If you’ve been here long, you realize that we like to fix up old houses. Here’s WHY we fix old houses.
Back in 2012, Hubby and I were newlyweds living in our first little apartment.
Picture this:
A small two bedroom on the first floor of a little, old, dark green colonial in the heart of town.
A combination living/dining that was long and skinny.
It had a tiny kitchen with:
- cool old, cream colored, metal cabinets
- high ceilings
- one of those big old half-white sinks that came with an attached sloped and ribbed (drying?) counter
The only piece of functional workspace was an old corner cabinet between the drying counter and stove that had a small speckled red countertop with metal edges.
The stove was ancient, but not like the old style/retro cutesy ones they sell now. It was the kind that the door falls apart in your hand when you go to open it. (In other words, the kind we fix, sell and replace, ha).
That room was so small the fridge was stuck in the hallway leading to the back bedroom.
We slept in that bedroom.
We were married the end of September, and one of our first days there we found out that room didn’t have insulation or heat. One crisp Fall morning, after we had closed the door for the night, we woke to a 45 degree room.
We had a clock radio that told the room temp, so this was for certain. (Yes, we still laugh about this).
And lastly, there was a tiny 70’s mint green tiled bathroom. The itty bitty sink hung on the wall under a rusty old mirrored medicine cabinet. There was no counter space in there either, even for a toothbrush.
A couple of fun facts:
- We had centipedes that would race faster than any bug I’ve ever seen TOWARDS you when you turned on the lights in a room
- And small, mostly see through spiders we’ve never seen anywhere else
- One time we got back from vacation, the kitchen ceiling was covered in them *GAG*
What Started Us Fixing Up Old Houses
One evening, after we both got home from a long, hard day’s work, I shoved my new husband through the living room wall.
Now, understand, we were playing around and it wasn’t my fault that we was 6’1, 220 pounds and, at the moment, easy to knock over.
It also wasn’t my fault the people who built the wall used 3/8 inch drywall and skimped on 2×4’s building it [24″ on center], making for a very weak wall. /facepalm
Fixing that huge hole with his brother-in-law (with our landlords permission), sparked a passion in my husband to work with his hands on an old house.
His own old house.
We talked for a moment, and house hunting with our landlord, now realtor, commenced.
However, when we first looked into buying a house, we came across several dilemmas:
- We couldn’t afford the floor plan and/or finishes that we wanted. (Remember, we were young and inexperienced, so our tastes were actually very basic at the time).
- We were still forming our opinions and preferences on all things related to housing. (I.E. yard size, in/out of town, amenities in the house, etc.)
- Hubby wanted a project he had complete control over, but small focused projects? Or a full fixer?
- If we went ahead with a mortgage on an ‘ok’ house it would have been at the very top of our budget.
So we decided, as first time home buyers, that we needed to:
- Stay quite a bit under budget – that did NOT mean lowballing owners of finished homes we wanted that were out of our budget. DON’T do that. It’s immature and insulting.
- Find a house we could ‘fix’ to the way we wanted it
- Seriously consider two family homes – having a tenant can offset expenses for repairs or even pay over and above the mortgage (like what happened for us). Just be sure you have some street smarts and ‘vet’ prospective tenants thoroughly.
Why We Fix Old Houses
The why’s are easy:
- it’s the most affordable option
- we can put higher-end finishes in when we do the work (and search out the deals) ourselves
- it’s exciting to see our vision come to life and the process grows us in ways living in a finished home wouldn’t
- finishing a home yourself can net a LOT of equity if you’re smart about it
We’ve had success with fixers because of my husband’s broad range of skills and expertise, and my growing love of designing and creating a beautiful, functional living space.
With Fixer #1, we built around 35k in equity on it. That’s not counting all the years of being landlords over it which, while living in it, covered the mortgage + $100 or so monthly. Once we moved on to Fixer #2, it made us around $1,000 a month, with the mortgage still being covered.
With Fixer #2, we had around 25k in equity by the time we sold it.
Fixing up a home can be the best investment you ever make, if you’re smart about it. And if you’re willing to put in the time, energy, tears and work.
We’ve done it for 8+ years, you can do it too!
Follow us on Instagram and get on our email list, and maybe you’ll be inspired to take on a Fixer too!