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.
I think it is a great idea, if the bones of the house are solid (and, from what you said it sounds like they are), and if you are serious about putting in those hours and labor.
A lot of people think they are, but it can be hard to translate 'off hours at home' into 'additional unpaid labor hours' mentally sometimes. I work construction (electrical), and I've seen very skilled and active workers leave their homes full of half finished projects like the house you're looking at is, just because of the mental and physical toll it takes go from work, back home to do more work.
But it can and will save you a lot of money to do it yourself, or even mostly yourself, with the added upside of being able to sculpt you home to your preferences, and to be familiar with what is where in case of doing later repairs or renovations down the road.
If you need any electrical advice, feel free to shoot me a DM. Hopefully you won't need to do more than splice and pull romex or maybe cat5, which should be pretty simple.