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If it works you don't need to update a darn thing. Turn off HGTV and company and just live in it. Don't fix anything, nothing if it's not broken. Who cares? Do you think HGTV is going to show up at your door? Just make a list of "Must fix" and tackle those items first. Keep an eye on Craigslist, estate sales, garage sales for various things that might allow you to "update" you home a step at a time.
Look back a generation or two and you saw people that moved into their homes for 40 years and never "updated" anything and enjoyed their homes and saved money for the big things in life.
For the OP: I bought a house not quite a year ago that is at least 100 years older than yours (circa 1880), from an elderly couple that had owned it a little under 50 years...they had taken good care of the place but in terms of 'updates', it was apparent that nothing significant had been done in about 25-30 years (other than the roof, 3 years old)....while whats here was in fair to excellent condition, it was mostly dated if not starting to wear out in places, but everything worked.
My guess is you live in an area where there is mostly newer housing stock---a thirty year old house is not old by any means and many people would prefer an established, good neighborhood over a brand new one which has no selling history...you can change virtually anything about a property except one thing: its location!.
I am currently in the process of rehabbing, to various degrees as needed and desired, each room that I feel needs work (a few I think can be kept as is). But I know that once I am finished the house is very likely to be worth quite a bit more than I paid for it...if you actually paid something well within line of its market value, do the updates and repairs as needed and desired, you can turn a nice profit when it comes time to sell.....
Kitchens and bathrooms are usually the most expensive rooms to update, but they also tend to return the most on the investment...things like door handles, hardware, fixtures are comparatively cheap and really nothing to be worried about. Bad location aside, structural issues and water damage to any significant degree are what really can cause you massive headaches...
Look back a generation or two and you saw people that moved into their homes for 40 years and never "updated" anything and enjoyed their homes and saved money for the big things in life.
This is a good point. Some people act like it's a rule somewhere that you have to renovate your kitchen with new cabinets, counters, appliances, etc. every 10 years.
Now do the right thing and don't start hating everyone else in your life because f the house. If you aren't careful either that will happen or they will start hating you because you are miserable and making them miserable as well.
Get a different house. It wasn't the last one they made. It only takes time and money and you can get both of those things with patience and effort.
Now get a hold of yourself before your emotional burden drags your family down with you.
Has anyone bought a house and sold within 6 months-Not a Flip
[Post in new thread merged with this existing thread, moved to RE forum] I am having buyers remorse about how big, expensive, and how much work I have to do in this house. I will admit, it's my fault, I thought I loved the house but now I hate everything about it. I am being immature and crazy but these are my feelings so please answer and give advice.
I put 20% down because I thought not having a PMI was a smart thing
I paid extra for my interest rate to be lower
now I want out and I want a small house, I am overwhelmed so much that I can't sleep more than 1 hour a night, I cry constantly, I feel so bad for my husband because I am always crying and it's upsetting him so much. He just wants me to be happy.
I feel like I made a huge mistake and I want to be able to fix it but not lose a ton of money, we saved our whole lives to put that money down..
Please give me some input, I am open to criticism and blunt honesty, I just need to get out of the way I am feeling because it's taking over my mind and I have gone from a happy fun lady to a depressed crying person.
I bought a big house because I was hoping my elderly great aunt would move out with us and the downstairs master is perfect. I wanted to have enough room for family to visit. But now I realize I made a really bad decision.
Will I be able to resell in the spring and get most of my money back? We are already updating paint and outlets and misc.
Last edited by observer53; 11-05-2014 at 03:56 PM..
When we moved into our almost never updated 1985 house, the first week before we moved in:
Had a new roof installed ($8K)
I scraped the popcorn off the ceilings (Free)
I hired a guy to paint all cabinets and woodwork white and all rooms (~$4K)
I bought new quartz counter tops and had a guy install them (~$5K)
And changed about half the light fixtures...the other half got changed over the 1st year (~$500)
For the inside, that basically got us through the first 5 years until I switched out windows last year and converted our fireplace this year. Furnace and AC are right around the corner. Just get the must haves done now, and the rest can be done later.
[Post in new thread merged with this existing thread, moved to RE forum] I am having buyers remorse about how big, expensive, and how much work I have to do in this house. I will admit, it's my fault, I thought I loved the house but now I hate everything about it. I am being immature and crazy but these are my feelings so please answer and give advice.
I put 20% down because I thought not having a PMI was a smart thing
I paid extra for my interest rate to be lower
now I want out and I want a small house, I am overwhelmed so much that I can't sleep more than 1 hour a night, I cry constantly, I feel so bad for my husband because I am always crying and it's upsetting him so much. He just wants me to be happy.
I feel like I made a huge mistake and I want to be able to fix it but not lose a ton of money, we saved our whole lives to put that money down..
Please give me some input, I am open to criticism and blunt honesty, I just need to get out of the way I am feeling because it's taking over my mind and I have gone from a happy fun lady to a depressed crying person.
I bought a big house because I was hoping my elderly great aunt would move out with us and the downstairs master is perfect. I wanted to have enough room for family to visit. But now I realize I made a really bad decision.
Will I be able to resell in the spring and get most of my money back? We are already updating paint and outlets and misc.
I truly mean this in the kindest way but I think you'd be better investing in seeing someone about your emotions than consulting a realtor.
Real estate is emotional, I understand that but your posts reflect a strong lack of perspective about how dire your position is and crying constantly truly doesn't seem warranted. To be a "depressed crying person" over this is a strong warning sign that you should talk to a professional because I'm not certain that a new house would make this second guessing better.
I wish you the best of luck but I really don't think posting on here about whether you'll lose money is the best place to be investing your energy. We simply can't tell you that with any measure of accuracy and it's making you continue to dwell on what is wrong with your decision instead of what might be right.
Well, OP's drama aside, I want to thank everyone for all their sound advice.
My husband and I are under contract for a 1958 split-level home that needs plenty of cosmetic updates... popcorn needs to be scraped off the ceilings (would want to get it tested for asbestos first, though, since the current sellers don't know if there is asbestos - this is not a deal-breaker for us), pretty much all doors in the house need to be replaced, some windows could stand to be replaced, the whole house needs a paint job, and the carpeting will need to be ripped up and the hardwood underneath refinished. I was feeling overwhelmed at the thought of all the work that "needs" to be done, but it's livable as-is. Thanks for the reality check, everyone!
OP, see a therapist. You need someone to help you learn how to cope.
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Has anyone bought a house and sold within 6 months-Not a Flip
