My first house was a bank repo. The previously owner was an investor who bought it at peak price in the 2006 housing and then got renters into the place. The rentors were reportedly severe alcoholics from the neighbors. Beer and wine stains on all the carpets. They had also left something on the stove that caught the microwave on fire there was smoke damage in the kitchen and laundry room.
When the housing market crashed the owner let the bank repo it and evict the tenants. It then was on the market for over a year until we offered 20% below asking price (70% less than the house sold in 2006.
I then worked my ass off for a year to get the place up to shape. All new flooring everywhere. New paint everywhere. I also redid all of the landscaping as it was mostly dead. After a year it was the loveliest home in the neighborhood.
That’s really cool, and you clearly did well. But I can also see how your situation was a little different in that most people don’t have the ability or inclination to do that kind of work themselves. I looked at a lot of fixer-uppers, and they really only make sense if you’re doing the work yourself. They’re usually priced low by about the amount to have that work done, otherwise the owners would just do it and charge more.
My first house was a bank repo. The previously owner was an investor who bought it at peak price in the 2006 housing and then got renters into the place. The rentors were reportedly severe alcoholics from the neighbors. Beer and wine stains on all the carpets. They had also left something on the stove that caught the microwave on fire there was smoke damage in the kitchen and laundry room.
When the housing market crashed the owner let the bank repo it and evict the tenants. It then was on the market for over a year until we offered 20% below asking price (70% less than the house sold in 2006.
I then worked my ass off for a year to get the place up to shape. All new flooring everywhere. New paint everywhere. I also redid all of the landscaping as it was mostly dead. After a year it was the loveliest home in the neighborhood.
That’s really cool, and you clearly did well. But I can also see how your situation was a little different in that most people don’t have the ability or inclination to do that kind of work themselves. I looked at a lot of fixer-uppers, and they really only make sense if you’re doing the work yourself. They’re usually priced low by about the amount to have that work done, otherwise the owners would just do it and charge more.