I found a good one in my neighborhood that I can sort of afford. With how rents are going up, I'd rather be locked in and have a chance of not being rent-burdened someday. Overall, it's in good shape with a good foundation, roof, and utilities. However the current owner was going at it silly and the whole thing is covered in half-started DIY projects.
My friend who is a builder said that actually it's in great shape, it's just going to be a lot of work to clean up the half projects and finish up with the drywall and so on. She guessed it would be 300 hours of work for her or about 1000 for me since I have a lot more to learn. She's offered to work together with me at a discount to teach me how to do things myself/do work-trade where I do grunt work at her sites and she does more specialized labor for me.
I think I wouldn't mind living somewhere jank for a few years as I fixed it, but I am seeking the perspective of people who have done it before. What were your regrets and what do you wish you had known going in?
My union has been coming through for us these past years so I can afford an okay down payment and to get some good inspections.
Overall, I feel mixed. On one hand, this feels like a real chance at stability but on the other it might be saddling myself with more work than I can chew. With each year that passes, my capacity for projects and things outside work wanes and I am a bit worried about the trade-off with having such a big ongoing project and the mental load of it being always around me.
Also for reference, I am used to doing manual labor just not building trades.
So yeah.
Also I'm excited because there is a really big and easy to access attic that can become a dance hall or a jam room. Like it was enough room to have 15 people dancing comfortably up there. Granted that's only really gonna be comfortable in the Spring and Fall months although if we get really moving the Winter could be doable.
If you enjoy working with your hands and tinkering with stuff DIY isn't even work really but a great hobby. Especially now with youtube there's literally nothing you can't do with some patience. As long as you don't go cutting through structural members or wiring when you don't know what you're doing it's pretty much impossible to fuck things up in a way that isn't fixable.
Most contractors are unreliable dipshits who do a crap job anyway so not only will you be saving money you'll be doing a better job. Apologies to any contractors present this is just my experience. Having said that a good contractor is a homeowner's best friend but they are HARD to find.
The one catch I will say is doing all of these projects takes tools. Usually you need a tool for a specific job that you would hire a contractor for, and the way I look at it is I would rather spend the money on a tool and the time to learn what I need to do than to give my money to a contractor. Bc your friend is a builder you might even be able to borrow tools.
My one regret, if you even want to call it that, is buying a REALLY old house. It's beautiful but shit is breaking like every week. It's truly a money pit. If your place is stick framed and built with modern materials I say go for it.
Finally I want to touch on the financial aspect of homeownership. You often see these rent vs buy calculators or whatever that show the return on a real estate investment vs. putting that money in the market or whatever and are like see renting is better for some people or whatever. This is a false dichotomy. You have to spend money for a place to live, and the rate of return on rent is -100%. Also, rents over the past five years have gone up a shitload, but my fixed rate mortgage has gone up zero. From a financial standpoint home ownership is pretty much the closest thing to a no brainer there is, and many times the only way to get a leg up on the property ladder is buying into a special situation like the one you are describing.