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would you buy a fixer-upper with 2 under 2?

culawbrideculawbride
in Two Under 2

Because I will be staying at home after this little one is born, we want to keep our mortgage as low as possible in our area and still live on a good block etc.  The only way we can afford to live in the neighborhood we love on a great block is to buy a fixer upper. 

Is this too much of a logistical nightmare, trying to constantly renovate,etc. with 2 little kids?

We would love a home that is already finished, but I'm just not sure we can afford it and we really want to move before the 2nd baby comes.  So we don't want to wait for a couple more years until we can get more for our current home.

 

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Re: would you buy a fixer-upper with 2 under 2?

  • HarrietNJMommyHarrietNJMommy

    No, but that's me answering your question right at this moment in time.

    I would only buy one in one of 2 conditions:

    A. We had the money to fix it up and would hire contractors IMMEDIATELY to get it done.

    B. DH was VERY handy, could do the work himself (with friends) and start IMMEDIATELY to get it done.

    I'm not sure how much renovation you're talking about. If it's just some paint and a few updates, it's not a big deal. If we're talking gut renovation, then yes, it's hard to do it with 2 little kids. I'd be worried about fumes, dust, etc.....

    GL whatever you decide!

    image Mommy to Barbara 11/8/05, Elisabeth 5/13/07, Loukas 12/23/08 and Lazarus 09/25/12
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  • CHI-06CHI-06 member
    Well... that sure doesn't sound like a good time to me!  I guess it depends on the place.  Are you just talking cosmetic like old appliances and pink tiles in the bathroom kind of place?  So like you could make due and live in it for awhile and slowly do some stuff?  That I could handle.  But if you are talking tearing down walls, drywalling etc etc... no way.  We just re-did our kitchen and that alone was SO SO hard...
    Daughter born July 2008; Daughter born March 2010 Son born August 2011
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  • UpNorthGalUpNorthGal
    My gut answer is he$% no! But I guess it depends on the kind of "fixer upper" it is. If you are moving your family into a house that needs a lot of time/money/sweat-equity to make it safe for your kids to live/play in, then I would stay put and save $ for a more updated home in that neighborhood. 
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  • MrsGeekMrsGeek
    I have a hard time keeping my house clean with 2U2..... I can't imagine renovating it as well.  I think I would just curl up in my bed and refuse to come out again.
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  • moonfaeriemoonfaerie member
    imageHarrietNJMommy:

    No, but that's me answering your question right at this moment in time.

    I would only buy one in one of 2 conditions:

    A. We had the money to fix it up and would hire contractors IMMEDIATELY to get it done.

    B. DH was VERY handy, could do the work himself (with friends) and start IMMEDIATELY to get it done.

    I'm not sure how much renovation you're talking about. If it's just some paint and a few updates, it's not a big deal. If we're talking gut renovation, then yes, it's hard to do it with 2 little kids. I'd be worried about fumes, dust, etc.....

    GL whatever you decide!

    No, and the absolute only way I'd do it is based on Harriet's first condition.

    I learned my lesson with condition #2, with my XH, and we didn't even have kids. We bought a house that wasn't that bad but definitely needed some work, and he does home construction for goodness' sake, and didn't do sh!t that he said he would do. After doing it all day, the last thing he wanted to do at night or on weekends was more renovating.

    I really have no interest in buying a fixer-upper again, unless we could afford to have professionals fix it before we moved in. I'd rather rent for another year or two to save more money to put down on a better house.

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  • alli2672alli2672 member

    I don't know what all needs to be done.  We bought a house in a nice neighborhood that hasn't been updated in 25 years.  The appliances are old, the carpet is worn and out of style, the kitchen cabinets have formica on them (seriously), and the walls are sponge painted in pastels :)

    Everything is safe and works fine.

    I couldn't be happier with this decision. 

    Almost everything is going to need to be replaced before we try to sell this house, so if the kids destroy something, stain something, color on the carpet with markers, scratch the floors, bang a cabinet too hard and break it, whatever....it doesn't really matter. 

    So, I would add to Harriet's post and say C) if you can live in it for 5-8 years and then fix it up.  

     

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  • bacala1bacala1
    NO WAY! We bought one four years ago before the babies and we're still fixing it. No way I could have lived in it when we first got it with kids. Living in NYC we had no choice since houses are so expensive here. Would never do it again.
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  • royannroyann

    imageMrsGeek:
    I have a hard time keeping my house clean with 2U2..... I can't imagine renovating it as well.  I think I would just curl up in my bed and refuse to come out again.

     

    I could not agree more. It took us forever to get baby gates up on the stairs, I could not imagine having to do any major renovations.

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