If you’ve taken a leap of faith and invested in a fixer upper property, to live in, sell on for a profit, or rent out, then you may be feeling a little overwhelmed. All of those TV shows make transforming the shell of a property into a beautiful space look incredibly simple and straightforward, don’t they? But the fact is that the reality of doing up older properties is very different, isn’t it? There’s a lot more to it than you would think.
Buying an old home to do up can be a lot of fun, but it’s important to realize that it can also be incredibly stressful. Sure, it can be an enjoyable project and one that you may thoroughly enjoy focusing on, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t cause you stress at times. Of course, just because it’s going to take a lot of time and effort to transform your property into a beautiful space, that doesn’t mean that it’s not worth it. Because although it’s hard work, once the work is done and property is perfect, you will realize just how worth it the blood, sweat, and tears it all was.
Buying a fixer upper property can be daunting, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t go ahead and do it. If you are keen to invest in a property that is in need of some TLC, then don’t be afraid to take the leap and step outside of your comfort zone. To help make the process a little less daunting and stressful, below are some tips and ideas to help you turn the shell of a property that you are planning on buying into a beautiful space that you can be proud to call your own.
Work out your budget
Before you do anything else, the most important thing is that you work out the size of your budget. What you want to do is split your budget between the cost of buying the property and the cost of doing it up. What you don’t want to do is spend too much money on the property itself and not have enough money to do it up with. So it’s important to split the budget that you have between both parts of the project so that you ensure there’s enough money to transform the property into a livable space to live in yourself, rent out, or sell on.
It’s best to determine what your budget is for each part of the project beforehand so that you know what you’ve got to spend on each area. That way, when you are house hunting, you can arrange to only see properties within your price range, as otherwise, you may see one that you can’t afford and end up spending too much money on it, compromising the revamp of the space.
Find that perfect property
When it comes to picking a property to revamp, it’s important to ensure that you pick the perfect one. This means finding a property that is within the perfect price range, is in the right location, and is the size that you want it to be. If you are on a small budget, the best type of properties to buy are ones that are being auctioned off or have been taken by the bank due to a lack of payment by the owners; this is because these properties tend to offer more for your money than other properties do.
When it comes to selecting a property, make sure to take your time viewing the place, to ensure that it offers what you want and need it to. What you don’t want is the property to have hidden problems, like issues with the foundations or problems with damp, which are costly and difficult to repair. So it’s important to take your time looking around the property before making a decision about whether or not to make an offer. Never rush a property viewing, always take as long as you need to take the place in properly.
It could also be worth having the property inspected by a professional property inspector so that you are able to get a good idea of any issues that the property has that you haven’t been told about or noticed. A property inspection might not come cheap, but if you are serious about a property, it’s worth spending the money to get it checked out. As that way, you shouldn’t have any nasty surprises to deal with once you’ve bought it.
Don’t take on more than you can chew
One of the most important things when it comes to fixer upper properties is not to take on more than you can chew as this is always a recipe for disaster. Take the time to think carefully about what you are prepared to deal with in terms of problems within a property, and make sure to bear that in mind when viewing places.
While you might think that you can deal with anything that comes your way, it’s easy to take on more than you can cope with, without thinking about it properly. That’s why it’s so important to take a moment to think carefully about any issues there is with a property, such as a dodgy heating system, for instance, and consider whether you are happy to deal with it.
Remember to think about the cost as well as the time it will take to mend it or replace it. Say the electronics are shot, there’s not just the cost of things like a multimeter, like the ones on ToolNerds.com to consider, but also the cost of the replacement wiring and the labor of the contractor if you opt to use one for any part of the rewire. It’s easy to think that you can deal with everything, but sometimes it only takes one thing to cause major problems with a property revamp. So it pays to be careful about what you will and won’t accept from a property in terms of the condition of it and its features.
Get inspired
Before you start working on revamping your property and transforming it into a beautiful space, it’s important to take the time to get inspired. The last thing that you want to do is rush things and end up choosing the wrong design for any area of the property, which is it pays to take the time to get inspired so that you can ensure that you know exactly how you want to renovate your new property.
In terms of the best places to get inspiration from, design magazines, websites, and blogs are all great places to start, photo sharing sites like Pinterest and We Heart It are also ideal for inspiration and ideas. What you want to do is save images of any ideas that you like and either print them out or store them in a folder, that way you can refer to them as and when you need to, making it easier for you to get inspiration for updating the property and creating a space that you love.
Create a plan
Once you’ve got all of the inspiration and ideas that you need, the next step is to sit down and make a plan for the property. What you want to do is work out exactly what needs to be done in each area of the property, such as stripping out the entire kitchen, and then refitting a new one. This can take some time to work out, so make sure to leave plenty of time for it. If you are not sure about what needs to be done and where, then it’s a good idea to ask a professional for their opinion on the place.
What you want to do is write a list of what needs to be done in each room, so that you can then use this to work out what tools and materials you will need for the job. As well as what contractors you will need to hire, if you are planning on using contractors, that is. It’s important to have a clear idea of what needs doing, what materials are needed, and what tools you will require, to ensure that you stay within your time frame and budget.
Now, there may be some areas of the property that are in good condition; these could potentially be kept and reused. Say, for instance, the flooring in some of the rooms is hard flooring, like wood, slate or stone, if it’s in good condition it could be worth keeping it. Or, if the floorboards are real wood, you could consider polishing them up and using the bare floorboards as the flooring? When it comes to the cost of transforming an old property into a livable space, it can be expensive, which is why it’s worth considering using anything that’s already there and is usable, don’t you think?
There you have it, a guide to how to transform the shell of a property into a beautiful living space. Hopefully, the tips and advice above have given you all of the information that you need to create a beautiful property that has everything that you could want from a home, including a gorgeous interior design and style.
