My Beef Today (12/22/08): Buying Old Homes and Not Fully Fixing them Up

[Writer]

I'm sitting now in a lovely home in Washington, DC. My brother-in-law and his wife purchased the home earlier in the year, removing equity from another home that they're renting in order to "fix up" the place. I'm sitting in a room now with leaky windows, holes in the walls, window sills with several layers of paint exposed, dust everywhere, etc.

I think it could be a lovely home, but they went through this process with their previous home that, after about six years, still wasn't fully done. This house, it appears, will also be in the same condition. The major issues I see are stairs that are sloping in one direction, upstairs floors are also sloping (signs of some weak joists, maybe?) but otherwise the major problems are that any job done was done by the sweat of my poor brother-in-law and not very well put together.

The house is a row house, and I can hear contractors at work on the other side. Someone has a lot of money and is taking the time to rip the house down to the boards and rebuild.

I dunno... I see a lot of good in taking an old home and putting work into it over time, but the unfinished shabby look isn't too appealing to me. Why would anyone do this if they don't have the capital to do it in full? I don't get it.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. "Flip this House" gone wrong?

[redqueen]

2. Perhaps someone moved in not to fix it up, but because it was more affordable.

People looking for more affordable housing don't always have the extra capital to do all sorts of projects.

[Writer]

3. That's not the case here... they were looking to "move up"...

and moved into a home larger than their previous home. They knew they were taking a big risk, and I applaud them for doing it, but my goodness - why get into a ton of extra debt and not actually see through the project?

But yes, some people do move into a fixer-upper because it is more affordable and they plan to fix it up when and if they have the time and money.