If the housing market hasn't scared you off
Realtor Magazine Online today has an interesting short piece on buying a fixer-upper - pulled from Inman News, a Calif.-based real estate Web site and news service.
Seems like an odd thing to focus on when everyone's dooming and glooming about the state of the housing market and the subprime collapse. But since buyers are still biting and sellers aren't suffering quite as much in the Triad area as in other parts of the state, I figured I'd toss this up for anyone who might be in the market for a deal and willing to put in a little bit of work.
If you're going to buy a fixer-upper, the report says, go for a home that's at least 30 percent below market value compared to other homes nearby. Go for three or four bedrooms (and, I'd add, make sure there's more than one bathroom and, if the house is two stories, make sure there's a decent bathroom downstairs). Choose a fixer-upper that's mostly in need of cosmetic repairs instead of major overhauls.
And - I thought this was particularly interesting - make sure the house is within an hour of your current home so you can monitor repairs, in person, on a daily basis.
Check out the full story here.