Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

We haven't seen too many homes in our search yet but we've seen homes at various stages of "readiness". One was a "fixer-upper". A few were just kept well and ready to move in. A couple were flipped houses that were also move-in ready.

We are NOT handy people and we do NOT want a major fixer upper. Move-in ready would be ideal, but as long as everything is functional, we can deal with working on fixing one room at a time.

At what stage did you buy your home and if you had to put work into it, how much work and how much did you end up spending (if you don't mind sharing)to get the house where you wanted it to be?

We would like to leave a nice cushion in the bank after our down payment in anticipation of any repairs/remodeling we might have to do after we buy. TIA

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

wen bought what most people would consider a fixer upper. The outside was fine but the inside was extremely outdated and in my mond not resally livable.

We basically took the first floor down to the studs and put in all new drywall, removed a wall, painted, new flooring and in the kitchen it was a total gut...everything is new and re-did plumbing and electrical. Upstairs we just painted and new wood floors.

We did 99% of the work ourselves so our "price tag" is not realistic if you arent doing it yourself. We proabably spent only 20K on everything.

We were looking for this type of house cause now we have a house worth way more than what we bought it for and all it took was 2 months and 20K.

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

we bought an "as is" fixer. It had no flooring, sheetrock, interior doors or window trim, plus it needed a new electrical system because of a failed heating system and severe water damage. We bought it for about 85k less than what it appraised for right before the damage happened.

We did all of the work ourselves( DH is in the business) and spent only a fraction of what it should have cost to renovate.
It was still very stressful and we only stayed on budget & schedule because we had total control.

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

We plan on buying a fixer upper

But between my boyfriend, his friends and his uncle we have every asspect of home construction covered

Otherwise I don't think I would want to take on a project like this

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

liveable but to meet our standards a totalfixer upper - were going to do a little over time but then we ended up just gutting it

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

our house was move in ready. with this i mean...all we needed to do was clean, paint and have the floors sanded. With that said, "move in ready" meant needed a new kitchen, completely new basement, updating of 80's bathrooms, major landscaping redo of deck all things that needed to be done, but that were functioning and we could deal with until we could have the money to do these things.. We knew our house would need some work but it was something we could do over time. Frank is not handy at all...by this I mean...he can't even put gas in his own car or change a light bulb...we knew we would have to pay for everything...you've seen my house in various stages so maybe this will give you an idea...

When we moved in we did the following immediately:

floors sanded-$3000
3 rooms painted-$700
den-skim coated and repainted $700
new stair runner placed-$800

over the next 3 years we did:

change foyer banister to oak: $2700

New deck: $6000 (should have paid 10,000 to get what I wanted and not the POS that is there now! We will redo this again)

brand new kitchen after gutting existing- $30,000

regutt of 2nd bedroom for baby including crown molding-$2000

upgrade electric: $1800

In the next 6 months:
new garage door with opener:$2000

bang out den into garage and redo half bath -$10,000

resand and replace a few oak boards in living room floors due to dog pee stain from last weekend
(want a Pug?)

tree removal and regrade of property-$5000

within the next 2 year:s

complete basement remodel including sealing, replace current plumbing and potential sump pump addition- at least $25,000 was the estimate...it will likely be more like $30,000

regrading of entire property, new driveway, blue stone walk ways and patio and landscaping of front and back yards, new PVC fence alone the entire property- at least $35,000

eventually, upstairs bath and remodel of third bedroom- $15,000

with all of this said...this is if we decide to stay in our house.

as you can see, homeownership is very expensive....

no matter move in ready or not...it will cost big bucks eventually because you will want to make the home you what you want...

Message edited 4/5/2010 9:06:28 AM.

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

We wanted turn-key. Literally, all we did was get the carpets cleaned and we cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms. We loved the colors on the walls so we didn't even paint anything (we have been here a little over 4 1/2 years). All we have done is furnish the home, put in a few fans and installed recessed lights in a few rooms. Eventually we will paint the house, but probably not until the kids are older or we are ready to move.
I know how we are. Neither of us are very good at creating something that isn't there so this was what worked better for us.

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

Posted by MrsFlatbread

our house was move in ready. with this i mean...all we needed to do was clean, paint and have the floors sanded. With that said, "move in ready" meant needed a new kitchen, completely new basement, updating of 80's bathrooms, major landscaping redo of deck all things that needed to be done, but that were functioning and we could deal with until we could have the money to do these things.. We knew our house would need some work but it was something we could do over time. Frank is not handy at all...by this I mean...he can't even put gas in his own car or change a light bulb...we knew we would have to pay for everything...you've seen my house in various stages so maybe this will give you an idea...

When we moved in we did the following immediately:

floors sanded-$3000
3 rooms painted-$700
den-skim coated and repainted $700
new stair runner placed-$800

over the next 3 years we did:

change foyer banister to oak: $2700

New deck: $6000 (should have paid 10,000 to get what I wanted and not the POS that is there now! We will redo this again)

brand new kitchen after gutting existing- $30,000

regutt of 2nd bedroom for baby including crown molding-$2000

upgrade electric: $1800

In the next 6 months:
new garage door with opener:$2000

bang out den into garage and redo half bath -$10,000

resand and replace a few oak boards in living room floors due to dog pee stain from last weekend
(want a Pug?)

tree removal and regrade of property-$5000

within the next 2 year:s

complete basement remodel including sealing, replace current plumbing and potential sump pump addition- at least $25,000 was the estimate...it will likely be more like $30,000

regrading of entire property, new driveway, blue stone walk ways and patio and landscaping of front and back yards, new PVC fence alone the entire property- at least $35,000

eventually, upstairs bath and remodel of third bedroom- $15,000

with all of this said...this is if we decide to stay in our house.

as you can see, homeownership is very expensive....

no matter move in ready or not...it will cost big bucks eventually because you will want to make the home you what you want...

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

Posted by Goldi0218

Posted by MrsFlatbread

our house was move in ready. with this i mean...all we needed to do was clean, paint and have the floors sanded. With that said, "move in ready" meant needed a new kitchen, completely new basement, updating of 80's bathrooms, major landscaping redo of deck all things that needed to be done, but that were functioning and we could deal with until we could have the money to do these things.. We knew our house would need some work but it was something we could do over time. Frank is not handy at all...by this I mean...he can't even put gas in his own car or change a light bulb...we knew we would have to pay for everything...you've seen my house in various stages so maybe this will give you an idea...

When we moved in we did the following immediately:

floors sanded-$3000
3 rooms painted-$700
den-skim coated and repainted $700
new stair runner placed-$800

over the next 3 years we did:

change foyer banister to oak: $2700

New deck: $6000 (should have paid 10,000 to get what I wanted and not the POS that is there now! We will redo this again)

brand new kitchen after gutting existing- $30,000

regutt of 2nd bedroom for baby including crown molding-$2000

upgrade electric: $1800

In the next 6 months:
new garage door with opener:$2000

bang out den into garage and redo half bath -$10,000

resand and replace a few oak boards in living room floors due to dog pee stain from last weekend
(want a Pug?)

tree removal and regrade of property-$5000

within the next 2 year:s

complete basement remodel including sealing, replace current plumbing and potential sump pump addition- at least $25,000 was the estimate...it will likely be more like $30,000

regrading of entire property, new driveway, blue stone walk ways and patio and landscaping of front and back yards, new PVC fence alone the entire property- at least $35,000

eventually, upstairs bath and remodel of third bedroom- $15,000

with all of this said...this is if we decide to stay in our house.

as you can see, homeownership is very expensive....

no matter move in ready or not...it will cost big bucks eventually because you will want to make the home you what you want...

You are just saying that because you are mad we won't cross the county line

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

Posted by MrsFlatbread

Posted by Goldi0218

Posted by MrsFlatbread

our house was move in ready. with this i mean...all we needed to do was clean, paint and have the floors sanded. With that said, "move in ready" meant needed a new kitchen, completely new basement, updating of 80's bathrooms, major landscaping redo of deck all things that needed to be done, but that were functioning and we could deal with until we could have the money to do these things.. We knew our house would need some work but it was something we could do over time. Frank is not handy at all...by this I mean...he can't even put gas in his own car or change a light bulb...we knew we would have to pay for everything...you've seen my house in various stages so maybe this will give you an idea...

When we moved in we did the following immediately:

floors sanded-$3000
3 rooms painted-$700
den-skim coated and repainted $700
new stair runner placed-$800

over the next 3 years we did:

change foyer banister to oak: $2700

New deck: $6000 (should have paid 10,000 to get what I wanted and not the POS that is there now! We will redo this again)

brand new kitchen after gutting existing- $30,000

regutt of 2nd bedroom for baby including crown molding-$2000

upgrade electric: $1800

In the next 6 months:
new garage door with opener:$2000

bang out den into garage and redo half bath -$10,000

resand and replace a few oak boards in living room floors due to dog pee stain from last weekend
(want a Pug?)

tree removal and regrade of property-$5000

within the next 2 year:s

complete basement remodel including sealing, replace current plumbing and potential sump pump addition- at least $25,000 was the estimate...it will likely be more like $30,000

regrading of entire property, new driveway, blue stone walk ways and patio and landscaping of front and back yards, new PVC fence alone the entire property- at least $35,000

eventually, upstairs bath and remodel of third bedroom- $15,000

with all of this said...this is if we decide to stay in our house.

as you can see, homeownership is very expensive....

no matter move in ready or not...it will cost big bucks eventually because you will want to make the home you what you want...

You are just saying that because you are mad we won't cross the county line

what am I JUST SAYING?

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

we got more of a move in ready, but it was very outdated. It still needed fixing up. so I guess we bought something in between. Most of it was updating, ripping up carpeting, refinishing floors. The basement was a typical unfinished basement with the asbestoes tile floor. Our upstairs has paneling but is in good shape, we just changed the carpeting for now.

Honestly, I would stay away from "flips" we saw many when we were looking and they werent done with quality. Many looked liked we would need to do a lot of fixing to fix what they attempted to.

Message edited 4/5/2010 9:21:01 AM.

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

We got a move-in ready...there wasn't anything I couldn't have lived longer with-the entire first floor had just been redone (painted, etc.)...the bathrooms needed updating, but for 2 of them, we took of the horrific wallpaper and painted and it looks worlds different. We also painted our bedroom...basically, we have been going room by room adding and making it our own, but, knock on wood, we haven't had to do too much since we are far from handy...my dad and brother are, but not enough to do major work (they hung a chandelier kind of handy..haha). Eventually, we will update more as we go along, but like I said, nothing is horrific and that was the way we wanted it SINCE we aren't super handy and didn't want to live in a construction zone at first...plus, I didn't want to be the foreman for a bunch of construction...

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

Posted by MrsFlatbread

Posted by Goldi0218

A GOOD kitchen is a must have - so says my dear departed mother - Queen of the Sub Zeros. If her kitchen didn't have the best, it wasn't good enough.

IMAGE

$14,000...


even with a coupon...your mother knew El Cheapo...would never go for it!!!! Two Words....General Electric

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

DH is very handy so we were looking for a fixer upper becuase we really wanted to make it our own. But move in ready was an option and we were willing to spend more if it was all done

we wound up with a move in ready house at a much lower price then we were going to spend so we are doing some things to make it our own I feel like we got the best of both worlds

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

We needed a move in ready house, DH is FAR from handy! I'm handier than him, and that's not saying much!

With that said... I'd hate to tell you how much we ended up dropping into a "move in ready" house in the first year alone.

There always ends up being so many unexpected things that pop up that need fixing or updating.

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

I'm about 10x more handy than DH is... I can paint, spackle, rip up carpet, work a floor sander, etc. So, yeah DH has never painted or anything - he can lift heavy stuff which is helpful lol.

We bought a house that was not only move-in ready but it is like a model home. Our realtor said you would have thought it was built yesterday. We are lucky - we didn't set out to buy that but I think it was meant to be because we don't have a lot of extra cash flow each month to start fixing things up or renovating - even if we did it room by room. This place didn't even really 'need' paint which is amazing because I'm picky about paint colors.

I'm going to paint two rooms which is actually pretty cheap - about $275. And that's really it. We bought furniture - but, we are very lucky that paint is all we need and that wasn't even a need but more me liking certain colors.

Eventually, we might need a new washer and dryer. She took the fancy ones with her but these are still good - so, I don't know if that really counts as a need lol. Same thing with flooring - we prefer wood floors but it is carpet. The carpet is very high-end, brand new, and nice but we are wood people. So, eventually we would like to have that put in. It's just nice that it is not something we "need" to do but rather can do at our own pace.

HTH!

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

Even if move-in ready, you still sort of have to make it your own because you and your DH would like things a certain way.
If you or your DH are not handy or you have a family member ready to help you with time and expertise, I'd steer away from fixer uppers. Materials to fix are not costly per say (depending on what it is ofcourse) but labor is what tends to be costly. Good luck !

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

We went the condo route just bc we arent handy and it was less to take care of... We're learning here and there of how to take care of a home so somewhere down the line maybe we'll be ready for a house... Also, for the price we paid for our pretty fixed up condo, we would have gotten a complete distaster of a house... So far the only major obstacle we've run into is having to replace the heating/cooling system... Its 15 yrs old and def doesnt run as efficiently as it should... We've only priced it out so far and replacing everything incuding all ductwork leading to the outside would run us about 6k

Anyhoo, for us, we wanted a nice home without having to spend tons of money on hiring people bc we are unable to do any home repairs ourselves... sad but true.. The condo will hopefully be our learning tool Oh, and ours is actually a townhome with 3beds, 1.5 baths... I only say this bc most people think of condos and think of these tiny homes... We picked somewhere for us to "grow"

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

We bought a house planning to live here for 8-10 years. We didnt want to spend half that time fixing it and living with construction. So we ultimately bought a home that was recently gut renovated. Our neighborhood is all 20's homes so most of the ones we looked at had work done. The trick was liking the sellers taste and renovation style. With some time we found one that made sense for our family and we would not have a problem with resale.

Good luck!

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

Dh is not handy. We wanted something that would be comfortable in, so we looked at fixer uppers that would allow us money leftover to fix up or move in ready.
We bought something that would be considered move in ready, we redid the bathrooms before we moved in about $8,000 (1full, 1 half)
The kitchen is circa 1990 but its livable until we decide to spend and redo it

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

Ours is livable, but upon closer inspection, needs work.

In retrospect, this is probably the worst option for us.

If it was a disaster, we would have worked on it right away, and if it was pefect, we would have just moved on in & concentrated on furniture, but as it is, we just painted a few things, and 3 1/2 years later haven't really done anything else & now it is a PIA b/c we are settled in, but we haven't gotten new furniture because "someday" we are going to redo the floors, etc, etc,. . .

Message edited 4/5/2010 5:51:56 PM.

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

Our house was turn key when we bought it which is a great thing. We have put no major work into it whatsoever.

That being said, I hate where we live and our next house will definitely be a fixer upper b/c that's all we can afford where I want to live. My DH and his whole family are in construction though so it's not a big deal...it will just take longer to get it done.

Re: Move in ready or Fixer Upper?

our home was completely move in ready.

all inner workings (heating systems etc) were up to snuff and there was no structural damage to speak of.

all work we've done thus far (minus the great basement flood) has been simply to make it more to our taste.

we painted, our fireplace opened, and are currently planning on installing a first floor bath (our house doen'st have one...but it's 200 years old so I am just happy we are not still using an outhouse there are 2 baths on the second floor)

the kitchen was remolded about 10 years ago, so while it's something we may do in the future, it was perfectly fine for us at the time and for the time being.

we almost bought a fixer, but the magnitude of work would have made me miserable.

ETA: pricing.

the biggest kahuna so far was just about $11k for the fireplace.

between landscaping, paint etc we've probably put in about $2k not inc decor.

we had a flood in our basement due to sump pump failure that cost us $1k for the homeowners dd.

we are going to have an architect come in to see about where to put the downstairs bath, but don't want to go above $10k.

we are also looking to renovate our carriage house/barn into a cottage/garage. we were quoted around $6k for the garage conversion. also adding solar panels to the roof. (another expense!)

it will be probably AT LEAST that much for the cottage conversion if we do the bulk of the work ourselves. double to triple if we hire out.

other large expenses we are looking at are

inground pool- hoping for less than $30k
kitchen redo- $15k
second floor addition- $50k. (would make this house a true 3 bedroom)

I needed to buy a house I could live happily with while we made it more our own. saving up to pay all this stuff in advance (no loans etc) will take time so I need to be happy for the duration.

since we didn't move, we needed to purchase every single solitary item. so our savings went to furnishing the home initially. we spent about 25k I would say thus far.

Message edited 4/5/2010 12:43:31 PM.