# A REAL Fixer Upper....



## fuzz16 (Jun 14, 2012)

So....  weve been house hunting the past year. Were approved for 60-80 area. Not much but we pay 700$ a month for rent in a cr*phole apartment and im tired of beating the stove to make it work. Im tired of apartments and being squished and my car being door dinged ect. 

So my MIL comes over talking about this house. 20g in their small town in wellsville. Im like cool! But omg lol...this house would keep me busy. Great foundation, good roof, just interior needs work. Your lucky to find a house under 100g with a decent roof or decent foundation but the insides all need work. 

Well levis gpa used to build houses, my grandpa too. We could hire his grandpa to help with carpet, kitchen, ect help him with money...and the yard needs work. Probably as much as the house lol. Just more fun for me. Not a lot of yard space though. So a decent sized garden will have to shrink and play area for girls will take up the yard..figured if i fence the front yard too then give some extra run room for dog. Cute little white fence  

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/203-Main-St-Wellsville-KS-66092/91156326_zpid/


----------



## MiniLopHop (Jun 14, 2012)

With good bones you can do a lot with fresh paint and carpeting. I'm also looking into buying. It's hard getting a landlord to agree to our zoo.


----------



## SOOOSKA (Jun 14, 2012)

Brenda that house has lots of potential. I love the yellow colour too.

I would pull up that carpet and instal nice flooring before moving. Gosh know what those carpets have seen. You could always paint the panelling. That would also brighten up the rooms too.

Good luck with your decision.

Susan


----------



## LakeCondo (Jun 14, 2012)

It says it comes as is, so I'd want to have more than one inspections. I'd also want a buyer's real estate agent, not just relying on the seller's agent. You may be able to get some of the repair costs as part of the mortgage. I sold a place with an allowance for new windows, etc.

I also noticed that the value of the property for tax purposes was way more than the asking price. I've never seen that before. Have you found out what the property taxes have been the last few years.

Also what the fuel bills have been.

I assume the neighborhood & the local schools are ok.


----------



## fuzz16 (Jun 14, 2012)

Wellsville is where hubby grew up. Small town, like main street gets you evvverywhere! Theres not even a mcdonalds in town  theres not a lot of crime in town. Same amount of drinking less drugs than the city. But the schools, all teachers take same classes. Smaller classes can only be beneficial. 

Its closed up but my mil peeked in and the carpets all been ripped up and theres hardwood underneath but i dont think its salvagable. 

Unsure about ac and heating, not a lot listed on the sites. Its a foreclosure ina small town snd needs a loooot of work, not move in ready. So thats why its so cheap.

And wed for sure have inspections!! We havnt gotten that far yet. 

I dont know enough about property tax to even realize or think to look at it. Itll be some questions to ask the agent. Hopefully veiwing this weekend. 


Ive driven by the house a few times and it looks better in person, in some ways, but the yards a disaster. But i agree it does have a lot of potential and the possibility of later renting it out and moving to a house closer to his work would be a goal.

The panelling ive rarely seen in houses so idk if wed keep it or rip it out. But idk whats behind it. 

Im new to all of this actually putting a bid down ect. 
So start with veiwing. Then have inspectors come in? Or bid first? 

And minus the insides prob needa be gutted and remodled its a good frame like you said brandy. And i could use the extra money towards remodling to my liking


----------



## LindseyG (Jun 14, 2012)

I am also buying a fixer upper, it is a really nice part of town and only 46k. We can't wait to move in and start fixing it up. Whats funny is ours also has wood paneling. lol


----------



## MiniLopHop (Jun 14, 2012)

I think wood panneling was all the rage back in the 70s. The house I grew up in had it too. We ended up painting over it and it turned out better than I would have thought. With my mom tearing it out was not an option, but paint I could save up for on my own.

Yards are all cosmetic. It really can drive up the price, but I would personally rather do it myself. Then I can pick the plants I like. I prefer to amend the soil before I start and put bulbs down before adding perenials on top. Then again, I'm lazy and want color year round with minimal work once it is in.


----------



## PaGal (Jun 14, 2012)

Good Luck in whatever you decide! We bought a house last year and remodeled half of it to fit out tastes and have half more to do. It is a lot of work and time (we did it ourselves, luckily hubby knows what he's doing and I'm a fast learner) but you can make it into what you want.

I would recommend a house buying book. The House Buying for Dummies is a good one and contains alot of useful info. There is so much to cover and think of when buying a house. 

When we were looking we took into account the amount of property tax as that would be additional money we would be spending. We also took into account wether or not a home had city water/sewage or well and septic. Found one house we both liked, fit our needs but the monthly mortgage payment plus taxes, city water and city sewage were just too much.

But we did find our home in the end.


----------



## slavetoabunny (Jun 14, 2012)

My house was a total fixer-upper. Interior and exterior. We didn't even get a bargain price! It was totally worth it.


----------



## Nancy McClelland (Jun 14, 2012)

We are in the first new house we ever bought, with nothing for me to fix--put in new fans, fixtures, and knobs but don't really consider that as "fixing". 40 years ago we started with an older home and went thru it room by room doing the kitchen last. Sold it and got another--same thing again, and again, and again. Then started buying and fixing and selling ones we weren't living in, so the turn around was usually two months. Amazing, if you have the vision and the right house how things turn out with a lot of work and vision.


----------



## fuzz16 (Jun 16, 2012)

Seems like all of you have experiance with fixer uppers!!!! thats reassuring as i am slowly coming to terms with the amount of work a CHEAP house will be. 

We ended up finding another house in town and we're putting a bid in monday night. been super busy with contracts and getting approved. no one even knew it was there!!! it was by chance levis grandpa saw it!! It goes up for investors tuesday at 12am, but HUD has to accept a bid from a person before investor if all checks out. 

NO ONE would loan us under 50k for this house. that was a huge issue. They all said it's not worth their time....I get that. gotta make money. but still..blah. So, we went under a construction loan at 6% and got approved for 46-51g which is a looot more than we will need. 

http://www.trulia.com/property/3086...y/3086747701-339-W-3rd-St-Wellsville-KS-66092

So I will say this for the house...the pictures do it justice. it is dirty. like it smells like an old house thats been closed for years..or my grandparents garage on the farm lol. There is grease on the walls everywhere. Dirt and muck and grim idk what some of this stuff even it. I told my friend its like a grease bomb went off in that whoooole house. The carpets been stripped out and theres wood flooring that we are going to try and salvage. ripping out the fireplace too. have a bunch of pics...


----------



## fuzz16 (Jun 16, 2012)

link to photobucket with pics. http://s1258.photobucket.com/albums/ii536/fuzz16_2012/339%20w%203rd%20wellsville%20ks%20house/

list of things that need done...
1. grade around the house or make a receiving tank for the water, the house sits lower than land around it. 
2. salvage hardwood and refinish or replace
3. scrub walls clean, killz it all, then repaint
4. maybe rip out fireplace
5. cut down the tree in front yard and have it removed, roots reuing the driveway and could do damage to area around house
6. rip out the concrete sidewalk on either side of house
7. clean crawl space vents of debris
8. pick up trash, debris, broken glass, ect around property
9. rip up dining room vinyl squares
10. clean and paint kitchen cabinets
11. paint, tile, or wallpaper kitchen walls
12. replace kitchen flooring
13. cock around tub or replace tub wall with tile/panel/ect
14. replace bathroom flooring
15. clean hall closets, replace shelves if needed, wallpaper shelves maybe
16. rip out, fix, or replace room closet shelving
17. clean or trash ceiling fans, raise if keep
18. fix window frames
19. eventually replace all windows
20. possibly replace sink and faucet

eventually were going to fence the yard, add a front patio, rip out the windows and wall in the master room to have access to back deck well build. build a garden in back. also driveway needs redone. lots of work 


i am kinda annoyed at the fact that everyone keeps saying now you can put the rabbits outside. why would i put the money into fixing a rabbit to put it outside where i couldnt enjoy them as much...and theres no fence lots of stupid kids stray dogs and cats. 

but levis grandparents will live around the corner, his parents down the road. so i could get a part time job if thell baby sit  and then right around the corner a five minute walk is preschool/elementary school then about 10 minute walk is highschool  they have a giiiant park at theelementary too!


----------



## Watermelons (Jun 16, 2012)

Holy .....
All I can think is.. Jeeze you guys have it good down there if thats all a house costs!
Thats it, I'm moving down south, no more of this $600,000 for a hole in the wall ex-drug house, if I can get a decent house for under $25k
But seriously, good luck, I hope they accept!


----------



## fuzz16 (Jun 16, 2012)

Omg!! Seriously??? I couldnt afford a box up there!!!! 

It helps its a teeny town i think


----------



## LindseyG (Jun 16, 2012)

I am in georgia and we are buying a hud home for 46k. I love it even though it needs work. We are in the final stages of getting ready to close on it. Good luck! It has been very stressful this past month with waiting and getting paperwork together and everything. I can't wait till my animals have a big back yard to play in though!
http://www.redfin.com/GA/Kennesaw/2119-Carruth-St-NW-30144/home/25445896


----------



## fuzz16 (Jun 17, 2012)

Thats nice!! I like the kitchen pics with natural cabinets, not sure which pic it is now  awkward yard though!!! And your fireplace is real haha, mines the steel box with fake brivk and vinyl brick pstterns


----------



## LindseyG (Jun 17, 2012)

Lol thanks i had no idea the property line did that. Lol yes there are two kitchens to choose from. I like the white one better than the stained one. And its a duplex but the sides are connected so we are living in the whole thing.


----------



## fuzz16 (Jun 17, 2012)

Your buying both halves?! Plans to rent out other side? I like the country cottage feel of the stained one


----------



## LindseyG (Jun 17, 2012)

Yes its a whole house. We may rent the other side in the future but for now we want our privacy.


----------



## fuzz16 (Jun 17, 2012)

Ya totally understandable. Does each side have the 3 br and they pretty much mirror one another, 2 houses pretty much!!


----------



## LindseyG (Jun 17, 2012)

No one side is one bedroom and one side is two bedroom. Both have kitchen and living room and bathroom. We are using one of the living rooms/den as a bedroom though so technically 4 bedrooms.


----------



## LaylaLop (Jun 17, 2012)

Just recently moved to the south from Washington and yes, the house market is ridiculously cheap! 

We're renting and it's somewhat of a fixer upper but not too bad. We can't do changes too much without landlord permission but first thing before moving in is we cleaned and rented a rug doctor to deep clean carpets. 

The yard had like 2 years' worth of leaves, tons of roaches/termites on plywood lying around, holes in the fence, etc. With a few hundred bucks at Lowe's we fixed up most of it and have just been waiting on leaves to dry out before we bag up most of them. 

Where I was at before, a 2bd 1ba apartment cost about what I'm paying for a single family home that has 3bd, 2ba, 1 car garage, fenced yard, fireplace, vaulted living room, and no pet restrictions. 

Seriously, the landlord said any domestic pets are ok and liked my dog enough to waive the pet deposit/fees. 

Right now the bunnies have their own bedroom and my boyfriend has a computer/office room, then we share the bedroom. 

We're paying double-rent right now for an apartment and this place but it's worth it... the other place had funnel spiders in the WALLS that would trap the roaches and eat them and leave their carcasses about. Not to mention I'm pretty sure I saw a black widow in the storage closet on the deck. And the place had a history of break-ins and the intersection that turned into the place was accidents nightly. NOT where I wanted to be.

I hope you can get the house for a good price and at the very least, it will be a good summer project! 

Once we have more income we're going to work on fixing up the lawn since it's clay/dirt and looks pretty ugly!


----------



## slavetoabunny (Jun 17, 2012)

You can live in one side and keep the other one for when you have visitors.


----------



## irishbunny (Jun 18, 2012)

Good luck!
I love American houses, they look so cute.


----------



## fuzz16 (Jun 18, 2012)

Lindsey, thats really weird that theres not more than one bedroom on one side. Seems better off as a 4br house than a duplex honestly, but it would be nice having the ability to rent out to one person and it could cover your mortage teehee

One thing I am super worried about is bugs...small town and so no one likes newcomers. Well a bunch of people in town want the house too so rumors are flyyying...sewage in the house, tree growing from the tub. vermin and bugs all around the house (which i kinda beleive seeing the state of it being unoccupied...gross)

Most of our plumbing worries were cleared up by the city inspector, super great guy and very nice and imformatve. He even said he'd let our building permits go past 6 months on some things, like concrete you cant pour in the cold so hell let us do it next summer instead of charging another 25$ for a builder's permit. 
He did say though, nothing can be added to house except going back in the yard, not to side of the yard bc the house is too close to the property line on each side. 

And then the washer and dryer are in the garage which is like an old lean-too with random peices of plywood pressed against the wall haha. im gonna see about adding some insulation to keep from loosing so much heat in the house and hopefully so the washer water lines dont freezze ): otherwise the comp/craft/bun room will be the landury room. 

We put in a bid..i only did 20g though. it needs about 18,500 worth of work. the estimation was made by gpa-in-law he used to build houses so i am sooo glad i have his help on this!!! I will know if HUD accepted it tomorrow, if they don't then were gonna put another bid in for 22g but idk if well go higher just bc the amount of sweat and money (more sweat) involved in the making this house suitable for living. 


So I am stressed and edgy and my MIL keeps saying just don't think about it...blah. got till july 31st to close then have ONE MONTH to have it livable bc then our apartment lease ends and i dont wanna pay 800 for month-to-month. 


My biggest concern, and i itch at the thought. is someone s going to have to go in the crawlspace under the house...about 2ft high. and spray killz and lime on the underside of house and bleach solution and then try to get the debris out the best we can from under the house. im already planning on what ima wear...gloves with duct taped around that and my shirt and hood with mask ect so nooothing can crawl down my pants and bite me. more worried about bugs than rabid squirrels but ya never know.

and just so everyone knows...i WILL have a house blog cause if i am spending 18g remodeling i am gonna have to show off! o...and get this...no internet company out there less than 60 a month! hopefully i can steal off his parents lol...blah. i need internet. ill go nuts.


----------



## LakeCondo (Jun 20, 2012)

Best wishes. But goodness, what if a real outsider wanted to move into town, like someone from more than 50 miles away, maybe even someone from out of state.


----------



## fuzz16 (Jun 20, 2012)

blah..small town i get it they dont like new people cause they stir up trouble. put our bid in, i cried when we didnt get it. weve been looking for a year and the first house we get serious on is taken from us bc of 500$. sigh. maybe it wasnt meant to be...


----------



## LakeCondo (Jun 20, 2012)

Sorry, that didn't work out. But I'm sure you'll find another that you like, & in a friendlier place.


----------



## fuzz16 (Jun 20, 2012)

Thanks. I gree up ina small town, so i get newcomers not being welcomed. Were gojng yo try and find a place still..but im still sad


----------



## agnesthelion (Jun 20, 2012)

Oh so sorry didn't get it  we had a house sell out from under us before we bought our current house now. At the time I was heartbroken and now I look at my house and love it and I am glad it happened! You'll see, it will work out. You will find one!


----------



## PaGal (Jun 20, 2012)

Sorry it didn't work out but try and keep your chin up. We are big believers in things working out if they are meant to be. I tend to be a pessimist but this has been proven to me again and again.

We were living in the family home my hubby was raised in. To make a long story short the home he was going to buy (family home) that hubby put thousands into and the sweat to go along with it., thousands more we put in and the work we did and the family screwed us and had us hustling to find something. I was looking at places to rent if necessary but we hoped to buy. We were short on time as they were trying to force us to sign a lease that would have had m,any restrictions and would have forced negative changes such as getting rid of our dog. 

We found our place. It was a short sale and took longer than it should have to buy but we got it and love it. We own a couple of acres. Only three neighbors and they are helpful and yet stay mostly to themselves. The rest is farmland. 

You may yet find something even better. More room, less work or whatever would fit you. Keep looking and look at everything. The pics we first saw of our home did not do it justice and I'm sure it may have caused others to look elsewhere.


----------



## fuzz16 (Jun 23, 2012)

Im hoping we find something quickly. Theres a house in sprnghill....but its 20 min from eother parents. Which might be nice were not so reliant on them. But levis car got keyed so hes super fed up with apartments..and i have to rehome pidge if we dont get a bigger place ):


----------



## LakeCondo (Jun 23, 2012)

I don't know if these sites will be of any interest to you, as you know the area you're looking in [& maybe "everyone" knows about the sites] but anyway:

walkscore.com is useful not for the score it gives for an area, but you can enter an address & it will list the stores, schools etc that are closest. You can also enter a 2nd address & you can get driving directions.

yelp.com lets you look up more about stores, restaurants, etc.

whitepages.com has a feature where you can find out the neighbors' names for any address& sometimes a phone number. It's not up-to-date [which would be too Big Brother anyway], but it can be useful.


----------



## JadeIcing (Jun 25, 2012)

*We live in between his parents and mine. Honestly love it. Close enough but far enough apart. 

fuzz16 wrote: *


> Im hoping we find something quickly. Theres a house in sprnghill....but its 20 min from eother parents. Which might be nice were not so reliant on them. But levis car got keyed so hes super fed up with apartments..and i have to rehome pidge if we dont get a bigger place ):


----------



## fuzz16 (Jun 25, 2012)

Ya we have a mls finder setup for jomes within our bufget snd my agent texts me daily about houses. My sister is intrrning gor cheif of police so she can search crime rate anywhere locally  

I live 10min from my mm, 30 from his parents. No w/d in the apartment so im at my parents a lot.


----------

