We did this. Very expensive neighborhood and bought the weird, rundown house. So much deferred maintenance issues. It has taken us almost three years, but now the house feels like it is mostly done. We did hire a super intense cleaning crew - almost $1000 if not more. They did an amazing job. We did the floors for $7000 before we moved in. We have slowly painted, patched open areas in basement, replaced the roof, had the entire landscaping removed and replaced, the list goes on but we like this kinda thing and we also hire people when we don't know how to do something. It has been worth it for us, primarily because the neighborhood was good for our kids and our commutes.

*And the most important part of our experience has been to laugh about it, not blame each other when something goes wrong or goes over budget, and to be grateful to live where we do. It's been an adventure!

Anonymous wrote:OP here and thanks to everyone for such a quick round of replies. My husband has been doing math today to see if we could stay in our rental to the end of our lease in the spring and still afford the house. I just asked him to check in with the realtor (they've been trading texts all day) to see what the options would be in terms of an inspection.

It's so funny, $75-100k sounds like so much to me but I've never done any work on a house before so I can see that I may be clueless about what it will really cost. We probably can't do more than that, so that's something to really consider, beyond the ick factor. Also, the idea of things living in the walls...yeah. That hadn't been on my list of things to be afraid of but it is now.

It is a lot, but it's not a lot if a lot of work needs to be done. Also, remember if you DIY, you will spend thousands alone in tools.

Test for mold. Test the air and the surfaces

OP here and thanks to everyone for such a quick round of replies. My husband has been doing math today to see if we could stay in our rental to the end of our lease in the spring and still afford the house. I just asked him to check in with the realtor (they've been trading texts all day) to see what the options would be in terms of an inspection.

It's so funny, $75-100k sounds like so much to me but I've never done any work on a house before so I can see that I may be clueless about what it will really cost. We probably can't do more than that, so that's something to really consider, beyond the ick factor. Also, the idea of things living in the walls...yeah. That hadn't been on my list of things to be afraid of but it is now.

Anonymous wrote:Not nuts if you can afford it, but you have got to get an inspection and make the purchase contingent on that. It would be one thing if there were people living there already, but abandoned for years? All sorts of things are likely wrong with this house. Roof, foundation, plumbing, electrical. Those are the biggies, so you have got to get an inspection. If the seller says no contingencies, then it's not the house for you.

PS forgot to add that your $100K estimate is likely going to be woefully inadequate to get this house in shape. You'll need double that, if all the things I listed are indeed an issue.

You would need a good inspection - if it's just dead rodents, you may be okay to clean and move on, but if you have anything that has nested or is nesting in the walls, you may be ripping things out to find access points and clean up the mess. The challenge with a house that's been vacant/neglected is that there may be hidden issues like corroding pipes or sewer issues.

You probably are underestimating costs at 75-100K to do cosmetic work plus refreshing the bathrooms plus a new kitchen. But if you can get it for a good price and are willing to put in the work, this is exactly the kind of scenario where you can get a rare "deal" in the housing market.

You are going to need a lot more than that to fix it up, even if you DIY parts of it. I would absolutely have an inspector come in and make sure that the structure is ok as structural work is a fortune. We did an information only inspection with no expectation they fix anything and we'd only not follow through if something was really bad.

The kitchen, even DIY could be $12-15K, roof could be $6-15k+, not to mention plumbing and electrical (does it have a heavy up), etc.

Not nuts if you can afford it, but you have got to get an inspection and make the purchase contingent on that. It would be one thing if there were people living there already, but abandoned for years? All sorts of things are likely wrong with this house. Roof, foundation, plumbing, electrical. Those are the biggies, so you have got to get an inspection. If the seller says no contingencies, then it's not the house for you.

Get a qualified general contractor to go through the house with your DH, carefully and thoroughly. Ask for a ballpark amount to bring the house up to speed. Throw in an extra 20% for unexpected expenses, especially for behind the wall things such as electricity/plumbing. Then consider if you think it's worth the risk.

Anonymous wrote:Could you afford to continue renting your current place while you start cleaning up the fixer?

We bought the house advertised as a "handyman's special". It was atrocious. It was a LOT of work to clean it up - we did this before we had kids, not sure I could handle it now tbh. Spent hours on it every evening, long weekends.

We lived in the house while doing the work, which does help with the motivation to keep working on it ... but again, didn't have kids. It's different if you're worried about their health (dust, mold, paint fumes, maybe even asbestos or lead) and having to stop noisy work during naptimes & early bedtimes. That's mainly why I ask if you could keep your current house while you do the messiest of the clean-up.

Sorry, me again ... forgot to add the bottom line! If you can handle the work, it is a GREAT way to get an affordable house. We love our place now. It was a lot of work to get here, but I'm really happy with it. Live in a place long enough and it'll need renovation eventually, even if you bought it new.

Just make sure you have cash available for the big expenses. Does it need a new roof? HVAC? Plumbing/electrical?

We were in a similar situation and bought a fixer-upper/tear-down in 2010 in our desired location. Gutting the first floor to the studs (with new kitchen and new bath), renovating the upstairs bath and finishing the basement cost us about 150K in 2011. So please be VERY careful when estimating your renovation costs. It costs more to renovate an existing space than it does to build new, because of the constraints of the remaining structure.

However, if you manage to stay within your budget and not lose your sanity through the reno, it's a sound financial choice!

Could you afford to continue renting your current place while you start cleaning up the fixer?

We bought the house advertised as a "handyman's special". It was atrocious. It was a LOT of work to clean it up - we did this before we had kids, not sure I could handle it now tbh. Spent hours on it every evening, long weekends.

We lived in the house while doing the work, which does help with the motivation to keep working on it ... but again, didn't have kids. It's different if you're worried about their health (dust, mold, paint fumes, maybe even asbestos or lead) and having to stop noisy work during naptimes & early bedtimes. That's mainly why I ask if you could keep your current house while you do the messiest of the clean-up.

Anonymous wrote:Why does it smell?

OP here. I asked that too, within seconds of walking in. The realtor told me that there was old food and some dead rodents in the house when he first went in that his team had removed. That's the only thing they did prior to letting people look at because it's being sold as-is. But he assured me that nobody died in the house. He was careful to maintain privacy but based on what he said, my guess is that the previous owner was in a different housing situation the last few years and the family just left the house alone until the owner passed away.

Why does it smell?

We have been renting a SFH for about 5 years. We sold a townhouse and moved because we had outgrown our space and couldn't afford to buy something larger but we could afford to rent. We honestly never thought we'd get as attached to our neighborhood as we have but our kids have friends, we like the schools, and it's the right location for our respective commutes. But we still cannot buy here, not by a longshot.

Except maybe we can. There's house about 2 blocks away that's been sitting empty for almost as long as we've been here. It's clearly neglected and needs lots of work outside but it looks structurally sound. A few days ago a "coming soon" sign showed up in front of it so we called and got to go inside yesterday with the realtor. He warned us ahead of time but honestly I was not ready for what it was like in there. Stuff everywhere, it smelled like death, and every surface was gross. It was awful. But my husband, who is made of stronger stuff, took the time to really look around and he feels like once we cleaned it (and by we I mean hired professionals who do this kind of thing), did a ton of cosmetic work, and replaced all the appliances and bathroom fixtures (and maybe gutted the kitchen entirely) it would be a livable situation and we could spend the next few years making it what we want.

The only reason I'm considering it is that they are asking $550k under what houses in our neighborhood are going for. We could afford it, even with about $75-100k of work on top of the purchase. If it was in a different location I bet it would go as a teardown but our neighborhood hasn't really embraced that concept and I don't think a developer would see it as a great return on investment. So I think we could get it (the realtor implied that the estate selling it is highly motivated to unload it quickly). But I'm really struggling with the idea of living in a place like this. I never thought I was the kind of person who cared about what happened in a house in the past but I'm writing all kinds of scripts in my head and it's making me super uncomfortable about making this our home. I can't tell if I'm being irrational or if this is really something to avoid doing. Does anyone have experience with this kind of situation? Am I nuts for not jumping on this opportunity or nuts to consider doing it?