Renovating a fixer upper and creating home you love can be an awesome journey. If you’re considering buying an old home, there are lots of things to think about, but it can also be a huge win when you find that diamond 💎 in the rough.

I’ve done two whole house renovations on vintage homes. The first was a Queen Anne Victorian built in 1893. This was our first home and to be honest, she had zero curb appeal when we first laid eyes on her. Barely recognizable as a Victorian, there was alot to be done to restore her to her former glory.

As a TV producer, I can tell you with certainty the home shows give only a snapshot of the actual process. You don’t see the weeks, months or years some people spend on renovating, nor do you see the army of contractors and workers needed to transform a space in record time. However, you do NOT have to buy into the cautionary tales either. If you do your homework, and hire the right people, the journey doesn’t have to send you over the edge 🙄.

Hunting For The Fixer Upper 🏚

As newlyweds hunting for our first home, my husband and I weren’t consciously seeking a fixer upper. In fact, I was hustling to level up in my producing/directing career and my husband wasn’t exactly Mr. Fixit. Honestly, when we saw this Victorian, I didn’t even want to go in. My thought was, ‘if they did this to the exterior, what hell lurks on the inside.’

The Queen Anne was a lowly version of herself, missing the once welcoming open front porch and all of her gingerbread and shutters had been stripped away. And, at the time it was out of our price range. But the broker wanted us to see it because it was a “re-lo” meaning a corporation had purchased the home on behalf of an employee they were relocating (American Express) and wanted to unload it fast. It also happened to be in a coveted section of this little town located within an easy commute to New York City. So I got out of the car and went inside.

The inside wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated. In fact it was quite move-in ready. Most of the original rooms in the front of the house were largely untouched by time. Beautiful light cherry moldings, spacious rooms, and a kitchen that, while a bit dated, was definitely workable. Shortly after, we made an offer at the top of our budget (still several thousand away from the asking price). We even wrote a letter explaining we could close in 30 days (we were renting at the time), and had already been pre-approved for our mortgage.

What ultimately sold us was the fact that it was the lowest price paid for any house on the block in decades, and aside from some cosmetics changes, it was move-in ready. A thorough home inspection revealed very little. She was built in 1893 and was solid. To even the broker’s surprise, American Express accepted the offer, and 30 days later, we were in the home.

Don’t Fall in Love Until the Home Inspection

Once you’ve found the vintage home that speaks to you, make the sale contingent on the home inspection and hire the best home inspector you can find.  

Ideally this home inspector is an expert on older homes. You may also want a structural engineer as well depending on the age of the home, especially if you plan on building out or up. While the home inspector doesn’t have X-Ray vision, he or she should be able to discern quite a bit from what’s visible. 

It’s possible to restore any house, but there are situations where you may be putting more money in than the house might be worth in the end.  For most of us, we can’t afford to have this be an unbridled labor of love.

Get smart around what it’s going to take to bring that beauty back to life. That means getting expert advice before you commit.

The Advantages Of A Fixer Upper

While homes over 100 years old might scare some people off, chances are if you’re reading this you have the imagination, the desire and are summoning the courage to take the leap.  The beauty of finding a home that is in need of renovation is you can get what you want without paying a premium.  You can pick the finishes, the fixtures, change the flow of the home, ditch the bad design or “remuddling” all to suit your needs. Be brave.  Do your research.  And then make a plan.

Should You Do Yourself?! 🔨

I’m all for the DIY-er who figures out how to hang a little drywall in the afternoon or rents the sander to do their ancient floors. In my case, we had no idea how to do those things and have seen a lot of DIY projects that frankly, sucked. Our current home, The Manse, fell prey to a lot of DIY prior to our purchase as evidenced by the weird layout of bathrooms, the really bad layout of the kitchen, and lots of other cobbled together oddball things.

In the first home, we didn’t do any major construction right away. We had no budget after sinking most of our life savings into a down payment. And, shortly after moving in, we were expecting kid #1. In fact it wasn’t until 8 years later, that we did any major projects. The first was restoring the original front porch.

Know when to bring in the Pro’s. You wouldn’t do your own dental work or take out your own appendix, right?  

Don’t be derailed by what you don’t know, just recognize your skill level and call the right people for the task at hand. In my case, I have installed my own huge brick patio, I’ve sanded and oiled my own beams and took on sanding and staining during renovation projects, and even patched and sealed a driveway, and yeah, I know how to paint (but I hate it). 😜  I also do my own landscaping.  But when it came time to renovate, I quickly saw it was a better use of my time to educate myself on what made sense to do and when to hire others to do it. In most cases, trying to do it yourself will take WAY longer, and may not turn out the way you hoped.