Five Things to Consider before Buying a Fixer Upper
Ah, the fixer upper. You’re a starry-eyed 20-something that has set your sights on an older home that you can’t help but compare to a blank canvas, and you simply cannot wait to leave your mark on it. You can see what it could be. You have a vision. A little paint, a few repairs, and before you know it, you’re on a Canadian-owned reno network wowing the masses.
SLOW YOUR ROLE. Slow it RIGHT NOW. I will never tell you not to do it, but before you go buying up the whole block, hear me out. I just want to tell you a story. Our story.
In 2014, two weeks before we tied the knot, we bought our first home. It’s in a small town, filled with smiling faces, that has a community that will give you all the feels. The house is a sturdy two-story, built with rusticated concrete block. It has pretty dormers that accent the extremely pitched roof and the cutest (and oddest) layout you’ll ever see. When I spoke to our friends and family about the house, I heard things like, “It has potential!” or, “You could even expand later on.” and, “What a great investment!”
We’ve been here for three years now. And for folks that started fresh (this means broke), we’ve actually done pretty well. We’ve hit bumps, some BIG bumps, odd bumps, really…so odd that we’ve started saying things like, “The house is fighting back!” It seems that every time we try to improve the house, something strange and usually horrific, happens.
Here’s what we’ve done so far, and some of things you should look out for if you’re taking on an older home:
1. Make sure the previous owner has discontinued their utilities:
If you are buying a home that’s being sold by the owner, like we did, be sure that they have discontinued all utilities. The first major thing we did was convert our furnace from oil to natural gas. While pricey up front, it saves a huge amount of money in the long run. Before we scheduled the conversion, we decided to use as much oil as we could so that it would someday be easier to remove the tank from the basement.
We were right on schedule to have it be really low in time for the conversion when Justin found something odd taped to the front door. It was a bill from a local oil company addressed to the elderly lady that had lived there previously. I called the oil company and explained that we had purchased the house in the summer and were confused as to why we received a bill. The lady I spoke to explained that they had just come and filled the tank. WHAT?! Long story short, after several phone calls with the company, we resolved the issue (and got a free tank of oil to boot!).
2. Do you have unwanted guests?
In order to finance, we were only required to have a termite inspection. However, we still paid for and had a full inspection done. Since the home was old, I just wanted to be sure it was sound, safe, etc. The inspection went off without a hitch. The gentlemen went all through the house and checked everything thoroughly. When we pulled the stove away from the wall, we found a 100-year-old cookie. We both laughed and commented on how amazing it was that the place didn’t have mice!
One evening as I walked across the room to turn on a light, I heard Justin say, “Don’t freak out.” I turned around, expecting to see a mouse, but saw a bat flapping full speed toward my hair. Cue freaking out session. I made it to the landing of the stairs, rolled myself up into a ball and hid until Justin made it “go away.”
The morning of the bat exclusion project, Justin and I busted through our front door with glee and headed to work, knowing that soon our friends would be gone. A few ours into the day, the gentleman doing the exclusion called me. He explained that he could not get started on the exclusion until we got rid of the bees. What bees? He told me we had some sort of African Hornet living in our dormer and they were HUGE!
Thankfully, our Bat Guy called his exterminator friend (the Bee Guy) and he took care of the hornets by putting up sticky boards and blowing sawdust into the cracks of the dormer. Finally, our bat exclusion began and ended a few weeks later. Turns out we had a small colony living in the crawl space upstairs. The Bat Guy explained he thought they had been there a few years.
Observation: I’m pretty sure bats keep the mice away. We were not bat free for more than 3 weeks before we had our first mouse! And oddly enough, a few days later I found a flea on my indoor cat! It never ends.
3. Consider the trees and plants that are on the property:
We have wild cherry trees in front of our house and they are a total nuisance. They drop gross, slimy berries all over the sidewalks, our cars, and the yard. They aren’t good for the paint on your car, either. When I went to the carwash last month, the guy asked me who dumped chocolate all over my car. On top of that, I’ve slipped and fallen twice, slid several other times, and have Googled “how to kill trees without your local shade tree commission from finding out” on several occasions.
I love nature, but I dream of the day these trees are gone. Last fall, my dream almost came true. Almost. You see, our town experienced what is called a downburst. It’s basically a tornado that drops out of the sky and causes a sheer wind that rips through the area. It took out street signs, light poles, the electricity, and even three walls of the factory up the street. Trees all down our street were destroyed. We couldn’t even walk off of our front porch because my neighbors awful wild cherry trees had been either ripped from the grown or had their tops blown clean off. I was scared and extremely disappointed as I reviewed the destruction all over our town and realized that somehow our wild cherry trees were in perfect condition. Untouched, unscathed and practically laughing in my face.
We plan to have the trees removed this year since Mother Nature clearly can’t do us any favors.
4. Have a professional check the roof before you buy:
Now, here’s the thing. Our inspector was really thorough. He was up on a very tall ladder checking our roof. He did mention that the chimney may need some additional sealant around its base, but otherwise, he felt the roof should last us at least another seven years.
Our second year here, on Thanksgiving Eve, there was a gust of wind that ripped a patch of shingles off of our roof. No big deal, right? Our roof has an extreme pitch. I tried to force Justin up there, and God love him he tried, but he didn’t make it far before retreating. We discovered that under our shingles was just the bare wood of the roof underneath. They didn’t use tar paper or the right amount of nails per shingle, for that matter. We needed a new roof.
After a few months of saving, we scheduled the roof replacement project. We picked out a beautiful pewter metal that’s sturdy and will stand the test of time, or at least until we can get out of here! We were beyond excited. The project was scheduled to last 5 days. It was summer, the weather was beautiful and we just knew this was going to be a smooth project.
On the first day of the project, I received a call that there was an ambulance at our house. One of the roofers had fallen. Not only did he fall face first, but the poor guy landed on a ladder that was laying in our driveway.
After full facial reconstructive surgery and lots of love from his family, he’s doing well today. Our roof project was wrapped up, about three weeks later than anticipated, but it was finished and it’s beautiful. Having a new roof, while it came with some minor heart attacks, is a huge relief for us and we are beyond grateful for the blood, sweat and tears it took for it to be ours.
5. Be prepared for one thing to lead to another:
During our inspection, the gentleman and I ventured to the basement to check it out. We were pleased to discover that there was a new box. He did mention that there seemed to be some leftover knob and tube, but that it wasn’t anything to worry about. It just looked like they had left it in place when the wiring had been replaced, which really isn’t completely uncommon.
When we moved in, we realized that we had two bathtubs and no shower. Justin put his genius to work and with some thought and PVC pipe, we had a shower in no time. It’s held up pretty well, but it got to the point where I was starting to duct tape things where the water was causing some issues. We started saving up and have just recently begun our bathroom remodel.
My brother-in-law is helping us with the bathroom remodel. He has experience and has been great with teaching us things as he goes along. As he was pulling the walls down in the bathroom, we discovered that some of the knob and tube was live. It seems Justin had drilled into the wall to hang the PVC not even a quarter of an inch away from live wire that was molded into the plaster.
The terrible wiring has bled into other rooms. Our 5x8 bathroom remodel has lead to our refrigerator getting a new outlet, our kitchen getting a new light fixture, our entire basement being rewired, and our washing machine, dryer and small stand-up freezer all getting new outlets. While just as frustrated as us, my brother-in-law keeps reminding us that it’s so much easier to do these things now while the bathroom is torn completely out.
In closing, there are days we just want to slap a for sale sign in the front lawn, throw in the towel and pray we at least get back what we paid to land ourselves here in the first place. If we’ve found anything else while living here, it’s patience, flexibility and the gusto it takes to just keep pushing through. Someday when we’re gone, we’ll laugh harder than we do now, and fondly remember all of the good that has come while we’ve lived here.
While here, we’ve received good news, bad news, birthday cards, holiday cards, free oil (even though I had to fight for it), birth announcements, a taste of what it means to be a homeowner and a serious appreciation for the many families that have resided here in the past. You can’t be scared of fixer uppers. This house was someone else’s beginning, once upon a time, and we plan to leave here having filled it with as much love as they did.