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Fixing is one thing.
Unnecessary upgrades of stuff that works fine is something else.
My house is paid off and not everything is exactly the way I like it, but I'm not replacing something totally functional for lame ass cosmetic reasons.
Maintenance, cleaning, and repair is important.
That's what I think. Well, I don't think cosmetic is lame, I just think it's financially imprudent at this time.
Especially when truly I don't want to even stay here. I covet a downstairs unit that is already re-modeled.
Someone like my friends who used to flip houses would want one like this. To gut. Which is really what it needs.
Given their age, gutting is the way to go. I don't know that 'rental-grade' is a term anyone uses, but I am sure y'all know what I mean by that.
Gutting and re-doing rental-grade could be a very smart move. And then rent it out and go to a coveted downstairs.
Well, get IN the coveted re-done downstairs so I'm not sitting in the construction. I'd have enough to pay HOA fees on both while that is being done. the team used downstairs had it done in a week and if the market is similar in 5 years, it will rent immediately.
When one goes up for rent here my realtor friend gets 100 calls on it. And the rent is twice as much as my mortgage ....
I bought a fixer-upper but I won't fix it up until the mortgage is paid. I don't think anyone agrees with it save my father.
I almost got floors - there is concrete in the kitchen and 'dining room' (one bedroom condo). But I want to OWN that concrete!
So I gave the money I saved for that and a couple other things to the mortgage. Saved a ton on interest. Shaved off years. I figure it will be worth it in the end!
11 years right now if I make minimum payments which I hopefully do not have to do. My goal is 5 years. 5 years of this crap condo and then I can make it nice. And pocket that interest!
Luckily the carpet in my bedroom isn't ruined like it is in the LR. Nor is any of the furniture damaged like out here. At least at night and when I wake up I don't feel crappy about my surroundings.
Maybe I won't even bother with this money-pit. Sell it to someone who wants a cheap one to fix up and buy one already done with the massive down payment of this one paid off. Or fix it up 'rental-grade' and make it into Section 8. (that was the original plan for this place - I was never meant to live here. Fell on hard times and had to)
IDK but I feel in my heart I am doing the smart thing.
I bought a fixer upper also. But I am fixing as I go. I put a kitchen floor down for less than $200. I just remodeled the master bath for less than $250, including tile floors.
Why do you have to live in squalor? You do not have to spend a fortune but you could make the condo a reasonable place that could sell if need be.
I bought a fixer upper also. But I am fixing as I go. I put a kitchen floor down for less than $200. I just remodeled the master bath for less than $250, including tile floors.
Why do you have to live in squalor? You do not have to spend a fortune but you could make the condo a reasonable place that could sell if need be.
I've explained this. You might not have read the post about the things I've already done and that the most needed things are floors, which are last when remodeling, and many thousands of dollars away.
But in thinking on that I decided to get price for sticky floors in the meantime. My friend got them and they look fine. won't last long, but mine don't need to.
One piece of advice I will add is to find yourself a really good handyman. They are normally willing to take whatever work they can get, no job too small type of a deal. That way, you can keep an eye on craigslist or other sites for leftovers from builders, or people who have remodeled. You can find rolls of carpet, left over ceramic tile, laminate flooring, etc. I have a friend who got 3 boxes of left over laminate from a homeowner who purchased too much. He paid $100.00. The boxes retailed for $100.00 each. He then purchased the rest over a couple of months to complete his living room. He got the underlayer from another person. As long as you aren't in a hurry, you can piece together materials like this.
I know another person who picked up broken pallets whenever he saw them for free. He would then sand the good pieces down and use them to make shelves, furniture, etc.
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