Anonymous wrote:I'd buy a place that is already renovated. Unless you get a construction loan, you can't finance the repairs. With interest rates so low, it's probably smarter to pay more in sticker price. It would avoid doling out lots of cash on an ongoing basis. And you wouldn't have to live through the renovations.

And then you get to live with other people's taste for years, and pay a markup for it.

I'd buy a place that is already renovated. Unless you get a construction loan, you can't finance the repairs. With interest rates so low, it's probably smarter to pay more in sticker price. It would avoid doling out lots of cash on an ongoing basis. And you wouldn't have to live through the renovations.

Anonymous wrote:We went for location first, then made sure through the home inspection that it was structurally sound (no foundation or water issues). The yard was obviously big enough to add on eventually, and the kitchen was a good size, if really dated. A contractor gave us a free estimate during the inspection period. Our 1930s home still needed a ton of costly fixes. We are now in the process of doing some aesthetic renovations, and it's interesting to talk to different contractors and architects because they generate lots of ideas and have wildly differing estimates. Everything adds up quickly so assume the worst in terms of cost, hope for the best.

OP here, this is really on point advice. thank you. our instinct is to buy the biggest house in the nicest neighborhood we can afford and go from there.

PP here. I should add that our fixer is big enough for our current needs. If your first thought is that you need to add space, I wouldn't do it. Our first set of renovations doesn't really mess with the existing footprint of the house.

tear it down first , duh

We went for location first, then made sure through the home inspection that it was structurally sound (no foundation or water issues). The yard was obviously big enough to add on eventually, and the kitchen was a good size, if really dated. A contractor gave us a free estimate during the inspection period. Our 1930s home still needed a ton of costly fixes. We are now in the process of doing some aesthetic renovations, and it's interesting to talk to different contractors and architects because they generate lots of ideas and have wildly differing estimates. Everything adds up quickly so assume the worst in terms of cost, hope for the best.

OP here. Thanks for the responses! I am mostly talking about looking at a house and being able to tell, for example, that this wall can/cannot be removed, there could be another bathroom here, this room can serve as X, etc. For instance, we toured a house yesterday and it had only one bath upstairs and no master bedroom. DH and I were left wondering, can this be changed for a reasonable amount of money? I guess we found ourselves shrugging a lot because we simply don't have the know how or the creativity to reimagine a space. I know there are people that do a wonderful job with purchasing an home and changing it up. I don't know how they do it. I thought maybe some people toured with a contractor or someone else with that type of knowledge/vision. I guess I want to be a person on one of those HGTV shows where the experts show you what you're not seeing.

Do you have any friends who've done additions or renovations and can recommend a good contractor to tour a few houses with you? You could probably agree on an hourly rate beforehand.

I bought a fixer-upper that was in pretty good shape. I liked the location, schools and level yard and the fact that the back had already been bumped out for a family room. I also thought the layout would really work for us. The bathrooms are a joke, the kitchen needs a little work and the finished basement is pretty low-rent, plus there's a lot of electrical updating to do, plus some window, door and closet door replacement. (we've already worked on the fireplace and HVAC.) I'm doing it bit-by-bit as I get the money.

Are there any people in the DC area that have the same skills as Jonathan from the Property Brothers and would work up a proposal for a house you're just interested in but have not purchased?

What I would like to be able to do would be to tour a house with someone like him, and for X amount of money, I would be told "this is what I could do with this house for X amount of money."

Often times, we'll tour an older (1930s) era home and we'll wonder what would be possible to do as far as changing the layout and how much it would cost.

We bought a fixer upper and our first concern was the structural integrity of the house. Once we were reassured that the house had "good bones," we focused on location, the size of rooms and the overall layout of the house. We knew that it would take time for us to realize the house's full potential and set priorities vis a vis what we could live for a while with and what had to be changed immediately. Eleven years later we're still here and love our house more than ever.

yeah, don't be that person on HouseHunters hating the carpet, paint colors and wallpaper These things can so easily be changed!

Even an old kitchen can pretty easily be changed. I totally recommend HGTV's Rate My Space site to see some real life renovations of different rooms.

If it's mostly cosmetic, some real estate agents are good at this. We had a seriously low budget for our neighborhood (420k for the Hill) and our agent was great at helping us see the potential in a very homely house.

I was reluctant to buy the house we ended up with because it needed major updating in virtually every room. There was bad carpet and ancient wallpaper everywhere. I was more inclined to buy a much smaller place in better shape. But my husband (smart man!) insisted on a basement and more space, and our agent helped us see past the ugliness. Now I love, love, love our house and feel like we go an amazing deal.

How was I certain of the potential in the dump we bought in 2000? The address.

That's the first and most important factor.

how fixer upper are you talking? We bought a house in need of updating, but it wasn't in horrible shape to begin with. We knew coming in that we were going to rip out the kitchen immediately and change out the flooring on the first level, as well as had some plans for other rooms. But we didn't really change the footprint - mostly just cosmetic changes. The biggest changes we made to the house itself were things like putting a doorway between the kitchen and living room when there wasn't one previously and removing a door to the den to create better flow/make it more open. Oh, and we redid the half bath on that level, which cost us maybe $1K total even with all new toilet and sink installed. We are now turning our attention to the bathrooms on second level.

We LOVE shows like Property Brothers, Holmes on Homes and Income Property on HGTV, which I think help in seeing how you might be able to make small changes with a huge impact.

If you are thinking of massive renovations, though, I would maybe take an architect with you fo a second look if you think there is potential but you are really sure what to do with the space.

We're considering purchasing a fixer upper and budgeting for renovations and/or additions. The problem is that when DH and I see a home, we have very limited vision for its potential and how much realizing that potential would cost. If only there was a knowledgeable person with us to look at these homes and gives us ideas and estimates of how much it would cost. How should we go about doing that? Would it be a general contractor? Architect? TIA!