Hello! In case you are new here, my husband Lucas and I bought a fixer upper home on 16 acres and have been renovating it. We knew from the 96-page inspection report that it was going to need a lot of work but, as any renovation goes, we began to do demo and realized there was so much more lurking beneath the surface. Nevertheless, we continue to recommend purchasing a fixer upper and here is why:
- More Affordable Price
- This is perhaps the reason the majority of people are intrigued by a home in need of renovations. In the majority of locations, you can purchase a fixer upper home for significant discounts which can be extremely rewarding in this economy when so many people are put off by the higher interest rates. We talked the sellers of our home down by almost 10% and they already had the home listed below market value.
- You Can Make it Your Own!
- Another fantastic reason for purchasing a fixer upper is that, many times, it is a blank slate. Our home had a lot of pet damage, rodent damage and we found mold under the sheetrock so we ended up basically taking it down to the studs. That was not our original intention, but we found we could not save as much as we were hoping. On the upside, we have moved walls, doorways and are getting to choose the design so it is almost like a new build but for half the price.
- Increase the Value
- This reason does not quite apply to us as we are planning to stay here for a long time, but making improvements on ANY home increases the value. A fixer upper, however, has a more blatant increase in value because you are starting from such a low point.
- You Get to Learn New Skills!
- I think this reason is simultaneously a reason to buy a fixer upper AND a reason that others shy away from it. During our home buying process, I have had so many people tell me that they wish they had the technical know how or ability to tackle a project of that magnitude. Let us talk about the positive here – there are SO MANY skills that I am learning as a result of purchasing thsi home. My husband thankfully is an engineer and grew up working with his hands so there are many things he has already done. However, home DIY is very new to me so I am thankful to be learning new skills!
- Playing the Long Game
- Depending on the area you purchase in, there can be fairly significant long-term value. In the area we purchased in, it is about an hour from the nearest major city. We know that our home will not go up in value as quickly as the homes near the city, but eventually if we ever want to move in 5-10 years, we know our home will most likely be worth much more than we paid.
I hope this helps if you are thinking about buying a fixer upper! They are a lot of work, time and effort but there can be so many positives at the end if you stick it out!
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