Peg, a friend from my neighborhood, asked for some help pulling her master bedroom together this winter. She lives in an old home like I do, so we both know what it is like to navigate some challenges of a house in Michigan built in the 1920’s!
Luckily- she knew EXACTLY the look she wanted for their room, so we dove right in to see how it could translate to her space.
This project was the inspiration for my “Steal-a-Style” design package where I quickly and affordably give my clients a shopping list and plan to create an exact style in your home- pulled directly from your inspiration photo! Quick, easy, custom design that stays on budget and saves you SERIOUS time and effort. Score! Check out this service HERE!
The photo Peg shared with me was the peaceful and romantic, farmhouse-inspired bedroom designed by Liz at Love Grows Wild. Liz’s home improvement and design inspiration on her site are such a delight! If you don’t know her already, check her out at www.lovegrowswild.com, or follow her amazing feed at instagram.com/lizlovegrowswild
Based on Peg’s inspiration and the layout of her room- we put together a Design Guide for her new Master Bedroom. Photos are examples of products, and are not mine.
When a client asks for a “Steal-a-Style” package, we start the project with a phone call or video chat to discuss the space she wants to design, as well as narrow down her inspiration photo.
The best part of Steal-a-Style is that the client has NOTHING more to do after that call! I take the inspiration photo, the client’s budget, and the dimensions of the room, and get to work. I put together a shopping list of as many design elements as possible and get back to the client with an implementation guide and the list. We might email a few times to make sure it all goes as planned- but it’s that simple!
For Peg’s Master Bedroom, I found the major furniture pieces, linens, and a few decorative touches to complete the transformation of her space. She and her husband found some awesome pieces at local antique shops and boutiques, and it was fun seeing how they worked these into the room.
Click each product photo for more information. This round-up includes affiliate links that help support my business at no additional cost to my clients or my audience. Thank you for your support! =)
We are working on the finishing styling details of this room later this month, so stay tuned for the reveal of this sweet farmhouse master bedroom!
What to look for when you buy a fixer upper (and a free house hunting worksheet!)
House hunting can be one of the most exciting and the most stressful tasks in your life. You get to consider lots of different types of homes, maybe in a new neighborhood or a new city, where you imagine creating memories with friends and family. New beginnings are important milestones in our lives; however, this experience can also feel incredibly overwhelming. You might feel like there are a million details to consider, lots of moving parts, and the persistent stress that you will never find the RIGHT house, in your budget, where you can be completely confident in your purchase (and what a huge purchase it is!!!).
As you may have read before, (and I’ll tell you again and again!), I urge you to seriously consider buying a fixer upper when it’s time for you to buy your first home or your next home. There are SO MANY benefits to buying a less expensive house and investing your budget in upgrades and improvements that make it your own. When you split your budget between purchase and improvements, you have more control over your budget, you can customize your home, take more pride in it, build equity in your investement, and improve the value of your neghborhood (to name a few!).
So, you’re ready to start shopping for a fixer upper? Awesome! Congrats, and don’t stress. I’m here to help! When you’re starting your home search, there are some basic qualities to consider to help you find the perfect fixer upper for you. I created a worksheet to help guide your home search- you can download it now (or at the end!) and follow along:
At the most basic level, a house performs multiple functions for you and your family. Sleeping. Cooking. Eating. Resting. Working. Playing. When you are looking at new homes, keep track of the square footage when you walk through them, and compare the feel of the spaces inside different homes you have visited. Unless you are prepared to manage a massive renovation project that includes an addition, square footage inside the home is probably not something you will be changing about this house. Do you have an idea of roughly the amount of space you need for the life you want to live? It is helpful to have a rough idea of the square footage that wil work for you when you are house hunting. This helps your realtor show you the most appropriate homes, and it helps you compare apples to apples.
Location
It’s true what they say: Location! Location! Location! This is the one thing about your house that you really can’t change. I advise strongly against falling in love with a house before you really understand the location. It won’t matter if you have the perfect house if you hate the location or don’t feel safe in the neighborhood. Some questions to consider:
What is the school distrcit (if you have kids or are planning to have them someday!)?
What is the community like? Is there a neighborhood association? If you attend an open house- consider walking the neighborhood and chatting with anyone you meet outside, or ask other house hunters at the open house what they know about the area.
What types of amenities are closeby? What is in walking distance? Biking? Drving?
What will your commute to work be? To the gym? The grocery?
How do the nearby house values compare? Use a tool like Zillow (or your realtor!) to check out the trend in home prices over the last few years. Are they increasing? If they have been rising or steady, you can feel more confident that you’re investing in a good area. If home values are falling or stagnant, ask your Realtor for advice, and maybe consider another area.
Is this the “right” location for you? Drive around the area during the day, and also at night. Do you feel safe? Is this a place where you feel like you could “come home?” The “right” location means something different to everyone. Just be sure to not ignore the surrounding area when you are considering a house!
Quality of big ticket items
There are several “big ticket” items on a house to pay attention to when you are hunting for a fixer upper. These are things that can obliterate your renovation budget before you even get started! Be sure to ask your Realtor, and absolutely discuss with the inspector after you have an offer accepted, for their professional opinion on any and all repairs that need to be made. Here is a list to help you assess a home on your first walk-through. These items are included on the House Hunting Worksheet for you, too!
Look out for the following (as applicable to your area):
Foundation (are there cracks? Water? Does it appear level?)
Evidence of water damage (Brown spots on the ceiling? Sagging wallpaper?)
Age and quality of roof (Do the shingles look new? How many layers are there?)
Sloping floors (Inside the house, do the floors feel solid and level?)
Sagging ceilings (Can you see any areas where there is sagging/unevenness?)
Windows (How old are they? Do they seem to insulate well?)
Heating/Cooling systems (How old are they? Do they work?)
None of these items on their own is necessarily a deal-breaker, but (depending on the purchase price of the hosue and your planned renovation budget, they may be outside the scope of your project.)
Layout of the space
This is something to consider as you walk through the home: Does it “feel” right? Not everyone has the same knack for spacial awareness, but try to imagine your family living in the space. Ignore the colors, the finishes, the ugly carpet…. How would you LIVE in this home? For example: my family spends most of our time in the kitchen and living room, cooking, eating, and playing with my young children. I knew we needed a large kitchen with room for guests that had great visibility into the living room. When we looked at houses- If the kitchen and living room were on opposite sides of the house, I immediately knew that it woldn’t work- no matter the size of our renovations. This is a less tangible quality of houses- and may be something you can’t quite put your finger on- But don’t ignore it! If a house has the right “feel” and you can imagine the life your family would lead in the space, it has great potential as a fixer upper.
Scope of general renovations needed
Finally, let yourself dream about what the house will look like when you have ompleted renovations and you’re ready to move in. Make a simple list of the projects you would like to complete in order to make that dream a reality. Some items to consider including:
Floors (what kind? how much?)
Walls (what treatment?)
Windows (how many to replace?)
Light fixtures (how many?)
Kitchen
Change layout
Refinish existing cabinetry
New cabinetry
New appliances
Bathrooms
How many?
New layout?
Update fixtures
Very basic upgrades (faucets, etc)
Floorplan
Will you want to move/remove any walls?
Are there structural changes involved?
Are you adding non-structural walls?
While you may not know much about construction or renovation costs right now, this general idea of what you would like to accomplish in a home will be very helpful when you are at the point of disucssing your plans with a contractor (before you actually buy the hosue!). If you know the work you want to complete in a house, you can get estimates of the cost of renovations and be confident that you’re making the best purchase for you and your family.
As you look at more homes, keeping track of the same information for each home will let you compare them and make the best decision for you. Using this checklist will also help you to use your time walking through a house the most efficiently and effectively- looking at houses can be overwhleming and all the hosues start to blur together. This checklist will help you stay organized from the start and keep track of it all!
Are you considering buying a fixer upper? Are you worried that it is….
Too risky?
Too much work?
Too much of an inconvenience?
Too stressful?
Too messy?
I’m here to tell you that, in my experience, it is DEFINITELY worth it to buy and renovate a fixer upper, and that you CAN handle the project! You can read all about my story of home renovation and see the Before & After photos of our current home on the About page.
Consider this post the pep talk I would give you if we went out for coffee to chat about all things fixer uppers and renovations (my favorite coffee topics!).
Need a pep talk before buying your first fixer upper? Here are 20 reasons you should take the leap! – Click to Tweet!
Here are 20 reasons you should consider a fixer upper when you’re ready to buy a new home, in no particular order:
1. You’re the boss of your money
When you find, buy, and improve a fixer upper- you are deciding how you want to spend your money at every step of the way. From deciding on your maximum purchase price for a distressed home (you can usually bargain for these!), to choosing your mortgage program and shopping for the best rates, to selecting your finishes on cabinetry and appliances: you are in charge of every penny that you invest into this home. If you are on a budget, or a control freak about your money (good for you- I am, too!) then a fixer upper is a great way for you to feel empowered in your home ownership journey.
2. There are lots of tools to help you stay organized
It is true that buying and renovating a fixer upper is a complex process that will take time, perseverance, and attention to detail. BUT- there are so many resources available to help you manage this project every step of the way! When you commit to managing this process, you are investing in your future (and your finances) in a big way. It is worth a little extra management and organization on your end to create the home of your dreams. Here are some great printable and online tools to help you stay organized: (NOTE: These are NOT affiliate links. I just want to show you some awesome tools available to you right now!)
One of the biggest things I hear that scares people away from a home renovation is how much time it will take, and that they don’t think they are willing to endure the experience. All I have to say to them is that time will pass anyway. Depending on the scale of your project, it might take 1, 3, or 6 months to complete. In half a year- do you want to be living in a new home that is customized to you and your family? Or will you look around and wish that you had gotten around to improving your home- still living in the imperfect space that you are in right now? As with any big undertaking, home renovation takes time. But it will not last forever! Next year will be here in less than 12 months, and we all have the same 12 months to accomplish something.
Here is a peek into the construction process of the kitchen and dining room in our fixer upper! You can accomplish a LOT in 6 months!
4. A fixer upper can fit into any size budget
No matter what your home purchase budget looks like- there is a way that you can accomplish a home purchase AND home renovation project within that amount. If you have $100,000 to spend on a new home- instead of looking at homes with listing prices between $90-$110,000… start your search looking at homes listed for $75,000! A higher purchase prices does NOT always mean you’re buying a better house. Houses are listed according to market value, as well as the value assigned them by the current owner. When you begin looking at homes in a slightly lower price bracket- all sorts of options arise! At a lower price- you might find a larger house than you thought you could afford, but with fewer bathrooms, or maybe a kitchen from the 1970’s. Or you may discover a smaller home than you were looking for, but in a better neighborhood. When you look for homes that are NOT move-in ready, you will likely have less competition as a buyer, and more room in your budget to dedicate to improving the house. The way you allocate your budget will be unique to the property and the cost of improvements it needs, but any size budget can be split between home purchase and renovations.
Less than a year after we purchased our fixer upper and started renovations, we now enjoy a kitchen that before we only dreamed of!
5. You deserve to live in your dream home
Let’s be honest, buying a home is likely [one of] the largest purchase[s] you will EVER make. We’re talking about tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on ONE THING! I don’t know about you, but there is nothing else in my life that I will invest so much money in as I have in a home. We finance it, insure it, clean it, improve it, and hope to create equity in our homes.
You get one life to live; you deserve to live in a home that is PERFECT for you and your family. – Tweet this!
Maybe that home is a converted vintage camper (which would be an awesome investment and follow the same philosophy of buying a fixer upper that applies to any other home!), or maybe that is a run down farmhouse, or maybe it’s a converted loft space in a city. No matter where you live- your home is the base camp for your life, and you deserve for it to be a direct extension of your values and your style.
6. It’s worth it!
The end result of buying a fixer upper and renovating a home is a priceless thing. You get to come home to a place everyday that you know inside and out, a home that you have customized to meet the needs of your family, a home that you can truly call your own! Any stress or inconvenience is temporary, and the satisfaction and joy of living in YOUR house will last as long as you call it home.
7. You get to customize the life you want for your family in your home
Home design and improvement are about so much more than construction and renovation. Managing a fixer upper and making improvements to your home gives you the chance to really dig in to what you need in a house, discover what functions your house performs for you and your family, and make those things a reality through intentional and smart design choices. For example, my family likes to keep shoes out of our house, and in our last home the entrance to our home opened directly into the living room. There was ALWAYS a pile of shoes by the door to trip over. When we designed our fixer upper, I made sure that we prioritized space for a mudroom with lockers, a bench, and a tile floor for wet shoes. This space (a simple design choice!) has completely reduced the stress associated with our back door, and makes me happy every day! When you make design choices in a home renovation, you get to create a home that really works for your lifestyle.
We now have a mudroom that perfectly meets the needs of our family. (This was originally a dysfunctional entrance to a poorly designed kitchen.) See the little shoes all tucked away? =)
8. There is no better time to make improvements to your home
When you are already moved in to a house, the amount of inconvenience a renovation causes is even greater. There is dust, mess, workers in your home daily, and a disrupted schedule for everyone in the house. When you renovate a home before you move in, you have the chance to take care of LOTS of projects without the inconvenience of living through a renovation. My suggestion would be to complete AS MUCH work as you can before you completely move in to the house. We saved our basement renovation for last on our current home. We hadn’t decided if we would hire it out or DIY the big stuff…. Now we have been living in our home for one year, and we are starting to feel settled. I know the basement needs to be finished, but we will have to drywall, paint, and tile to make the space work for our family- that means hauling all the materials through my brand new dining room and kitchen to get to the basement! (Arrgh!) The renovation will TOTALLY be worth it, and we are glad we ultimately decided to DIY the space- BUT it would have been SO MUCH EASIER to complete the project before we finished the rest of the house and moved in.
Excavating 90 year old pipes and updating the laundry plumbing was the first step in our basement renovation. Buying a fixer upper lets you take care of big projects before you move in, and make the space perfect for you starting at Day 1.
9. Build equity in your home: Short term gains
This is probably my favorite and most compelling reason to tackle a fixer upper. By buying a house for less than market value and making key improvements to the space, you can increase your equity position in the house and make a considerable profit when it comes time to sell and move. For instance: You buy a house for $100,000 and invest $50,000 in renovations (update the kitchen, paint, flooring, and add a mudroom). Now your home appraises for $200,000, and you have roughly “earned” $50,000 by investing in your home. You can then refinance to a more competitive mortgage program, or even access a home equity line of credit to finance another project. Nowhere else, other than our fixer upper, have I ever been able to increase my initial investment by that amount in just one year!
10. Long term value and investment
No matter what house you buy, let’s assume you plan to live there for at least five years. If you buy a house at the top of your price range, there is likely no money “left” to invest in renovation projects. Houses rarely just improve in market value by large spikes all by themselves (unless you score big and land in a hot growing neighborhood RIGHT before it gets hot! Don’t count on this.) At the end of five years, your home will probably be in about the same condition as it was when you bought it, give or take some small projects along the way. You may get your money back, plus inflation, if your neighborhood has decent competition and your neighbors haven’t radically renovated their homes in the meantime! If you buy a fixer upper and make the *right* improvements for your home and for your neighborhood- your home will continue to increase in value and keep pace with (or outpace!) your neighbors’ homes now and into the future.
11. You can access special mortgage programs to achieve your goals.
Are you concerned that you have be able to buy a house, but you’ll never be able to finance a renovation? Don’t fret- that’s just not true! Now, I can’t say that financing a purchase+renovation is the right choice, or even an available choice, for EVERYONE; but I can tell you that you have more options than you probably know when it comes to financing a fixer upper. For instance, there is a federally insured home mortgage program called the FHA 203(k) mortgage. It is designed specifically to help entry-level home buyers afford to buy a home AND finance renovations to make the home perfectly yours before you move in. This is the program we used in 2015 to finance our home purchase and renovation. Every county in the USA has a maximum borrowing limit, and all you need to know to get started is your max borrowing power and how you can allocate those dollars towards your fixer upper! In Chicago, for example, the max amount is $365,700; in Grand Rapids, Michigan it is $271,050. As long as your purchase price + renovation budget = your max amount or less, You’re All Set! This program also only requires a 3.5% down payment so you can use your cash for other necessities during your moving process.
Yes, I know I am simplifying this a bit. But it does not have to be as complicated as you may have been led to believe. There are LOTS of components to consider when you are financing a home purchase. Many programs are largely overlooked, and I want you to know that you have options! Your mortgage lender MAY NOT tell you about all of them, or be familiar with them, so be sure you ask a lot of questions and advocate for yourself at every step.
If you have more questions about financing, don’t hesitate to send me a note to let me know that you want to know more!
12. Get into a better neighborhood/school district
By looking for a house on the lower end of your budget, and potentially buying the house that nobody else wants (that’s what we did!), you can find a home in a nicer neighborhood that you may have considered before. Or you might be able to move into a school district/county/you-name-it of your dreams without paying as much for the move-in-ready property next door.
When you house hunt for a fixer upper, let yourself be creative and flexible. You don’t have to find the PERFECT house to buy, you just have to find a house that WILL BE perfect!-Tweet this!
You can rely on a friend, your Realtor, or even our Facebook group to bounce around ideas and share your plans for a potential home purchase.
13. It is a great learning experience
There is no doubt about it, I know so much more about construction, home design, home ownership and home maintenance, and even my personal project management skills today than I did two years ago! If you are the type of person who loves to learn, then renovating a fixer upper is just the experience for you. At every step of the project: you will learn about your home, about the types of skills needed to improve and maintain your home, and the different professionals who make career from working on homes. You will also meet so many different people in your area who help you through the process- consider this one of the best networking experiences you can find!
14. More proactive home ownership experience
If this is your first time owning a home, you will quickly learn that there is ALWAYS more work to do around your home. Home maintenance can be a large job, and it doesn’t help when you feel like issues keep “surprising” you around every corner. During a renovation project, if you are as proactive and involved as I suggest, you will learn about your home from the studs to the foundation. There is no other time when you can learn so much about the walls and roof that protect you than when you have things “opened up” during a renovation. You will learn about things to look out for and what is “normal” in your home from the professionals who you work with during your renovation. You can also call on the network you develop when things go wrong or when you have another project to start! This is your home, and you should be the expert.
15. More confidence in the construction and maintenance of your home
After our feel more confident in the electric, plumbing, insulation, windows, gas lines, appliances, and structural support in my 1925 home than I would in a brand-new property. I have seen INSIDE the walls, I know what types of pipes my water is coursing through, I know the electric outlets are all wired correctly, and I have seen the massive support beam that holds up the second floor! I know my home inside and out, and I feel prepared to continue to take care of it for years to come.
16. Pride of Ownership
When you have participated in the creation of something, there is an entirely new level of ownership and pride that comes with that experience. After completing a renovation project on a distressed home, you can enjoy an increased level of pride in having accomplished something truly awesome! Not only will you have a house that is updated and beautiful, you will have created a place to welcome family and friends to make memories with you that uniquely suited for them. You can be proud of your accomplishment and feel great about the home that you have created.
17. Improve the value of your neighborhood
Often, a home that is well-suited to be purchased as a fixer upper is dragging down the market values of the other homes in the area. When you buy a fixer upper for a value, spend your time and energy improving the inside and the outside of the property, and live in the home as a responsible homeowner- you improve the values and the appeal of the ENTIRE neighborhood! There is proof that neighborhoods with well-maintained homes encourage higher levels of care for all of the other homeowners in the area- improving the safety and the quality level for the entire neighborhood.
I know that this isn’t the most important perk to every home buyer, but I appreciate the chance to choose the finishes in my kitchen, bathrooms, floors, and walls. The colors and textures that surround you in your home create a space that reflects your personality and is unique to you and your family! By purchasing a fixer upper and spending time and money upfront to improve the home- you get the chance to update as much as you like, to JUST the right colors and textures, often for MUCH less than if you were to make improvements 1 by 1 later on in your time in the house. If shopping for so many items for your home is intimidating, (or sounds like a chore!)- don’t worry! You have help 😉 Check out my design and home renovation management services to help you every step of the way.
19. You don’t need to overpay for an imperfect finished product or someone else’s design choices
This was one of the most appealing perks of buying a fixer upper for me and my family. When we were house hunting, we continually found homes that were at the top of our price range which had been updated in the last 10 years, but they just never *felt* right. The kitchen design was impractical, or the bathrooms were in our least favorite colors (so. much. brown), or there was new carpet installed on top of old hardwoods (we love wood floors!). It felt like a wasteful purchase to pay top dollar for elements in the home that we would want to remove or change. When you buy a distressed home, you can be sure that you are not wasting any of your home buying budget on the current finishes in your property- you pay the minimum amount possible for the home (since you hopefully won’t have competing offers!), and then use the rest of your budget to update it according to YOUR preferences.
20. You have lots of support. You’re not in this alone!
At times, I have felt very discouraged and isolated by the (American) stigma to not discuss money, investments, or real estate in a community setting. These topics, like church and politics, are seemingly only appropriate to discuss with your significant other, or with a professional. We are a very private culture when it comes to personal finances, and this isn’t always helpful when you are starting out or considering taking a calculated risk in your real estate ventures or your investment plans. In fact, our tendency to not talk about money makes it even harder for new home buyers to feel confident in their choices because they have no one to talk to! Luckily for you, we found each other, and you don’t have to do this alone! I have a Facebook group where all of us can candidly discuss home buying and renovating, and I’m here for you, too! I am officially welcoming you to this home improvement community where home buyers and homeowners just like you are working together on our fixer upper journeys to create the homes of our dreams. You CAN handle a fixer upper, and I will be by your side, all the way 😀
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