As a real estate investor, you know how important a good deal on a house is to making a successful investment. After all, you can’t maximize your profits without controlling your costs. That is why real estate investors tend to prefer buying fixer-upper homes. If that’s the route you’ve chosen to go, you should know what sorts of issues you can expect to find in your average fixer-upper home. Here are some common issues to expect with fixer-uppers.
Water Damage
Given enough time, water will wear away just about anything. This is especially true in areas prone to hurricanes, like our home area of Southwest Florida, where storm surge and flooding is common. Some things don’t take much time to succumb to water damage. Water damage is pretty common in fixer-upper homes and can range anywhere from mild dampness that needs little more than a humidifier to fix to severe water damage that requires you to replace seemingly everything.
Watch out for signs of water damage in any fixer-upper you consider buying. Depending on the severity, you may be better off passing on that purchase.
Pest Infestations
The same things that make our homes so cozy and inviting to humans (access to food, water, and safe shelter) make them attractive to pests too. As such, make sure you have any fixer-upper you consider purchasing professionally checked for pests. Professionals know the signs of pest presence and where to look.
Rodents tend to enter through gaps in the roof or garage. Spiders and insects will sneak in through cracks in doors and windows. Even the plumbing can act as an access point. Depending on the level of infestation, pest control can be a costly solution, but it’s better than just letting the pests run amok throughout the property.
Wear and Tear
Fixer-upper homes tend to come with a fair amount of wear and tear. Expect to see things like dents in the walls, places where the paint isn’t perfect, scratches in the flooring, and cracks in the sealing surrounding the windows. It’s normal for houses to become a bit worse for wear over time. With fixer-upper homes, the owner didn’t fix those things before selling them. Depending on the problem, you could patch the problem yourself. That’s a great way to save money on fixing things up.
If you choose to buy fixer-upper homes as a part of your real estate investment strategy, you need to know how to differentiate homes that have problems that you can handle from those that will only be a money pit for you. Start by understanding what sort of issues are common to these homes and what it takes to fix them. Watch out for homes with foundation problems, old electrical wiring, major roof problems, uneven walls or floors, and homes built in the 1970s or earlier that may have lead paint or asbestos. Such homes may sell at what seems like an amazing price, but you’ll more than make up the difference as you try to fix them.
Did you enjoy reading this article? Here’s more to read: Ways to Make Buying a Fixer-Upper in Cape Coral Worth It