Hellobee Boards

Just be really careful of what renovations really cost.

We were pretty naive. A ceiling fan is an easy replacement but at a min is $100. Flooring is not cheap to upgrade. Even a simple painting project can be $100 plus time. A new front door is a couple hundred. Even replacing our light switches was going to be a couple hundred dollar project. It all just adds up REALLY fast.

I bought a fixer upper because it was the only way to afford something in my neighborhood. I'm lazy and not that picky so if I could've bought move in ready I definitely would have.

I feel like ours was in between...

It's a 18-year old townhouse that had only one previous owner. Everything was in amazing shape, so nothing really needed to be replaced, but it's all builder-grade from 18 years ago. The seller did replace the carpet before selling, but that appeared to be the only upgrade they did.

So most of the stuff we've done has been cosmetic, with the exception of replacing the living room floors before moving in because they were in really bad shape. We've added a backsplash in the kitchen, and are currently in the process of re-painting.

Not a forever home, so I don't think we will make any major big changes, with the exception of the tile in the kitchen/dining area.

For our next/forever house, I'd probably err on the side of fixer-upper so I can get what I want.

We bought new construction so that we cold personalize things and have absolutely nothing to fix! Because if the current housing market, our house has already appreciated considerably in the 18 months we have owned it. To me, renovations are costly, time consuming, and a pain while living in the home. I think it's best if you have the skills and time to do it.

Oh- and "older" stuff that will maybe need to be redone in 5-10 or so years, that's a maybe. But not if it's basically the whole house needing to be done soon.

Depends on how long you want to stay and if the market will cover the cost of the renos you see doing. We had to buy a fixer to get in our neighborhood at our price point but we know that anything we do, we'll see a return on investment. It's a neighborhood that has low inventory because people stay here for a long time. There are three adults that we know that grew up on our street and their parents still live here! So we also have the potential to be here for a long time! Also coloring my view is the fact that we have a particular style and wants/needs and I wouldn't want to buy a random persons upgrades because I know I couldn't help but want to change them.

We were open to either, but bought a live-in ready house because it was in the right area and had the right configuration.

I would not buy a reno with the main motivation of making money off of it. I looked at fixer-uppers as hobbies--something that I should only do if I would be okay with not making a profit or even potentially losing (some) money on, in order to increase my happiness. Most fixer-uppers are priced so you can't do fancier-than-normal upgrades without going over the market price for a 'finished' house.

Especially if you're not doing the labor yourself/don't have an inside deal (like a parent who is a contractor), then I think renovations are likely to be far more expensive than anticipated. The major systems are expensive to overhaul, and even totally cosmetic stuff like paint and landscaping is not cheap if you hire it out. Like, thousands of dollars. Removing a single sick tree and planting a new one can easily be in the several thousand range. And big stuff like a new roof can run into five figures easily.

The only way we could afford our town was to get a fixer upper. We found one with a good layout and no major structure issues (roof needs replacement so we knew and saved money for a year to get it done).

Total gut job... I was happy with this because even if we could afford move in ready I didn't always like them but wouldn't have more money to change. So this allowed me to pretty much get 90% of exactly what I want.

We bought a fixer upper with good bones (no structural issues) and have been doing 90% of it ourselves. We have family in construction which has made it possible with their advice/guidance. I'm also picky so this way I get what I want in a house. However, it takes a LOT of time (or money if you're not DIYing) so it's worth thinking through! Also, renovations can open up a new can of worms when you inevitably find certain issues along the way.

Zero interest in renovating. Everyone I know who has done it sounds like they've been through a war. Home needs to be home.

I really wanted to renovate a home, my husband had no interest, so we spent more and bought something that didn't have to have any major work done.