If you are in the business to invest in real estate, seeing the potential in a fixer upper is almost a skill. It definitely takes a ‘special eye’ to be able to see past a seller’s personal items, décor, and normal wear and tear that has not been maintained for years, or even decades.
As mentioned in a previous post, be concerned with the ‘big items’ such as the foundation, roof, furnace, A/C, or well and septic. These items cost thousands to repair and will significantly raise your budget.
Can You See the Potential?
Our next project house definitely had potential, but it was buried!
Main Floor:
As you walk in the front door, you enter the living room…
This room doesn’t take much imagination- just needs some basic cosmetic updates
From the Living Room, you walk into the Dining Room…
DR wasn’t bad either. Just lacking character and LOTS of trim
Dining Room walking into the Kitchen…
The kitchen was FULL of yellow. Just in need of some updating
Off from the Kitchen to the left is a Laundry Room…
Kitchen to Laundry Room
Laundry Room
Stuff left behind and the paint was not in good shape, but overall, not bad.
Rear Entry Mud Room (which leads into Kitchen)
Rear Entry Mud Room- left full of stuff and painted pink/beige dingy color, but overall, not bad.
Mud Room Window
Top 2 inches of window was spray foamed in. It was SO cold in there…the curtains would blow in the wind!
Off Dining Room is Master Bedroom and walk through closet
Master Bedroom Entry was missing trim. Also the window in that bedroom was not finished off. LOTS of trim work to do and of coarse, paint needed.
Full Bath (attached to Master, but accessible from kitchen as well)
All the fixtures in this bathroom were rust stained from the well water and lack of water softener. Left over kitchen cabinets were used and the bath fan was vented between the drop ceiling and original ceiling.
Upstairs… (you will need more vision)
The stairwell:
No drywall, no insulation, disgusting carpet, and exposed electrical
Main Bedroom
Main Bedroom piled with stuff, hole in the ceiling by the chimney, major wall cracks, peeling paint, huge old ceiling fan, disgusting carpet, and missing trim.
Front Bedroom
Front Bedroom was by far the cleanest. Still in need of wall repair, lots of paint, trim, and carpet removal.
Rear Bedroom aka the “Christmas Room”
This room was PACKED! So many Christmas decorations and trees. The ceiling was broken, walls broken, disgusting carpet (under all the stuff). You couldn’t even walk into the room.
Hall Closet aka “Christmas Closet”
You guessed it! MORE Christmas stuff!!
This was the condition of the house when we looked at it AND when we bought it. Yes…. we inherited all. this. stuff!!
