Rehabbing an old fixer-upper home.

Ive been looking for a fixer home for awhile. My plan is to purchase a rural fixer home that I can buy outright or pay for within a year for free clear ownership. I will remodel/restore doing most of the work myself. My budget is $25k for the home (ideally 15k or less) and maybe that much again for remodel/repairs. I have been pleasantly surprised by how many distressed rural homes fall within this range. I plan to take at least a couple years for remodel, no hurry.

I have found several candidates but one is standing out as it meets criterion I have set as priorities.
- well and septic
- rural, far from metro areas
- no neighbors, or none close enough to hit with an arrow, no town over 100 ppl.
- annual taxes under $300
- within 1 hour of someplace to shop/dine/work.
- no coastal, tax greedy or overlegislated states. Leaning toward WY, SD, ND, MT.
- garage

Im not flipping homes, im looking for a quiet cheap place to live and retire. Im not sure how much longer I can work productively so Im setting the table to be secure, comfortable and happy regardless of a recession and significantly compromised earning potential. What I'm looking for is anyone that has experience with rehabbing distressed properties to have a look at a listing or two and offer an educated opinion before I have my lawyer do a title search and draft a contract. I can do much of the work but Im not a real state expert.

Any tips or wisdom from anyone that has traveled this road before is welcome along with anyone that can offer insight on specific properties privately for sale.

Thanks! unk:

Sounds like a good plan to live as debt free as you can!

Check for any encumbrances from a prior owner, legal judgments, unpaid utilities, county enforcement fines, and very important, that it was never used as a meth lab! The locak law enforcement should be able to clear that, and an ethical real estate agent is supposed to reveal that. "I didn't know that!" is not an acceptable excuse. You should have some language written into the contract about it. My suggestion is to stay away from a flood plain next to a lake or river, unless it has much-higher land where the house is.

Fire-medic said:

Check for any encumbrances from a prior owner, legal judgments, unpaid utilities, county enforcement fines, and very important, that it was never used as a meth lab! The locak law enforcement should be able to clear that, and an ethical real estate agent is supposed to reveal that. "I didn't know that!" is not an acceptable excuse. You should have some language written into the contract about it. My suggestion is to stay away from a flood plain next to a lake or river, unless it has much-higher land where the house is.

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The one im looking closest at, we have had this talk. Ill do a title search on any property before I pull the trigger. The handshake deal will include a contract guaranteeing that any incumbrance must be satisfied by seller. My lawyer has something for this. Ive been looking FSBO. Dont want realtor. Have used a Realtor 5 times so far and never failed to get screwed, so using my own lawyer now. I can take a partial personal loan instead of a mortgage because of the small amount and my significant down but im often talking to sellers willing to contract for deed with big down so that eases expense and hassle. I guess a title search reveals a lot but as for the implications of making each home solid im more on my own.

Thank you for the valuable input, am shooting that to my lawyer to see if were covered on all that.

As Sean said, going well under means is solid. I think its a fair approach to an uncertain future.

Sounds like a sound plan. LOL
I can see your acclimated to cold weather so the new location shouldn't bother you. It gets very cold in MT and WY! Your talking about a county/country location so there are few or no codes, restrictions, and/or inspections required. Good for sellers bad for buyers. Could be a lot of inexperience DIY issues to consider.
I would try and buy a house on a slab, but it's not a deal breaker. Pier and beam require leveling once in a while, but do allow for easier relocation of services. Look for Pex or copper plumbing supply lines and PVC drain lines. Most others materials are subject to replacement. How old is the septic? Was it designed or just DYI? How clean is the water? Plumb walls, flat ceilings, flat roofs(No sagging of joists and/or rafter deflection). Keep your eyes wide open, if it looks questionable, it probably needs to be investigated. Check the electrical panel copper wire is good. The wires behind the panel should look in order and not a mess of spaghetti.
I would want well insulated walls and attic. triple pane glass.
Pretty hard to identify all the possible problem areas without knowing your exact plans and the potential property. $15,000 to $20,000 budget won't buy much and doesn't leave a lot available for improvements.
I assume these are small homes kit, 1 BR, 1 bath, 1 living. on an acre? My 2 cents.

I'm not sure what your idea of "rehabbing" a house is. for $15-20K you won't have much to remodel with.

Make sure the structure is in good condition. Foundation and framing. Check for settling, uneven floors, cracks in walls, crooked window openings/door openings for signs of structural issues.

Check out the mechanicals. How old is the HVAC system? Water tank? Well pump. Holding tank (if there is one), filters. Check out the piping if visible. (around here 99% of homes have open basements). Electrical service.

What is the condition of the roof? Old shingles won't last a lifetime.

How are the windows. Old windows aren't a major deal, they just kill efficiency and comfort.

Bath fixtures.

Kitchen fixtures.

All these things are very expensive to replace.

If your idea of rehabbing is paint, flooring, some new fixtures and 1 or 2 of the things mentioned above you might be OK. More than that and I think you need a larger budget unless the house is a tiny shack.

Barry barker said:

Sounds like a sound plan. LOL
I can see your acclimated to cold weather so the new location shouldn't bother you. It gets very cold in MT and WY! Your talking about a county/country location so there are few or no codes, restrictions, and/or inspections required. Good for sellers bad for buyers. Could be a lot of inexperience DIY issues to consider.
I would try and buy a house on a slab, but it's not a deal breaker. Pier and beam require leveling once in a while, but do allow for easier relocation of services. Look for Pex or copper plumbing supply lines and PVC drain lines. Most others materials are subject to replacement. How old is the septic? Was it designed or just DYI? How clean is the water? Plumb walls, flat ceilings, flat roofs(No sagging of joists and/or rafter deflection). Keep your eyes wide open, if it looks questionable, it probably needs to be investigated. Check the electrical panel copper wire is good. The wires behind the panel should look in order and not a mess of spaghetti.
I would want well insulated walls and attic. triple pane glass.
Pretty hard to identify all the possible problem areas without knowing your exact plans and the potential property. $15,000 to $20,000 budget won't buy much and doesn't leave a lot available for improvements.
I assume these are small homes kit, 1 BR, 1 bath, 1 living. on an acre? My 2 cents.

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The one im looking at now os 5br 1.5 car 1bath, large kitchen, dining and lr. It has been sitting empty for several years but had new roof and new septic right before. Anything I look at im looking for any rott, bowing, sagging, trouble basements. Im not down with major structural issues. Im counting on drywall work, floors, window replacement, minor plumbing/electrical. Any thing I get is getting full kitchen and bathroom gut/redo. I have the luxury if staying where I am for a couple more years. Once a fixer house is an hour from any town over 10k ppl it goes from 100k+ to much less. I have looked st houses from $4500 - 35000 and passed on many based on above mentioned issues.

I love MT and WY but harder to find cheap houses not seriously trashed. The oil bust left plenty of hashed but structurally sound homes in ND that owners just cant sell, so prices tumble. The search is narrowed because I want no city/town limits so Im not subject to city utilities, extra taxes/regulations/restrictions and possible bad neighbors. Im an RN and wife is a CNA so we can work gainfully in places where there are no good jobs, dropping values further. It must be hard to sell a 120k home where the best jobs within an hour min wage. It puts in a good position. Besides we both decided that we would miss winter to much if we went south. Im buying FSBO, I have had poor experiences with realtors in the past and numerous times even inspectors charge hundreds for little more than a walk around.

We went to ND and didnt expect to like it and sure didnt expect wife to like it but we both did, especially Devils Lake area. So willing to do a bit of work and endure commute for the right place. In rural SD and ND a 30 min commute gets you like 40 miles, half that in winter. Ill see if I cant link one example.

Mom and dad were carpenters/contractors so I learned the basics. How many guys can say that Mom taught them how to do roofing, framing and drywall? :clapping:

https://nd.craigslist.org/reo/5902063655.html

Cool, I got a link to work. This is an example of something I might move forward on. I went to ND and this is one that I looked over. If I paid asking for the house I think another $30k or so to get it where I want it with me doing most of the work. I ruled it out over how much it needs but it seems very solid. The location is ideal for me but the total investment would exceed $50k, in my lightly educated estimation probably by a fair margin. If I could move him on the price I would be better but there is probably a reason flippers have left it alone. So yea, this is sort of where I am at. Im looking for a long trrm dwelling so kitchen and bath fully done is a given with any house.

Taxes less than $200 a year? Holy smokes.....:worthy:

I just calculated I'm paying over $300 .........a WEEK!

I can't wait to move, in 2 years my youngest is out of High School and then adios.

$15,600/year? Pretty steep, that's half a "$15/hour minimum wage" person's income, nearly! Is that school taxes and county taxes combined?

CNA is that 'certified nursing assistant,' or 'certified nurse-anesthetist?' Healthcare jobs are usually a good bet for employment. You can go almost anywhere and find employment. In rural areas, your income is likely only a % of what you achieve in a top-20 population area though.

Still, if you can find employment and cheap housing, why not? The one thing I find to be of importance as I age is access to good healthcare. Living in a state where the population is < 1 million, the expertise of the medical profession isn't going to be as-strong as it is in a more-populated area. You don't want to face having to travel 500 miles to get competent care when you're facing cancer surgery, a spinal laminectomy or brain surgery. For those types of operations you want someone who does hundreds a year.

I guess every house is different, you have to look at all the issues, and decide if the faults are ones you can correct on-budget, and on-time.

Itgoes said:

Taxes less than $200 a year? Holy smokes.....:worthy:

I just calculated I'm paying over $300 .........a WEEK!

I can't wait to move, in 2 years my youngest is out of High School and then adios.

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Itgoes said:

Taxes less than $200 a year? Holy smokes.....:worthy:

I just calculated I'm paying over $300 .........a WEEK!

I can't wait to move, in 2 years my youngest is out of High School and then adios.

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$300/Week?

That is outrageous!

[email protected] said:

$300/Week?

That is outrageous!

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Welcome to New York:damn angry:

That house will take some work. Please consider my thoughts constructive, i do not want to sound negative. This is what I call risk management.
As you know, the unknowns are the expensive costs. No water for 10 years in galv pipe, my guess you will need to replace the supply piping. Copper pipe and you should be ok if the pipes are still intact. No power or water for 10 years you could have busted pipes from freezing. I doubt they drained the pipes, but they could have. Anything installed 10 years ago is not new to me, radiant heat and roof. Just saying.
This might be a really good house but only through a thorough inspection can you determine the current condition. I would contact a plumber, electrician, and maybe even a HVAC contractor that does radiant heat and have them inspect the house for you before you buy it. They can also give you estimates for the work required. This will at least give you a budget for the necessities. It's money well spent and could save you lots of headaches and unforeseen costs. But, you probably already thought about doing this.

In the end, for me at least, I would find the house that I wanted. Then I would inspect it. If it passed my inspection then i would call in the pros for inspection and estimates on the MEP systems. But again, you have probably already thought about this. I really hate to say this, but IMHO you are going to run out of money based on your budget rehabbing a home a home in this condition.
Just me, but I don't want to sink a bunch of good money into a home that no one else will buy because of location. There is a reason the house has been sitting vacant for over 10 years. Sorry, I'm rambling.

Fire-medic said:

$15,600/year? Pretty steep, that's half a "$15/hour minimum wage" person's income, nearly! Is that school taxes and county taxes combined?

CNA is that 'certified nursing assistant,' or 'certified nurse-anesthetist?' Healthcare jobs are usually a good bet for employment. You can go almost anywhere and find employment. In rural areas, your income is likely only a % of what you achieve in a top-20 population area though.

Still, if you can find employment and cheap housing, why not? The one thing I find to be of importance as I age is access to good healthcare. Living in a state where the population is < 1 million, the expertise of the medical profession isn't going to be as-strong as it is in a more-populated area. You don't want to face having to travel 500 miles to get competent care when you're facing cancer surgery, a spinal laminectomy or brain surgery. For those types of operations you want someone who does hundreds a year.

I guess every house is different, you have to look at all the issues, and decide if the faults are ones you can correct on-budget, and on-time.

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On paper I would have done well to stay in seattle. Very solid career path and opportunity galore. I was miserable, there were Ssoooooooooo many people everywhere. Traffic was a constant fight to and from anywhere. It was a hostile place to ride too. Everyday I was dying to get out and leave it all behind. I could literally feel it eating me up. Nobody can write a check big enough to lure me back to metropolitan America, not even for a visit. I will not put myself through it ever again. I have no idea how anyone does it. I make a bit less but I cant put a price on the quality of life, tranquility, open roads, sparse population. Sleeping peacefully with no sounds other than crickets and wildlife, yup, I make a really shitty city boy.

To live well and improve financial security I had only to think about what is really important. There is no need to suffer to do well. I love that place I linked but it needs so damn much work.

Here in the Black Hills property taxes are very high. I live on 3 acres with a large house and my little cabin and its around $5500 a year, but wages in SD are among the lowest in the nation. Its really bad local gov. $200-ish annually a state away and a bunch of elbow room suit me just fine:clapping: