buying a new home. wife and i fighting. nf

[aplumma]

I have always gone with "Yes dear, I have no opinion".

 

 

Art

[ch312]

If you're capable of renovations, I say buy a fixer upper. You'll get a bigger and/or better house for the price, have a lower mortgage, and will have the opportunity to customize the house as you go.

 

I've worked on a few flips over the last couple years and will give rough numbers to give you an idea. This is in Brantford where houses are relatively cheap compared to the GTA and major cities where the profits for "flippers" are even greater.

 

House 1 - 2 storey, 4 bedroom, mainly cosmetic reno's, bought for $150k

-6 weeks work

-$20k spent

-sold for $230k

-new owners paid an extra $60k for the house

 

House 2 - 1 storey, 3 bedroom, complete gut, finished the unfinished basement, bought for $120k

-7 weeks work

-$30-35k spent

-sold for $198k

-new owners paid an extra $40-45k to have the work done for them

 

House 3 - 2 storey, 3 bedroom, cosmetic reno's + windows, furnace, roof, bought for $200k

-5 weeks work

-$25-30k spent

-sold for $260k

-new owners paid $30k for "move in" condition

 

 

 

For comparison, a good friend of mine bought a house in Etobicoke 2 years ago and has been doing reno's on the 5 level split since moving in. They've done all the work themselves and have spent around $80k on reno's so far and just recently the house has been appraised for $150k more than their original purchase price.

Edited February 11, 2014 by ch312

[Dara]

Its Sault Ste marie

 

Everybody is a handyman and flipper.

 

From my experience you basically get out of it what you put into it.

 

If a house needs a $20,000.00 kitchen reno, it is listed at $20,000.00 more after the reno.

 

You will get some wages out of it and thats it.

 

Would you rather be at work getting the wages, or at home listening to the wife complain that you aren't working fast enough when you would really rather be fishing.

 

Price a few places, add up what the reno's will cost and figure what it would be listed at afterwards.

Ask the realestate agent for an opinion as well.

Do the homework and the math....don't just assume that you can make money on it.

 

New housing is also up to date for energy efficiency, venmars, water pipes and electrical.

Insurance companies give better rates for new than 30 years old as well.

Just do your homework and decide based on facts, not guesses

[captpierre]

Don't forget. Real Estate doesn't always go up.

 

In the late 80's, bought 1st house at the top of the market (like now) for $192K.

 

Sold it after 5 yrs with some monor improvements for $155K.

 

Young folks haven't experienced that. It's coming.

 

When mortgage rates go up 1%, they say 10% of people have to sell.

 

Their mortgage payments will go up by 1/3 potentially.

 

Be careful flipping. I admire those who can gut a house and make it smile.

[Governator]

All I know is when I'm 'done work' for the day, I'm done work for the day. You have to be honest with yourself and ask realistically how much time & energy are you really going to put in to it,

[pike slayer]

dara is right. Here in the sault typically what you put in is what you'll make. The only real way to make money on a flip here is if you have a "in" with a bank or agent and you get first swing at perfect houses for flips.
old ironworker on the listings i see alot of houses with kitchens and bathrooms that need to be done. It is annoying and hard on these 2 rooms to be renovated because they are typically the most expensive to redo and it really screws up daily life so people never do it. They do however add the most value and give the most wow factor. Thats why i'd consider it.
ch312 thats kinda the way i was thinking. She doesn't want to move a dozen times. The house we buy she wants it to be the house that we stay in a long time and raise a family. So we will need a family size house. This dream coming finished house that she wants is out of our price range. For the size of house she wants is going to need some work plain and simple.

and to clear things up we aren't actually fighting we are just disagreeing on what we need for a home and arent coming to an agreement.

[fish_d00d]

I'd say consider the difference in cost to your wallet to buy a turnkey home vs a fixer-upper with renovations (assuming you're just paying for supplies).

 

I'm guessing you'd save a ton by going with the latter option. Put it into a spreadsheet, and show the wife "see honey, if we do it this way, we could go on a [fishing] trip to Hawaii for your birthday!"

[jimmer]

Life's short. Get a house that's done and spend your time fishing, hunting and loving your wife. Just saying!