Ever Bought A Cheap House And Regretted It?

[brandondrury]

The wife and I are moving out of this currently "economical" solution that mostly fits the criteria of "house".

I'm not positive that paying more for a house equals a better "quality" house. I'm defining "better quality" as a house that has less issues and generally requires less day to day intervention, although I've learned from my peers that I WILL underestimate the amount of upkeep. I don't get the Saturdays off like many guys do to take care of the fort.

The problem it seems is the value of a house is often size and the color of walls and floors. Neither impress me that much. Painting a wall ain't that big of deal and I've done a hair of flooring in my day.

I'm used to living VERY humbly by modern Polish standards and so an upgrade to a lower-middle class American type house seems kinda fun. I do have a dream rig in my head that involves about 10 acres of land 2 miles out of town, an eventual plot of ground for my super studio, and a very nice house that I could ALMOST afford now if I blew the entire stupid loan I was approved for (which I have no intention of doing). I honestly believe I'd be too tired to enjoy a badass house right now anyway as I'm too tired to notice the crappiness of my modern quarters (and Mr. Squirt is 2 months away).

I am paying attention to the utility bill of homes I'm considering and factoring that into the cost.

Has anyone bought a pretty damn cheap house, painted some walls, and had any major disasters?

Brandon

[venuestudio]

I paid $48K for my place, stripped it to the outside framing, removed all flooring and did it over my self. Best decision ever. Now some 11 years later we own the place outright, and the house runs like a champ. Don't under estimate the power of knowing were every wire and pipe is in a house. Cheap can kick ass!

BTW, I am not a contractor or builder. I had never done any of the work before with the exception of some flooring and random woodworking over the years. I went on line, learned what I needed and applied it.

[Stan_Halen]

There are many factors to consider, and you already have your eye on some of them. There is up-front cost to get in (don't forget "closing costs" which can run several thousand $'s), cost of upgrades and improvements, maintenance, emergency repairs. Utility costs, as you mentioned. A BIG list of all your likes/dislikes is a good place to start. Even make a list template to evaluate each house you look at, so you can compare apples to apples. I assume you are getting the wife's preferences in the mix too (very important), and considering kid issues (with a staircase you'll have to have a child-proof gate).

With a loan, you'll probably be required to get an inspection once you make an offer on a house. If you know somebody who does it, or even find someone to advise you, it can be a big help. That's where you're looking for costly problems down the road like foundation repairs.

If you have HUD or foreclosure homes in your area, those can sell pretty cheap, but you'll most likely have some fix-up to do.

[rook2c4]

If you live in a cooler climate, the quality of insulation treatment between the walls can be a big deal when it comes to winter time heating expenses. Unfortunately that's something home buyers rarely examine when deciding on a house. Some homes have virtually no wall insulation at all! And inserting insulation between the walls yourself after you've moved in is both messy and difficult.

[tatteredstudios]

Yeah, there can be some pitfalls, but in my past life I was a General Contractor, And I can honestly say there are always some "challenges" but they are almost always more in worries than they are in fact... just make sure you check into ALL the pitfalls first, then swallow hard and go for it

[richiebee]

Thanks mostly to my wife's unshaking thriftiness, we've bought two cheap houses in a row. It started twelve years ago buying a house for $50,000. We did some minor cosmetic work to the first house, which was extremely solid and in a very desirable area, but cosmetically a disaster, and sold it two years later for $95k. We topped our mortgage up to buy another dump - this time a six month old bungalow on the outskirts of the city, for $117k. It too is in a desirable location. It's a decent size, but was finished on the cheap and had absolutely no soul. It was built and marketed as a wheelchair accessible house, but take out the ramp, and the only thing left from that is wonderful wide doorways. We paid our mortgage off in about eight years and we've completed almost everything we want in terms of remodelling and landscaping. The house would sell very quickly for asking price if we put it up for sale for $325k. I hate my neighbour, but otherwise am happy where I am. I wouldn't mind a 1 acre lot to remove all possibility of even having to encounter annoying neighbours but other than that, its been a good investment. It's got personality now.

If you're prepared to put some work in, I think cheap houses can be a good investment.

[dizzydog]

Unless you find something horribly wrong during inspection, don't worry as much about the physical structure and systems 'cause you can fix that stuff. Location, location, location. Buy the cheapest place available in an area that's on the upswing.

[cptfiasco]

cheapest can pretty much boil down to 'fixer upper". Believe me I bought my house for 150,000$, which was a steal compared to three years before the asking price was in the 200's.The house is huge for only the two of us (and some animals) 2600sq. ft between the house and garage,...b u t it was a total 80's house , like the teen-age-mutant-ninja-turtles and Ferris bueller had a shoot-out and ALF was the csi detective 80's house...yea, but 8,000$ in renovations later ( paint, interior doors, outlets, tile,furniture,) and still only HALF of the house is done, it feels like it is starting to come together.

It is WAY more work then I have time for, and trying to squeeze in yard work( 1 acre) is insane when I am working 60+ hour weeks, just finished mowing the BACK yard, took me two days and literally a mountain of grass clippings, yes push mow twice! first on the 5" setting ...then going back and mowing on the 2" setting!....the garden I started months before is long overgrown and unkept( that was an 160$ "investment" down the drain).........(the 8000$ in renovations kept me from purchasing a riding lawnmower)

So if you buy a house do not settle for cheap, purchase something that will be worth your money, even if you have to bring yourself to paying a little more in mortage, because a house that is finished will save you TIME and MONEY... do not look at a house as an investment!

[EnSkorSang]

America seems fun and cheap I had a look at the price of housing in uk very recently as we are inching toward being stuck in one place for a good long time Unfortunately, crappy 2-bedroom inner-city housing seems to start at £10-100 000 and upwards. Head out to the country and you could double that. Try and get any land attached and you need a lucky lottery ticket. I looked at barns too. The cheapest, run down bit of crap (that would basically need knocking down to do anything with) started at £65 000. And that was in Wales :S.

From my parents experience though; They bought their house 20 years ago for not much (~100 000). It's now worth about 500 000. But that is after 20 years of work. In the UK at least, if you find a cheap house in a nice location you should leap on it - as long as it is structurally sound you can't really go wrong. It's generally (Again in the uk) quite easy to get planning permission to modify or extend existing structures, or to build new stuff on land that already has your house on...
It takes a long long time though, if you do it properly...

[brandondrury]

Location, location, location. Buy the cheapest place available in an area that's on the upswing.

You guys know I'm in Missouri, right? There is no "upswing". It's not like we are in Detroit or anything, but the area is generally not considered the upswing type.

Actually, this is a factor that I hadn't considered. I think I may be like Richiebee. If for some reason my $100k house appreciated to $300k, I'd want to move just to get away from the kind of people who buy $300k houses in subdivisions. My brother lives in your typical "nice" neighborhood. I hate it. Suburbia ain't for me. However, if I could get in on the ground floor and could profit from leaving such a place that could be doable.

It is WAY more work then I have time for, and trying to squeeze in yard work( 1 acre) is insane when I am working 60+ hour weeks, just finished mowing the BACK yard, took me two days and literally a mountain of grass clippings, yes push mow twice! first on the 5" setting ...then going back and mowing on the 2" setting!....the garden I started months before is long overgrown and unkept( that was an 160$ "investment" down the drain).........(the 8000$ in renovations kept me from purchasing a riding lawnmower)

This sounds more like me. I did really well in keeping my yard kept this year until June. (About 8 week.) Then I got a bit more busy than usual, a bit more tired, and said hell with it. Yesterday I had to pile through 12" grass with a non-gas push mower. These weren't designed for that. Anyway, this is a major reason why a tiny little crappy yard sounds APPEALING right now. The wife has ruled out apartments entirely, but I'd like something as close as possible in regard to yard work. I just don't have the time or interest. On the other hand, making time to hang new drywall and such is something I've done before and enjoyed a bit. Self-interest packed manual labor is a nice break from typing and mixing all day, actually.

do not look at a house as an investment!

Yeah, that old bubble has burst, I'm afraid. I'm 100% looking at this as an expense. I was trying to scrape up ways to keep the current arrangement going, but a crying baby in acoustic tracks ain't gonna fly.

America seems fun and cheap

There are some HUGE advantages to living in a place where no one wants to live....except Mexicans. (I have no problem with that. Foreigners know how to work.)

----

Okay, I'm gonna get the utility bill numbers for a $50k house that's under 20 years old. I've got 2 contractor buddies who can give it a hard nosed inspection for super cheap. It needs a few cosmetic updates, but those can wait. My current situation is so cosmetically challenged that this shouldn't be an issue and, again, I'll be too tired to notice. Even after bank BS, we are looking at under $300/month paying 3.25% interest (which I believe is under the inflation rate). That should get the wife content and allow me to save for the super studio and mega house.

Brandon

[acidfrost]

50k?!?!? Man a crappy house here is 200k and a decent one is about 300k-400k. If you want a great house it's 600k and up. I'm currently looking for my girlfriend and me and we're aiming at maximum 200k. Let me tell you it's pretty hard to get something decent and not in a "you'll get robbed, killed and raped" neirborhood

[willj]

Has anyone bought a pretty damn cheap house, painted some walls, and had any major disasters?

I dont think thats even possible. Its inspected for one. Even if an entire side of the houses foundation crumbled, block are about $1.50 each. If i had to jack up an entire side of a house up and lay 200 brand new block, it wouldnt be the first time.

I know when you arent real gifted with construction the word "major" can look daunting, but believe me, theres nothing $5,000 wont take care of. If you have an electrician buddy, or a buddy that can lay block , or fix brick or falling chimneys, (which you do) you can get that number down significantly.

[paul999]

I've owned houses on most spectrums of the scale other then a mansion type home because there are very few circumstances that that seems to make any sense at all. My favorite places have been the ones that neighbors don't envy. You don't care if the counter gets scraped or you nick the wall or what ever. You get to live! The smaller the better IMO. Cleaning takes seconds but you better be organized! Hire out the outside work. Never buy a house you can't pay off in 5 to 10 years and learn to love it.

No one tends to like this advise but I'll keep giving it:-) People tell me "I'll be living in a hovel if I can only buy what I can pay off in 10 years." IMO having cash and living modestly is 1000x more fun then having the house of your dreams and being stressed about paying bills.

[brandondrury]

50k?!?!? Man a crappy house here is 200k and a decent one is about 300k-400k. If you want a great house it's 600k and up. I'm currently looking for my girlfriend and me and we're aiming at maximum 200k. Let me tell you it's pretty hard to get something decent and not in a "you'll get robbed, killed and raped" neirborhood

I've left my front door open (just a screen door closed) every night since April or so. The 70 degree nights make up for the 100 degree days. There is very very little crime here even if my town is not going to set any income records. Many here are armed. I'm of the belief that this lowers crime at least in my area.

I consider myself very lucky to live in a town with so little crime and so little property value. No one with any sense stays here conventionally, but the web has changed that some in my case....not that I have any sense.

My favorite places have been the ones that neighbors don't envy. You don't care if the counter gets scraped or you nick the wall or what ever. You get to live! The smaller the better IMO.

I agree. I hate when people have brand new cars that cost a crap load and they won't let you eat in the car on some trip. Why would I pay $40k just to have a car with no "eating feature"? My 1997 Civic came with that standard!

I'm with you on the 10 year thing. I just like living simply so I can put my real time/effort/money into the things I love. For me personally, a counter is not on the list, necessarily. I don't care about impressing anyone. Most my friends are DEpressed.

IMO having cash and living modestly is 1000x more fun then having the house of your dreams and being stressed about paying bills.

Again, it seems like the stress feature would devalue the home a bit. "I see you have hardwood flooring and marble counter tops, but I'm seeing a TON of stress here, buddy. That's gonna have to come off the price."

It seems that most of us are of like mind on this topic of houses. (All of us have a HUGE time wasting gig that consumes everything we'll give it. )

willj, it's good to know that the kind of "major" work I'm concerned about isn't that big of deal. $5k is a lot of money, but not when I got a house for $100k less than I had to.

Brandon

[willj]

willj, it's good to know that the kind of "major" work I'm concerned about isn't that big of deal. $5k is a lot of money, but not when I got a house for $100k less than I had to.

Yeah i was trying to think of like the worst thing that could go wrong. I own my own house...Shit i dunno the septic tank could need dug up, but hell i watched a guy dig one up by hand. It took him about two months every day after work, but anything is do-able man. i dont evben know if that would be expensive to deal with, but i honestly cant think of anything that 5k wouldnt take care of. I guess its where ya live too.

[bobbybovine]

I've owned houses on most spectrums of the scale other then a mansion type home because there are very few circumstances that that seems to make any sense at all. My favorite places have been the ones that neighbors don't envy. You don't care if the counter gets scraped or you nick the wall or what ever. You get to live! The smaller the better IMO. Cleaning takes seconds but you better be organized! Hire out the outside work. Never buy a house you can't pay off in 5 to 10 years and learn to love it.

No one tends to like this advise but I'll keep giving it:-) People tell me "I'll be living in a hovel if I can only buy what I can pay off in 10 years." IMO having cash and living modestly is 1000x more fun then having the house of your dreams and being stressed about paying bills.

Ohh I like that advice and it is true. Unfortunately when women are thrown into the equation that sound advice doesn't hold much water. Most women want nice things, and a nice house is at the top of the list.