SET A BUDGET & YOUR CALENDAR
It’s probably not a newsflash that updating a house costs money often times a lot. The fixer-upper itself might not be all that expensive, but bringing it up to par with the rest of the market (or above) is going to cost you. Talk to any partners going in on this project with you, and ideally a financial adviser , to hammer out how much you can realistically afford to spend on the fixer-upper and to explore any funding ideas that you might have.
If you’re not sure what a realistic fixer-upper budget looks like in the area where you’re searching, then it’s useful to find a local contractor who can give you some ballpark figures for what you can expect to spend. You will be glad you connected with that local contractor before all is said and done.
Buying a fixer-upper to improve and live in might not require a strict calendar, although it is a good idea to give yourself some general parameters around how long you really want to spend working on the house, whether it’s one year or 2 & 1/2 like mine. If you’re planning to fix-and-flip the house, or fix it up sell then a calendar becomes much more critical.
If you can’t fix it within your ideal time frame, then not only will you be paying for the repairs, but you’ll continue to carry the loan too. If it does not sell as quickly as you hoped, then that’s another month of payments you’ll have to make.
This is another area where a local contractor or even a REAL ESTATE AGENT might be able to help. They usually know about the permitting and repair process, not to mention the local contractor market. Especially how busy or relaxed it is at any given time of year.
Life happens and often times, and you can’t always expect things to go according to plan. Contractors may be booked for months, weather can also be a factor. That’s why it’s always smart to remember that your budget and calendar might act more as guidelines than hard-and-fast rules, and you should be prepared to extend one, the other, or both beyond your projected expectations.
If you know going in that your budget and your calendar are not set in stone, it’ll be easier to bear when something shifts and you wind up a little bit behind schedule or over budget. Just have a contingency plan in place in case that happens so you don’t overextend yourself financially. $$$$$.