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fixer upper or dream house

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christy
Mommy of 2

Member since 5/05

6787 total posts

Name:
Christy

fixer upper or dream house

I went to look at a house today, it was a total fixer. It was a small ranch, but on 1/2 acre of property in a beautiful neighborhood with cheap taxes!!!!!!!!

I am trying to see a vision when I look at houses of what they could be like, but it is so hard for me. I see this house has true potential, but is it better to buy a fixer or keep looking for the dream house?

Posted 2/25/06 2:49 PM
 
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Palebride
I am an amazing bakist

Member since 5/05

13673 total posts

Name:
Lori

Re: fixer upper or dream house

It depends on the price, the location, the amount of time you're willing to put into it, the amount of time you can put into it, how handy you and DH are....o rif you have handy relatives.
Buying a fixer-upper and making it my own is a dream I've always had!

What town was the house?

Posted 2/25/06 3:06 PM
 

MommyofG
just the girls

Member since 5/05

9461 total posts

Name:
Janice

Re: fixer upper or dream house

with that size property and cheap taxes and being a ranch and the price is right and good neighborhood too, I would jump on it and fix it up to my dream house. ranches are sooooooooo easy to add on too! good luck!!!

Posted 2/25/06 6:58 PM
 

christy
Mommy of 2

Member since 5/05

6787 total posts

Name:
Christy

Re: fixer upper or dream house

I just worry that we won't have enough money to fix it up quickly...

Posted 2/25/06 7:46 PM
 

Eleanor
LIF Adult

Member since 2/06

2223 total posts

Name:
Ellie

Re: fixer upper or dream house

I can't imagine that there would ever be a house out there that would be my dream house, unless it was new. I like my own touches, not someone else's, so I would go with a fixer upper in a great area.

You can go slow, everything doesn't have to be done right away.

Posted 2/25/06 8:59 PM
 

Gertyrae
Peace out Homies!

Member since 5/05

20046 total posts

Name:
Gerty ®

Re: fixer upper or dream house

Posted by christy

I just worry that we won't have enough money to fix it up quickly...



We bought a fixer upper(sort of) and have just made it livable for now and as we get $$$$ we will do the things we want to make it our own. I figure we are in it for a "few" years so we can take our time.

Posted 2/25/06 9:04 PM
 

csorisi
My 2 LOVES

Member since 11/05

1984 total posts

Name:
Corinne

Re: fixer upper or dream house

We just bought a house in sayville that is a total fixer upper and you really have to have a vision. My thought is that now I can do whatever I want to it and make it my own. Especially if the taxes are low & the property is big you can always add on to it and not worry that your taxes are going to be crazy. I would say go for it. We don't have the money either to do everything we want to the house but we decided we will do cosmetic things such as paint and carpet and do what we can with the money we have & then do room by room that we want to re-do. The first thing we will probably do after we redo our first floor is add an extenstion to the top and work from there. We figure it will cost us alot of $$$ but in the end it is an investment and we are getting a great price for our house because it really needs to be updated.

Good luck!

Where is the house?

Posted 2/25/06 11:17 PM
 

sunnyplus3
:)

Member since 11/05

8749 total posts

Name:

Re: fixer upper or dream house

we bought a major fixer upper, but that is what we wanted. We found the perfect location for us & a newer house that had severe interior damage. We made the whole house livable right away but its far from done. We aren't planning on going anywhere though so we've got time. For us we would have never found a dream house, even when we looked at brand new contruction the quality of the work was shabby & Dh really wanted to do everything himself.

Posted 2/26/06 8:03 AM
 

Redhead
You Live, You Learn

Member since 5/05

31871 total posts

Name:
Jennifer

Re: fixer upper or dream house

Posted by Palebride

It depends on the price, the location, the amount of time you're willing to put into it, the amount of time you can put into it, how handy you and DH are....o rif you have handy relatives.



I agree ....
And i don't think that a fixer upper means fixing it up and doing it in a short amount of time.

When i look at houses i don't mind updating and fixing somethings up but a complete overhaul...isn't what i am looking for...
I want to be happy in my home and i really do not want to wait 10-15 years for that to happen. So we are looking for a compromise of sorts i guess

Posted 2/26/06 1:40 PM
 

julz33
i run for bacon

Member since 5/05

20584 total posts

Name:
julz

Re: fixer upper or dream house

Posted by Eleanor

I can't imagine that there would ever be a house out there that would be my dream house, unless it was new. I like my own touches, not someone else's, so I would go with a fixer upper in a great area.

You can go slow, everything doesn't have to be done right away.



This is why we bought a "fixer-upper". My Dream home would be out of my price range into the millionsChat Icon Evern homes we saw that we remodeled weren't our taste and there was still alot to be done... so we bought a fixer-upper, got a great price on it, and have made it our own. We are not finished yet (been a little over a year) but we gutted the entire house!
We could have lived in it the way it was and did things slower(for example, paint over wood panelling instead of tearing it all down and putting sheetrock up) if we didn't feel like doing that much work or if we didn't have the money.

Posted 2/26/06 1:45 PM
 

CookiePuss
Cake from Outer Space!

Member since 5/05

14007 total posts

Name:

Re: fixer upper or dream house

Best advise I ever heard about buying a house..."buy the worst house on the best block you can afford."

I much rather buy a fixer-upper then completely move in. Someone esle's dream house isn't necessarily mine. My boss just bought a mint, move in condition house but hates the way it's decorated and needs to pay someone to rip down all the wallpaper and then redo the walls. So, not only did he pay a premium for the house because it was in mint condition, he also has to pay to get it the way he wants it. A waste of money in my opinion.

Posted 2/26/06 1:50 PM
 

christy
Mommy of 2

Member since 5/05

6787 total posts

Name:
Christy

Re: fixer upper or dream house

Thank you so much! It is something DH and I really need to discuss! I think it is worth considering....

Posted 2/26/06 2:39 PM
 

dandr10199
Grace is growing up too fast!

Member since 10/05

11561 total posts

Name:
Dina

Re: fixer upper or dream house

Posted by shamrock12472

Best advise I ever heard about buying a house..."buy the worst house on the best block you can afford."



I agree. We did this and believe me it is a lot of work, but worth it. Our property value has gone up by $25K since we bought in October 2005. We did not move into our house until January because of all the work we did. We still have to do the entire outside (siding, driveway, retaining wall, and landscaping) this spring. There is a list of never ending projects, but at least my home is decorated the way I like it. Good luck with whatever you decide. Chat Icon

Posted 2/26/06 5:05 PM
 

MsG
Should be working

Member since 5/05

2824 total posts

Name:
G

Re: fixer upper or dream house

Well, for us it wasn't an issue - we couldn't afford our dream house! So we bought a small house with enough land to expand when we need to.

I think like Lori said, you need to consider how much time, effort, and $ you are willing to put into it.

Good luck with your decision!

Posted 2/26/06 7:01 PM
 

MrsPornStar
Partners in crime

Member since 10/05

14656 total posts

Name:
Mama

Re: fixer upper or dream house

I would buy a fixer upper in a hearbeat if the price was right and it was in a good neighborhood. Even if you don't have tons of money to spend upfront to fix it, you can do things to make it liveable until you have saved enough money.

Posted 2/27/06 12:59 AM
 
 

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