Got a home to fix up?

Many people purchase homes with the idea of fixing it up and this is a noble and fine idea but it is one that is going to take an enormous amount of time and energy and probably a fair bit of cash as well. For some people it is a great idea and for others not so much. There are all kinds of things that are going against you when you are beginning a rehab job and it will take some skill to find out just what needs to be done.

Fixing up a home is a big job for anyone no matter how good they are at this sort of thing. The first thing that you are going to have to deal with is the money situation. You need money not just to start fixing up the house you need to have enough money to finish the job. You need to get all of your financing done before you start anything and especially before you purchase the home. You do not want to buy the home in dire need of repair before you know that you have the money to get the home finished do you? What would you do if the money did not come through?

In order to get the money that you need for the job of fixing up the home you have a few options to choose from. For one you can use the money that you have in your savings account but by doing this you will lose whatever kind of nest egg you have in place for emergencies or your retirement. This may not be the best way to go so instead you could take out a loan. Getting a loan for fixing up a home can be tricky. You will probably not be able to get a loan from a bank, not a regular loan anyways because they will consider you too high of a risk to repay the money. But you may be eligible for some grants or loans from the government, especially the energy saving loans. There are all kinds of grants for people who want to make their home more energy efficient so if the home you want to buy is older then it will probably be eligible for some of these grants.

Just how much money you are going to need to pay to fix up this home is going to depend on the home itself. You will have to look at how much work needs to be done on the home, some homes are obviously going to need more work than others. The first thing that you need to do is go over the whole home with a find toothed comb. To do this you are going to need to take a big pad of paper and a sharp pencil.

Go through the home room by room and make a list of absolutely everything that you are going to need to do to fix up the home and every item that you will need such as lighting fixtures and taps and even walls and drywall. It is a good idea to look at your current home as a model of sorts in order to see what all you will need. Look at everything in every room. If your home is in really bad shape then you will need to get new windows and everything maybe even doors. Just try to envision what it will take for you to get everything in order and finished.

Once you have a list of what is needed then you will be able to price all of these items. Your goal when trying to fix up your home is not just to save money but to save time as well. You need to choose appliances and furnishings that are fairly easy to install. You do not want to get ahead of yourself so choose the easy way when you can. The less work you have to do the better, especially if the entire home needs fixing up.

If you have a regular job and you plan on fixing up your home in your spare time you need to understand that it could take you a  very long time. If this home is in really bad repair you could end up spending year fixing it up. How many hours are your going to have to spend per day or per week. Even small jobs could take weeks to complete if you are working full time and think about how long it will take and how much of a toll it will take on you physically. Will you still want to be putting so much work into the home as time goes on? Many people tend to lose interest and if this happens to you then you are going to be stuck with a home that needs a lot of work.

And remember that you will not be able to do everything on your own. In most cases there will be some local laws and ordinances that require you to have professionals complete some of the jobs that need to be done such as some plumbing. Your best course of action is to get a home inspector to go over every inch of your home before you buy it so that you know exactly what all needs to be done. You are not a professional and you cannot tell everything that needs to be done on your own. For example there may be some structural damage that you cannot see yourself.

Talk to some people who have fixed up homes in the past and see what advice they have to give you, this can be an enormous help during every stage of your renovations.

There is bound to be some things that you need help with. You cannot do everything yourself. There will be some jobs that need to be done that will require you to have some special tools or equipment and these are the types of things that most people simply do not have on hand and even if they did they would have no idea of how to sue them. You may need to get a plumber in or an electrician so be prepared for this expense as well.