett said:

Our first house was built in 1950.  It had pink tub, sink, toilet and tile half way up the wall and all the way up the wall in the shower.  It was a beautiful color of pink and I never wanted to change it either.  We changed the flooring at some point....

Our house was built in 72. We had the harvest gold version of what you describe; sinks, toilets, tub, shower, and tile. We made both bathrooms upstairs white and quickly learned that new toilets clog! We kept the gold downstairs for guests and decorated around it. I now call it Tuscan Sunset. 🤣

[mom2scouts]

1 hour ago, ashfern said:

Thanks and yes for some unknown reason it had that dispenser. 😂

Mom got tired of changing the toilet paper.

[GoodGrief]

20 hours ago, Just Kate said:

Lol! I’m not really handy either but I want to be (does that count?). I like the idea of being handy...but, I have a lot to learn. 

 Honestly, if you are not handy and don't have a significant amount of cash to hire someone else to fix it, I would not do it. Your story sounds like us when we bought this house of similar size 19 years ago. Undoubtedly you will run into additional issues that need work. We thought we could learn how to do things, and it inevitably turned out that we would make expensive mistakes. I have spent almost 20 years regretting this house and feeling stuck in it.

[DoraBora]

I haven't read the responses yet, but I have bought three fixer-uppers in my lifetime, so I have strong feelings about them.

If I bought another, I would plan to take care of the simple-ish cosmetic things immediately.  Even before moving in, if possible.  It doesn't have to fit my ultimate plan -- I will just make it look nice and move in.  Then I'll do the big projects.  

I will never again live in a house full of "someday this will be nice" projects unless we quickly paint, replace a few doors, and put in some inexpensive window coverings, etc., so I can have a pleasant house while we work.

[ktgrok]

22 hours ago, marbel said:

Based on my own experiences with houses that need work, I would say no.  My husband is very  handy, but honestly there is just never enough time and money in the same moment to actually get stuff done. And also things are often harder than they look.  

 

 

Yup. NEVER again. 

My guest bathroom/kid bathroom shower was out of comission for YEARS. Now it has a tub, but not a functioning shower. And no flooring. 

NEVER AGAIN. 

[kbutton]

4 hours ago, Arctic Mama said:

Those Mamie bathrooms were so gorgeous.  My husband’s grandmother had one in her home in Saginaw and it was still perfect even seventy years after she built it.  That was a home, in general, that only needed the lightest of cosmetic updates because it was impeccable maintained and much of the finishing was classic.

https://savethepinkbathrooms.com/why-mamie-eisenhower-loved-pink-more-insight-from-the-eisenhower-national-historic-site/

https://www.countryliving.com/home-design/a37791/1950s-pink-bathroom/

I didn't realize there were so many pink bathrooms or why that was. Interesting to know the backstory.

My grandmother had a Mary Kay pale pink bathroom with black accents, but hers was no longer in pristine shape by the time I was little. 

 

[Scarlett]

5 hours ago, Arctic Mama said:

Those Mamie bathrooms were so gorgeous.  My husband’s grandmother had one in her home in Saginaw and it was still perfect even seventy years after she built it.  That was a home, in general, that only needed the lightest of cosmetic updates because it was impeccable maintained and much of the finishing was classic.

https://savethepinkbathrooms.com/why-mamie-eisenhower-loved-pink-more-insight-from-the-eisenhower-national-historic-site/

https://www.countryliving.com/home-design/a37791/1950s-pink-bathroom/

I had no idea about the back story but I did know there are a lot of pink bathrooms in the 50s and 60s.  And yes the above pics are just like that bathroom I had.  

[J-rap]

OP, it sounds like you've made a decision and it's probably a good one for your area...but just a random thought here:  One thing you might consider is that the owner might be willing to go down quite a bit just to get it sold during a pandemic?  I guess it depends on your area and how homes are selling now.   My dad sold his home right after the pandemic began and that's how they handled it. The buyer had an inspector put together a cost estimate for some of the more necessary projects, and they all came to a price agreement that seemed to satisfy everyone.  My dad was just relieved to get it sold!

Our first and only home was a fixer-upper.  It was 100 years old, but was still solid and of a simple enough construction that it was pretty easy to see what kind of major problems it had.  We knew what we were getting into.  We bought it for an amazingly low price, and put more than the cost of the home into fixing it up (which was still an amazing price overall) and we loved it for 25 years.  Neither my dh or I are the type to be bothered by living in ongoing projects, although we had them mostly all done in about two years.  We had the main structural remodels done before we even moved in.  We completely gutted and redid the main bathroom, and turned an old kitchen pantry into another bathroom.  Also, we tore down everything in the basement and turned it into an open storage/work bench area/craft area.  (It was an old, unfinished basement.)  We did need to redo all electrical and many of the pipes, and remove an old well from the yard.  We had 7 layers of wallpaper to remove in almost every room, and nearly every ceiling needed to be redone.  Over time we redid the hardwood floors downstairs and add carpet to the upstairs.  The house needed to be repainted and the roof replaced.

Gosh, that seems like so much work now, but it didn't seem like such a big deal then!  We were able to hire out though for most projects, and my dh did the interior decorating.

[kiwik]

My knowledge of the US property market is based on HGTV.  If it is a doer upper like the ones on those programmes - yes and in most cases I wouldn't do more than paint and aim to do the bathroom and kitchen sometime in the next 10 years.  If it really is a doer upper only if I could afford to replumn, rewire, and sort out any roofing and foundation issues before I moved in.  I would rather buy one in the unfixed state than after one of those amateur flippers tarted it up including doing a bunch of things they really weren't competent to do 

[Carrie12345]

Yes, but we’ve been getting pretty handy over the years!  I’ve been coveting a really ugly house, and thinking about what I would do to it.  But I’d mostly live with the ugly for quite some time.

Assuming all cosmetic and not structural, there’s a fair amount of control over budget levels.  We did our main bath (it’s small) this past weekend - paint, flooring, toilet, vanity, medicine cabinet, baseboard heater, trim, switches and outlets, and backsplash. The only thing untouched was our shower/tub unit.  If I estimate the cost of materials we already had, it was definitely under $700, possibly under $600. But we went with very basic stuff; no $300 toilet or $500 vanity for this family. It doesn’t look like a $3,000 renovation, but it does look nice.

I’m also big on cheap changes while planning for bigger ones. Paint and new cabinet knobs go a long way.

On the other hand, we put off exterior cosmetics which turned into structural problems. That’s costing us around $11,000 by using connections without any mark up, just straight materials and labor without a subcontractor premium. (Okay, that includes 2 windows and a slider that I wanted done anyway.)

 

[ktgrok]

1 hour ago, Arctic Mama said:

Yeah, half our fixing was undoing other work over the years that wasn’t to code, most of which was not visible or accessible during inspection because it was behind walls.  We call those bland, obnoxious remodels “remuddles”.

Same. Seems during every project there is a point where my husband starts muttering, wide eyed, 'it's a miracle this place hasn't burnt down yet". 

[ashfern]

4 hours ago, Ktgrok said:

Same. Seems during every project there is a point where my husband starts muttering, wide eyed, 'it's a miracle this place hasn't burnt down yet". 

That's exactly what the electrician said on this house. 😜 We weren't planning on getting a new main electric line put in but then we had a "minor" issue (the guys taking the floor up hit the line. Thankfully only put a cut into the insulated part of the line so no injuries. Why was the electric line under the floor you may ask. No clue!). 

[Scarlett]

@Just Kate I know you said you have passed on this house, but I wanted to share a few thoughts.  

Someone mentioned that houses are not selling during this pandemic.  Interestingly they are here in rural OK. Well, actually in Tulsa as well. A realtor told me this week that she listed a house in Tulsa in an 'ok' area, not highly sought after school district.  With in 24 hours she had 6 offers , all above asking price.  

We just sold a fixer.  I mean, a TRUE fixer.  I am going to be 55 this year, and I am definitely not interested in ever doing that again.  But at the time, for us, it was the right decision.    We bought it for cash at a time when dh's credit was destroyed and I had no income.  We replaced the roof, windows, doors and siding.  And painted the exterior.  And of course painted all the interior.  Added new tankless hot water tank.  Added light fixtures for every single room (the house had been stripped).  Gutted 2 bathrooms and majorly remodeled all the bedrooms.  Did major work on the in ground gunite pool.  Man I can't even think of all the things we did.  We lived there for 7 years and we turned a nice profit.

A house that is a fixer or even one that just needs a lot of cosmetic work....generally they are prime candidates for accepting low offers.  I know ours in a lake community, a mile from the water, we got for $40K.  

Location, size, floor plan flow are all really important to me.  

And whether I would recommend someone do what we did depends on the size of their family,  their age, their helath, the real 'need' to do it due to life circumstances etc....

[sassenach]

On 6/24/2020 at 1:51 PM, ashfern said:

Why yes it is. That was the basement. We also had avocado and peach. Both of which had lovely dark pink carpet, in the bathroom. 🤢

My grandfather's bathroom had a sink and shower that were that exact color of red. It wasn't until he died and my aunt and uncle were remodeling that we discovered, under the carpet, the most fabulous 1960's retro flooring featuring the red. All of us were like, OOOOHHHHH! Now we get it!

[sassenach]

58 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

@Just Kate I know you said you have passed on this house, but I wanted to share a few thoughts.  

Someone mentioned that houses are not selling during this pandemic.  Interestingly they are here in rural OK. Well, actually in Tulsa as well. A realtor told me this week that she listed a house in Tulsa in an 'ok' area, not highly sought after school district.  With in 24 hours she had 6 offers , all above asking price.  

We just sold a fixer.  I mean, a TRUE fixer.  I am going to be 55 this year, and I am definitely not interested in ever doing that again.  But at the time, for us, it was the right decision.    We bought it for cash at a time when dh's credit was destroyed and I had no income.  We replaced the roof, windows, doors and siding.  And painted the exterior.  And of course painted all the interior.  Added new tankless hot water tank.  Added light fixtures for every single room (the house had been stripped).  Gutted 2 bathrooms and majorly remodeled all the bedrooms.  Did major work on the in ground gunite pool.  Man I can't even think of all the things we did.  We lived there for 7 years and we turned a nice profit.

A house that is a fixer or even one that just needs a lot of cosmetic work....generally they are prime candidates for accepting low offers.  I know ours in a lake community, a mile from the water, we got for $40K.  

Location, size, floor plan flow are all really important to me.  

And whether I would recommend someone do what we did depends on the size of their family,  their age, their helath, the real 'need' to do it due to life circumstances etc....

Is it weird that I was relieved when you finally sold that house? 😂 After years of hearing about all the work you put in, it just felt like it was time for you to have a break!

[KungFuPanda]

4 hours ago, Margaret in CO said:

When I moved it this house it had a red sink in the bathroom, along with the ceiling being painted bright red! It went well with the blue and orange carpet with 18" flowers just across the rotting hallway! And the orange kitchen. BRIGHT orange kitchen. Oh, and the purple jamb in the living room... My mil told me that when I grew up, I'd like orange. 

That woman is a real gem. 

[Scarlett]

3 hours ago, sassenach said:

Is it weird that I was relieved when you finally sold that house? 😂 After years of hearing about all the work you put in, it just felt like it was time for you to have a break!

Girl! I was ready to be rid of it! Lol

[rocassie]

I would not unless I could hire it all out and have it done prior to moving.  I nor DH like to do house projects, and peice mealing projects have always resulted in me making a lot of compromises which then effect other projects done the road.

[mum]

We are in the midst of a fixer upper. I WILL NEVER EVER EVER do it again. We told the realtor who sold us this one that we would take a 'light' fixer-in other words new paint and new carpet. Instead we ended up with a gut job, while we are living in it. It has been ugly, brutal, awful, I hate it. We have told each other that we will tell our next realtor that we will not even look at a fixer. Not step over the threshold. And if they take us to a fixer, they will be instantly fired. We are absolutely serious. If this doesn't kill one of us, or end our marriage, it will be a miracle.

We bought it because it was what we could afford in an insane place to live. Next time, if we can't afford what we want, then we know that area is not for us. 

[Scarlett]

1 hour ago, mum said:

We are in the midst of a fixer upper. I WILL NEVER EVER EVER do it again. We told the realtor who sold us this one that we would take a 'light' fixer-in other words new paint and new carpet. Instead we ended up with a gut job, while we are living in it. It has been ugly, brutal, awful, I hate it. We have told each other that we will tell our next realtor that we will not even look at a fixer. Not step over the threshold. And if they take us to a fixer, they will be instantly fired. We are absolutely serious. If this doesn't kill one of us, or end our marriage, it will be a miracle.

We bought it because it was what we could afford in an insane place to live. Next time, if we can't afford what we want, then we know that area is not for us. 

Awww.  Take heart.  You won’t feel so horrible once you get it done.  You will be proud of yourself and happy.  But you still may never want another fixer.  I mean,  *I * don’t.  But sometimes it is the best option at the time.  

[Harriet Vane]

We bought a fixer-upper. It was our only option to live where we wanted to live, and we thought it would be fun and rewarding to fix it up over the years.

For us, it was neither fun nor rewarding.

Just chaos, spiraling costs, time, tons of work. Everything takes four times as long and at least double the money or more.

I will never buy a fixer-upper again unless I have become independently wealthy and can hire a contractor to fix it before I move in.

[StephanieZ]

What you describe is the PERFECT home to buy IMHO. 

Good bones, needs cosmetic updates. Go buy it. Update as you can.