As some of you know, I am looking to buy my first house. Decided against a townhouse. We are looking at older houses. Some of them a real nice while some are real shitty. All need something or the other and some are real dated. I can't seem to find the one where I am instanty like yeah! this is the one.
On top of that my fiance seems to have her head in the clouds. She can't look past what she see's. If she see's old wallpaper she is like "i'm not living in here with that wall paper!" I am like WTF!!!!!!!!!!! It is easy to remove that shit. Paint and wallpaper make a huge difference.
Sorry, needed to vent.

Any comments, suggestions?

 

Patience, finding the right place can take a long time. I have been in the same boat, I started with wanting to build new, then was looking at pre-existing homes, now I am thinking of converting an old office building to a house. You have the added problem of a female who can't see a diamond in the rough.. so it may take a while, but DO NOT settle on something you aren't excited about, you'll never be happy there.

 

Remember, there's little that can't be changed.

So long as the exterior and the bones are in good shape, look for the least expensive buy so that you may spend more on interior renovations.

Like you said, paint goes a long way. In my 1920's home, upstairs, all we've done so far is refinish the floors and give everything a fresh coat of paint... it looks 100% better already. By the time were done, all we'll probably have done up here is replace all the windows... another relatively easy & cheap upgrade that makes the whole house look cleaner/fresher.

If you find an old house that has nothing you want to change, you're probably going to be paying too much for it. The previous owner will have tapped out the profit potential of the home.

 

Move out by me... Build new.

 

Alot of people don't like new homes, don't forget. But yes, that is the easy way to do it.

 

If I were to ever build new though, Indiana is not the place I'd move to do it.

I'd pull a juniorbean and head south to the carolinas

 

 

I predict your fiance will have you looking at new construction shortly.

 

So true, if you have vision and are willing to put forth the effort/time required to change things to suit your needs, sky is the limit.

 

and I predict your fiance will be looking at new fiance shortly Seriously, don't buy a place with her until you are married or buy it as joint tenants in common. Otherwise you could end up w/ a huge mess if you decide against getting married after purchase of a home.

 

I got lucky and bought a house that had most of the interior redone, kitchen updated, and windows/roof recently redone. I looked at alot of fixer uppers, but I really wanted something that was in "move in" condition. Took a little longer to find it, but eventually I've found what I was looking for...

Keep working on the fiance... hopefully she's start to see that some things are minor and she can overlook them and see what perspective houses "really" have to offer.



That really seems like the place where everyone is heading now...

 

Or just leave her name off the paperwork completely, and she'll just a "guest"

I sold an estate property recently, and the guy who bought it didn't have his wife on the mortgage/deed which I thought was interesting...

 

Thanks Soops, I never thought of it in the sense of "tapped out the resale potential" point of view. My realtor keeps talking about potential. I think that is what he keeps trying to tell me. I have noticed the house that have been rehabed for resale ... they don't to a lot of work but they charge a lot more for the house that i think it is worth.



I would prefer to find an older home because I think they have a lot more character. They are built solid, atleast the ones I am looking at. It just gets frustrating.

I had a real long "talk" with the fiance about our situation. I started out nice for about 30 seconds then I was screaming and I wasn't real nice. But, I got my point across. She is being more open minded about it. I have explained to her why I don't want houses that are already done and stuff. She see's what I trying to say now. I dunno if the screaming helped but atleast she got the point now. I think she is nervous (as am I) because she wants everything perfect righ off the bat. That isn't very practical. Girls don't get that part right away!

 

Yeah, around here, there's people buying houses cheap from lazy sellers... throwing a coat of paint in the walls... and re-selling for $50-100k in profit.

When buying existing construction, you should by the shittiest/cheapest house in the best neighborhood you can find.

You can put 50k into it and get 200k or more out.

This is easier said than done though, it's hard to get excited about buying a house that doesn't already look like the house you want to live in. It's hard to see the potential when you're signing a mortgage for 200-300k.