By: Kris Bickell

Are you thinking of buying a home that needs a little work?

For many people, this is a good way to get a bigger house, get a cheaper house, or make money by fixing up the house and re-selling it.

If you’ve never owned a house that needed lots of work, then you owe it to yourself to think about this decision carefully before signing any paperwork!

What are the benefits of owning a home that needs a little TLC?

There are many benefits to buying a home that needs some work.

If it’s an older home, then many older homes often have a lot of “charm”. Materials and workmanship are often very good in an older home. Floor plans are often “creative”.

And you can certainly get a home that needs some work for a lot less money!

But what are the issues to consider before buying a “handyman (or woman) special”?

First, is the house up to code?

While owning a home that is not up to current construction standards is not a problem in itself (most towns recognize the codes used at the time the work was actually done), if you do any renovations or remodeling and need a permit, you may run into trouble – and have to do extra work to get the house up to the standards of the current codes.

And this work can sometimes be costly. So before you buy any house – especially one needing some work to get it into shape – have the house inspected. This is a small investment that could save you many times to price of the inspection!

Finding problems is not a bad thing, it just helps you avoid unpleasant surprises and gives you more information to help you make the right buying decision for your situation.

Second, do you have the time to do the work?

If you have enough money to hire someone else to do the work, congratulations! If not, take some time to think this one through very carefully.

If you’ve never done the type of work needed, expect that you will make some mistakes while learning – and that these mistakes will cost you both time and money!

And if you have fixed up a house before, you already know that what you see on the surface does not always tell the whole story. Once you remove a wall, a floor, an appliance, etc, you may find a whole new set of problems you never considered.

Not that you shouldn’t even consider fixing up a house on your own. Just be prepared for the reality that if the section of the house you can see has not been well maintained, that the structure underneath may not be in great shape either!

Third, do you have the money to do all the work?

And if you don’t, can you live in the house while you wait?

As mentioned above, sometimes a project involves much more than meets the eye. And construction costs can easily go up…and up…and up!

If you have enough cash saved up, good for you. But do you have more than enough saved up, in case there are surprises?

Tough question, but one to consider carefully!

Should you just avoid buying a “fixer upper” unless you are a handyman (or woman)?

Trust me, there is no greater feeling than finishing a project that makes your home look better (and more valuable).

So if you like getting dirty, if you like learning new skills, and if you like doing your own work, buying a house that needs work can be a tremendous experience.

But getting to the end of a project can be challenging.

And it’s a challenge you definitely need to be ready to take on!

About the Author:
Kris Bickell is the owner of HouseBuying-Tips.com, a site that helps first time home buyers avoid the costly mistakes that many new homebuyers make. For more tips on buying a house, getting a mortgage, finding a realtor, and getting out of debt, sign up for the free “How To Avoid These 10 Costly Mistakes When Buying Your First Home” email course at: http://www.HouseBuying-Tips.com/

Wow! I was so excited this morning when in my email there was a note from Jeanette Fisher, the author of the book I talked about on my last post. She is a really sweet lady and said she read my blog from the bottom to the top! She’s working on a new book the explains how to use “Design Psychology” to prepare your house for the market, that’s what I really need right now, but I’ll also need the Doghouse to Dollhouse book as well when we buy our “fixer-upper”.

I just want to post her other websites for you, there are even more articles and tons of info on those sites. She even has two newsletters ~ of course, I signed up. I’m really becoming a big fan!

Here are the links:

www.sellfast.info - Sell Your Home For Top Dollar - FAST!
www.joytothehome.com - Live in a Home Designed to Support Your Happiness, Productivity, and Well-Being
www.designpsych.com - Designs For Happiness

At the DesignPsych.com site I found an article about using “Design Psychology” for designing your office. I thought it would be relavent since today was the day I absolutely HAD to tackle cleaning the clutter out of our office (which is actually our formal dining room). Actually, the article is more for after we move and I set up a NEW office but it gave me incentive to get this one cleaned up so we can get this house sold.

Speaking of working on the office, I took a “before” picture but I’m embarrassed to post it until I have the “after” picture to go along with it. I only got HALF of the job done, can you believe it? I spent at least 6 or 7 hours on it. But you know, it was Brent’s desk that gave me such a problem and took so long. He’s a “stacker”, he had things stacked that dated back to 1998, yeah, 1998. I brought in one of those big outdoor trashcans, it was empty when I started, it’s almost FULL now. Unreal. My side wasn’t that bad, I’m messy but I do my filing and trashing like I should.

Anyway, even though I only got halfway around the office, the part where I sit is nice and clean now. It really feels great. Not tommorow, but next week I’m going to tackle the bookshelves behind me and all the stuff that has accumulated in front of them. It shouldn’t be too hard, I can just pack a lot of the stuff in boxes and put one of those big labels marked with a “C” on the side (see previous post “Starting To Pack Already?“).

Even though we’re probably no where near finding a buyer for our house (I shouldn’t be so negative), we’re still thinking about our imminent move. As I ‘ve mentioned before, we think we want to find a “fixer-upper”, move in, live there for a couple of years and sell at a profit.

I was doing some research the other day and found a fantastic website, blog and book about doing just that. It’s called Doghouse To Dollhouse For Dollars. The website is http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com. The blog is at http://doghousetodollars.blogspot.com/.

Between the site and the blog, you’ll find TONS of information about making a profit from fixing up houses. I still haven’t had time to get through all the information but Jeanette (the author) uses what she calls “Design Psychology” when she’s fixing up her houses to get them to sell FAST. I love everything I’ve read so far, it’s definitely worth your time to check out these websites.

I’m considering buying the book, but since I don’t need it “right this minute”, I may wait, money is a big issue for us right now. But when I buy it, I’ll definitely do a review here on this blog.

If you decide you want to buy it, I would appreciate it if you use my link to Amazon here on this page. Thanks!