When you buy an existing home, it’s a sure bet that you’ve identified some changes you want to make. New paint is just the beginning. When you buy a newly built home, it’s also likely that you have planned changes even if it is your dream home. When you buy a fixer-upper, you know you’re in for a ride.
Certainly your inspection gave you insight into repairs needed. Your Realtor hopefully played a role in the inspection-objection process snagging you some consideration for flawed parts. But even that won’t cover all costs.
Home makeover shows give an entire hour to a whole-home revision top to bottom, inside out. Even though we know it doesn’t work that way, we set our expectations high. Bathroom toilets and tile should arrive intact, not broken, right? It should be unacceptable to be promised delivery on a date certain and then receive delay or even cancellation notices.
When embarking on a Fixer Upper project make a schedule and a budget.
- Prioritize the most important repairs/fixes. Consider: is it infrastructure or the lipstick on the pig? What matters most?
- Realize that remodeling anything is like peeling back an onion. You pull up the carpet with the intent to refinish the hardwood underneath and learn that a piece of subfloor has been inserted into the mix somehow. Now you need to repair the hardwood as well as sanding and staining it.
- Get online and search out prices. You might find the same materials at Tractor Supply for less than at Home Depot. (Did that once.) When ordering online, vet the shipping costs. Shipping can be free. Or not.
- Scratch and dent options for appliances can save you a bundle. Craigslist.com has surprising finds. Habitat for Humanity and Bud’s Warehouse serve designers and contractors well.
Words of wisdom:
- Pace your approach. When you’re living in your home while remodeling, it’s too easy to let the fixes in one room roll into the next causing chaos in your day-to-day routine.
- Keep tabs on the weather. Rain, snow, freezing temps will cause delays.
- Align with a trusted electrician, plumber and handyman.
- Keep every receipt. You’ll want to measure your success at the end of the project and numbers tell the story.
