What to Consider with Fixer-Upper Homes

A fixer-upper home can be a great investment for people who want something new and fresh, but it might also come with its own set of challenges and issues that you will want to be aware of. No matter what kind of project you are prepared to take on, a fixer-upper can have surprises around every corner.

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Remember that no two projects are the same and that one particular job or home might require some extra steps. Each property is different, so figure out a plan that is perfect for your needs.

Inspections

Inspecting a new home is always important, especially if you want to get an idea in your head before buying it. This does not just let you see the layout and get some mental plans for what changes you might make, but it also makes it easy to identify any problem areas or issues that you would otherwise miss.

Checking out the house yourself makes a big difference. However, it is also a good idea to get a good-quality home inspector – somebody who can outline problems and potential risks, then help you figure out solutions to those issues before you have even bought the home.

Even the most basic form of inspecting a property can matter a lot since it helps you find key areas that you might have missed. For example, you could take a look at the attic or basement, rooms that normal house tours may not show you.

Budgeting

 Your budget is the key to what you can and can’t do to a new home. A fixer-upper might be cheaper than buying a new house at first, but without a budget of any kind, it is easy to go far above your own limits and spend way too much on something that does not really matter.

Having a solid budget should be a core step in buying any home, no matter what kind. You will want to consider every possible expense, including things that you might not even encounter once you move into the new property – if you plan ahead, you have more room to adjust things as needed.

For example, you will want to include roofing, siding, paint, furniture, wiring, plumbing, and any other kinds of manual labor or work into the budget. Even if you do not change the furniture, you still planned ahead, so you will not be caught off guard if you do need to buy some new furnishings.

Remember to research how much certain things may cost on average, rather than making assumptions. Setting aside an arbitrary amount of money for a certain service can lead to you being immediately overwhelmed by how much it actually costs.

Contractors

Having contractors lined up – or at least having an idea of the contractors that you might use – can really speed up the entire planning process. If you are not fully prepared, then you can end up struggling to find contractors on short notice that will be able to work with you.

How you handle the contractors is up to you since there is not a single best way to approach each project. You may decide to have multiple groups working on different things at different times or one company that does the whole project.

Either way, have a plan in mind and know what kind of help you are going to get. The better you prepare, the easier your project becomes in the long term, and the higher-quality your home will be.

Disposal

Always be aware of which disposal options you have available. While the work itself might be simple enough to arrange, you will need a way to move the spare or scrap materials away from your property, and that is something that you can easily overlook if you are not careful. 

For example, you could use our dumpster rental options to help move large amounts of debris or unusable materials, clearing up your garden or yard. This can also help if you are moving furniture out or clearing away anything else that you can’t re-use in any way.

Disposal methods can be important because a cluttered worksite is both impractical and dangerous. If you are not careful, it could even slow down the rest of the work since vehicles might struggle to park close to your new property.

Think Ahead

The most important part of any fixer-upper home is thinking ahead and having a general plan. While you can plan ahead with individual parts of the project, it is way more important to focus on the overall job itself since you do not want to leave it all half-finished.

Be sure that you know what your budget is, what kind of work you want to get done, and how long the timeframe will be. Look into every detail you can and make sure that you are always one step ahead, especially if you have not done any kind of larger-scale work like this before.

While you can never trust a plan to be 100% reliable, since things change very often and individual types of work can vary in cost or scale, you should still have a basic idea of how things progress. If you are not prepared at all, then you might run out of budget or time halfway through the work.

The specifics of what you are doing are important, but you want to have a baseline that you can always stick to. If you have even a vague timeline or plan to stick with, then you can adjust it to suit each step of the project, rather than having to come up with new ideas each time something goes wrong.