https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 26 May 2026 18:12:43 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2061249 Mon, 09 Feb 2015 15:21:14 +0000 jetsa 2061249@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@aegie: see my update above the house needs gutted ;) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2061239 Mon, 09 Feb 2015 15:15:39 +0000 aegie 2061239@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>if you put an inspection contingency, you can ask the home inspector to write up everything that needs to be replaced or redone in the report and use that to negotiate the price of the home. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2060755 Mon, 09 Feb 2015 12:33:29 +0000 jetsa 2060755@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>****UPDATE: this house was not finished at all, our realtor said you'd have to spend over 100k to finish it and they are already overpriced (they are priced as a house that needs to be updated not one that needs to be gutted and has water damage in at least 3 rooms)....needless to say we passed. The outside/lot etc is amazing but knowing you could never get any money back out of it made us run away as fast as we could.***** </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2022521 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 16:31:16 +0000 psw27 2022521@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Just adding that I agree -- subfloor is not "finished"... I would start with a walk through, see if you even like it. Then I would get a realtor and a GC to walk you through and see what the comps are. Good luck!! :goodluck: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2022510 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 16:26:11 +0000 LaughLines 2022510@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@jetsa: you need a realtor to pull comps. If the realtor says similar size/location houses that are move in ready (more than subfloor, include all baseboards) are 100k, and this one is listed for 94k then it has some of the repairs built into the price. If your contractor says the repairs to get it to the same condition as the comps would cost $10k, then you need to ask for another 4k off the price. </p> <p>No baseboards or exposed subfloor is NOT "finished" </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2022507 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 16:25:15 +0000 78h2o 2022507@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@jetsa: I think it all depends on the comps. If other houses are selling for a similar price, with up-to-date kitchens, new carpet, etc. then I definitely think you have room to negotiate. However, if their price is already lower than comparable properties, they may have already accounted for the lack of carpet, baseboards, etc., and they might not budge very much. I don't think they would be surprised to get an offer for less than asking price, or one that included a flooring credit; but whether they'd accept it, I just think depends on how the price compares. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2022501 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 16:24:17 +0000 coopsmama 2022501@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@jetsa: wow! Okay, that was worse than I was expecting from your OP. It definitely needs some work. I would definitely compare that house with other homes - it may be that the house is already at a list price that is lowered to reflect the home. But if not, I do agree with your assessment that the house will probably sit on the market for a bit and also that you should offer a lower price based on those pictures alone. Is it livable? Well yes. But I wouldn't consider that finished space either. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2022495 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 16:22:36 +0000 jetsa 2022495@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks for the responses everyone! I think after thinking about it some more and reading all your responses and looking at the pictures again, that this is just going to have to be a gut decision we can estimate what the house would be worth updated and as long as we are comfortable spending the difference between that and list we can move forward with or without the sellers lowering the price. Although I'm still going to try to get a deal ;) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2022487 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 16:17:01 +0000 jetsa 2022487@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@LaughLines: I agree with what you're saying but I wonder if I'm nitpicking. Thoughts on the pictures below? I think it needs some type of flooring but is that an actual issue that could potentially get me a lower price or is that a cosmetic issue and therefore having sold before something I would not ask for? I guess I'm having trouble determining.</p> <p>[attach=2716/15/ni4wgd.400x300.114451-15.jpg]</p> <p>We would take out this kitchen but I would never expect the owner to foot that bill.<br /> [attach=2716/15/ni4wge.400x300.114451-16.jpg]</p> <p>This is the bedroom upstairs and there is no way to me that could be considered a cosmetic issue.<br /> [attach=2716/15/ni4wgf.400x300.114451-14.jpg] </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2022469 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 16:07:49 +0000 LaughLines 2022469@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@jetsa: If i were you i'd get a realitor and a contractor - have them both walk through it with you and have the realitor pull comps and see how much below market it is already priced. Then have your contractor give a bid for certain items (adding baseboards, flooring, etc). Then when (if) you make an offer GIVE THE BID to the seller to show them how much you would be spending on renovations and ask them to take a certain % of the bid off the price (depending on how close the house is to market price, etc). </p> <p>The more "hard evidence" you have for the number you bid, the harder it is for them to deny it is reasonable. It also makes them realize that if YOU would have to spend that much putting in floors/baseboards so would any other buyer, so they have to assume they'd give that much off to other buyers. </p> <p>The more you support your offer the better. Peoples emotions get too much into it, putting hard numbers on paper takes emotions out of it (for the seller, who is probably attached to a random sell price emotionally) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2022361 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 15:11:08 +0000 macintosh 2022361@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When we bought our home we asked for a closing cost credit for the approximate amount of flooring we knew we needed to change. The floors had old, smelly carpet and we put in laminate for my husband's wheelchair. </p> <p>I relied a lot on my realtor's advice when deciding on what to offer. I would find a realtor to work with - I found mine on yelp. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2022220 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 14:14:42 +0000 snowjewelz 2022220@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'd just push for a lower price. If it's a major fixer upper you should be able to get a better price! I don't know about your area, but as much as HGTV get everyone thinking they can DYI their dream home, most people still want a move in ready house. </p> <p>We got a fixer upper 2 years ago and especially after inspection pointed out some additional things we were aggressive about pushing down the price and we completely gutted and re-did the entire house. </p> <p>Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2022201 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 14:05:53 +0000 sunny 2022201@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would look at comps for your area and see what is reasonable. There is also the possibility of asking for money off at the inspection phase. </p> <p>In my area, homes do not sell for 80% of list. Even during the housing crash, homes were still selling for 90%+ of list. I know that isn't the case everywhere. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2022055 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 13:04:17 +0000 jetsa 2022055@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@coopsmama: cosmetically we'd make lots of other changes but those we'd be our choice and I wouldn't expect the current owners to pay for that, for example we'd gut the kitchen. I have no problem with a unfinished basement if you list that way but they've listed it as a finished basement and included the square footage as finished space. I need to sit down with a realtor and see how comps compare. We're in a rural area with a slow market so I fully expect the home to sit 2-3 months on the market. Also most homes here sell for 85-90% of the list price. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2021985 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:32:53 +0000 coopsmama 2021985@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Is the flooring and trim work the only changes you'd need to do inside to make it the way you'd like it, or is there more in addition to that and you only brought up the flooring and trim since that's still unfinished?</p> <p>Honestly, we just sold our house and our basement is unfinished and some of our rooms are missing trim and we would have been seriously offended by an offer 20% lower than list price. The home we just sold is also in an ideal location by a lake (not on the lake, though) and even with an unfinished yard and some quirks in the house we still got 5k over list price. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2021977 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:28:38 +0000 jetsa 2021977@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@youboots: haha true. I can't imagine they'd say no. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2021974 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:27:45 +0000 youboots 2021974@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@jetsa: I mean we told the realtor that we needed to bring the GC but if the seller were to have an issue with that I would run ;) basically the home is open to the public when it's for sale so as long as you go through the proper channels for a viewing there are not any rules that you can not do that that I know of. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2021967 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:25:12 +0000 jetsa 2021967@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@youboots: good to know. Thank you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2021966 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:24:42 +0000 jetsa 2021966@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@78h2o: Have you ever done this? We had a contractor finish the basement at our current house so I suggested we do this and DH didnt know if it'd be allowed. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2021965 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:24:27 +0000 youboots 2021965@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@78h2o: great point!! We brought our GC with us before we made an offer and he gave us some very loose ideas about what kinds of costs we would be looking at. It was really helpful. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2021959 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:20:48 +0000 78h2o 2021959@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@youboots: I agree, it's usually preferable to negotiate and use the money towards the repairs, than have them done by the sellers. They might choose the cheapest person, not the best. However, when we bought our house, we did have the seller repair a safety issue (radon) and we just specified that it had to be someone with xyz licensure, transferable warranty, etc. But yeah, generally I think it's best to get the work done by somebody you trust. Sometimes you can have a contractor come with you to view the house and give you estimates before you buy. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2021954 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:17:55 +0000 jetsa 2021954@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@oliviaoblivia: their realtor says it's finished and they won't be fixing anything. Of course this assumes the inspection doesn't bring up any structural issues. That's why we thought we'd offer a lower price. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2021950 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:16:46 +0000 jetsa 2021950@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@youboots: this was our thought, negotiate a low price and hire a contractor after closing. We would want to make other changes anyway so we could do it all at the same time </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2021945 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:14:46 +0000 youboots 2021945@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>In my experience, you are more likely to get a reduced price than have them much work, it's too big of a risk to them in case the deal falls through they are on the hook for the cost of repairs. They also may have them done by a contractor you may not use or try to get a deal to appease you. We have done close to 50k of renovations in our home and it's been an interesting and humbling expirence. We still have a long way to go, but overall I'm proud because everything is the way I wanted it.</p> <p>My vote would be to get the lowest price you can, and only ask for repairs that make the home safe or structurally sound. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2021941 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:11:43 +0000 oliviaoblivia 2021941@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think 20% off for a couple rooms missing flooring is too much. I'd talk to a realtor to assess market value and go from there.<br /> In our area the things you are talking about changing would be taken care of by the buyer after closing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2021938 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:09:59 +0000 jetsa 2021938@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@78h2o: yea the market is better at the lake than most places but still most houses sit at least 2-3 months so although the price is good I think we've got some time. My DH is out of town this week so we're going to make a decision on viewing it this weekend when he gets home.</p> <p>ETA: we also don't currently have a realtor so that's another wrinkle. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2021935 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:08:00 +0000 78h2o 2021935@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@jetsa: Maybe see what your realtor says? When we sold our house, there's no way we would have considered an offer of 20% below list. We probably would have been a little offended, to be honest. (Though, I think that's because our house was in great shape and fairly priced - we got three offers at once about 10 days after listing, and sold it for 99% of list). However, it really does depend on the house vs. comps, the market in general, the motivation level of the sellers, time the house has been on the market, etc.</p> <p>ETA: Yeah, rehabs tend to be more work... though new houses can have issues too. As long as your offer is contingent on a inspection, and you have a really good inspector, you are probably okay... but it makes sense to budget for unforeseen issues, especially if you plan to be moving around walls, etc. The nice though about rehabbing is you get to really make the house your own... it's nice to be able to get exactly the fixtures and finishings you want. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2021924 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:03:51 +0000 jetsa 2021924@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@78h2o: the price isn't bad now, there is definitely money to be made on equity but it's just a matter of how much we try to negotiate. </p> <p>ETA: Because of this we're kind of scared of what demons the property contains lol. Rehabs are always more work than new. Thanks, I'm excited but also ready to be in our forever home. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2021922 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:02:39 +0000 78h2o 2021922@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@jetsa: I would definitely look at the listing vs. sales prices for comparable homes in the target area. Where I live, most homes sell for about 97-98% of the list price. We paid 95% of the list price, which we were pretty happy about. However, if the house in question is really overpriced, then you may be able to swing a larger reduction.</p> <p>ETA: Good luck! A house on a lake, with a dock, sounds amazing! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/purchasing-a-fixer-upper#post-2021920 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:00:39 +0000 jetsa 2021920@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@78h2o: thank you. We had several unreasonable buyers when we bought and I don't want to be that person </p>