Buying A Home
marissa422
member
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How to know if you're making the right decision...
We're first time home buyers and are buying a bit of a fixer upper. We had our inspection a few days ago and the both of us have been feeling SO overwhelmed & discouraged. Not so much because of the inspection, just seeing in the house completely empty and really seeing all the work that needs to be put into it plus all the stuff we found needs to be done on the inspection side of it. Givin our budget, we did not expect to walk into a complete finished gorgeous house. But we didn't expect this. We remind ourselves why we fell in love with this house to begin with; the price we got it for is unbeatable. the taxes, unbeatable. the location and school district our exactly what we wanted. The size of the house is perfect for our growing family. Tons of potential. Whats most discouraging isnt so much that it needs so much work, its that all that work is $$$. And leaving us wonder, are we making the right decison? Is it worth it? Would we be better off buying something a little more $ with less work?! We dont have a ton to throw in to it and we atleast want to be happy and comfortable in our house...sigh. Any advice 
Re: How to know if you're making the right decision...
I second guessed my decision a couple of times. My house wasn't so much a fixer upper but it has some updated but functional finishes. The bones were good (new windows, heating & air, and a semi-new roof). I decided that I could live with the finishes until I decide to update them. I take on one small project at a time. My last one was removing all the wallpaper from the kitchen and re-painting. It ended up taking 3 weekends with help. My next project will probably be re-tiling the master bath. If you can save and work and save and work but still live with what's there until you get to it then you should be good. Ultimately it is what you feel comfortable with that matters. In my area finding a house in the area that I wanted and in my price point was very hard. I would rather live with a few changes that need to be made than wait it out. I did fall in love with the house on the first visit.
What kind of changes need to be made? Are they structural or major things that need to be ASAP?
Aside from the minor cosmetics which we were willing to take as is, the house needs new siding ASAP, its wood and the wood is rotting due to improper/lack of gutters. I am aware that there are many programs and assitance available if qualified to help pay for siding and we do have someone who offered to put it up for free. So thats a plus. It needs gutters as I mentioned. The back screened in porch needs replaced due to the wood rotting issue the porch will eventually fall down. The entire basement needs to be gutted and redone, again because of the neglect of gutters, leaving significant water damage to the basement (i'm not sure how urgent this needs to be done, this is all so foreign to me!) Needs some insulation, whats there is good but they neglected to finish in spots and some damage.
Your first offer may have specified how long you have to negotiate based on the results of the inspection.
Are you working with a realtor? You should really lean on him/her for help at this point. You may ask for a reduced sales price or that the sellers fix these items or you can walk away. Reducing the sales price will not get you any $ back at closing so you will need to make the repairs with your cash. We bought a fixer upper as is but knew that going in and made our offer low.
Yes, we plan on calling her tonight! Shes been an amazing help through all this so her advice is always important and helpful. We were paying all the closting costs anyways, so I guess we wouoldnt really be in a loss there. However, I forwarded our inspection results off to a relative of mine who flips houses for a living to get his opinion. He said stay away from it. My husband will be talking with him tonight, he would like to explain more. Im a little upset, im definitely glad we have resources to help us make the right move but its going to be tough giving up all that we did love about that house. And started over again totally makes me nervous, we just want to be in our own house so bad with a new baby coming in july and no room left in our apartment it would be ideal to be in before then. Then with a school aged daughter I want to make sure shes in a permanent school by the beginning of next school year. AH so stressful (sorry for the minor rant lol) I know it will all work out and if this house falls through it wasnt meant to be.
I don't know how large the house is but my mother has a medium sized house and redid one side with hardiplank (sp). Just one side was $3,000 and you will want to take care of that right away to prevent future damage. If the basement has water damage you may want to get a mold test. I would not want to get into the house and then realize there was a major mold problem. The back deck you can leave until you are ready but I wouldn't be going out on it at all until then. Are you using a FHA loan? It may not pass the appraisal if the deck, siding and gutters need to be replaced.
Good Luck!
Exactly as you said ^ We don't want to take on more than we can handle.
Thanks for all the advice & yes to the FHA question, I'm sure most of it will not pass!
Don't try and negotiate a lower price. The difference you'll see in the monthly mortgage payment will be small, and you'll still need to come up with the money for repairs.
Instead, ask the sellers for a credit. Figure out how much it would cost to do the siding, etc an ask the sellers for that as a credit. You can then turn around and get the work done immediately after you close without it impacting your checkbook. Good luck!
Honestly, after reading your OP and then further responses, I would walk! In all honesty, it sounds like more than you can take on financially and practically. These don't seem like repairs you and your DH can complete with your own work, and they will all be very expensive to pay someone to complete. They are also things that you won't be able to wait yrs to complete. You can live with cosmetic issues for years, LOL, they're just ugly
Mold, water damage, and falling down porches are big issues.
If I had a relative who successfully flipped houses telling me to walk away, I would be walking! Some homes just need too much work.
I know the desire to find the one you can afford and get moving on it, but you can't jump into a decision this big. You wont be doing your family any favors by getting into a home that is falling around you and whose repairs will stretch your budget past it's limits.
I know it's been a few days since you last posted. Have you come to any conclusions yet?