I totally agree with you, but most buyers (especially first time home buyers) expect that the homes that are on the market for sale all look like the model homes that they see on television.  

As for the value, in the current market we are in now in Maryland, if the home needs some work the buyers can get a really really good deal because they just are not moving any more.  It's almost like things just came to a screaching halt recently!

NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A DEAL and it sounds like you found one and made it your own!  It is certainly not for everybody (like me who doesn't like to do the work, but is good at writing checks - I guess that is why I just bought a New home), but GOOD FOR YOU!  I'm sure you definitely made your money back and then some with those upgrades...

I agree...Now is the time to buy homes.  If I had a sack of money-I know 10 right off hand that I would buy Today.  I would clean them, paint them, add a little flooring and put them back on the market for next spring!

Have a Great Week!

www.calgriffin.com

Edisto Beach-Now That's Heaven!

Cal, you don't even need a sack of money, just a few thousand and a cool seller.

I'm essentially like Michael, rather cut a check than grab a paintbrush, BUT having said that, I've done really well with investment properties. In our area, we still have little singlewides, and there is one area with a HOA private marina where EVERYONE wants to buy at least half the year. Grab one of those on an owner carry for a few thousand down, paint and recarpet, new appliances and doll it up, couple years ago netted 60k in 2 years. Meanwhile, it put 200 a month positive cash flow in my pocket. That is not a bad return on 12k -- 500% not counting the rents.

I've done the same thing :)  When I remodel I always try to  think ahead for re-sale value.  I keep the paint nuetral, don't over build for the neighborhood (i.e granite counter tops in a $150K house, or expensive wood floors in a community where most people probably have carpet, etc.)  It keeps my expenses down and my profits up when we sell which HAS been every 18 to 24 months for the last few years.  Looks like we'll stay here a more than 2 years as our home value has dropped just like everyone else.  Sigh.

Can't wait to buy my "last place" so I can make it MINE regardless of colors & upgrades.  Let my kids worry about selling it! HA!

Gloria, what's wrong with a little pink and purple :)

Gloria,

we are in our 3rd house in just 5 years. All three homes needed work. The first one needed the most ... it was a 1920s hillside farmhouse .... we did a complete rehab in that one (including new drywall in some areas of the home) ... and we were able to keep the budget right around $35K ... the only way we were able to keep it that low was because we did pretty much 99% of the work ourselves and bought a lot of material with nice discounts ... like getting upscale wooden patio doors (original price way over $2K) for only about $400 ... the only catch being that it came with a wall ... it was part of Menard's store display :-). ... Basically everything in that house was new, with the exception of the furnace ... and of course, it gave up right at the time of home inspection when the home went under contract, so we ended up replacing the furnace anyway ... it just caught up with us :-).

In the second house, some work was already done by the previous owner but a lot was still left for us. It was important to stay on budget because in our subdivision it would be very easy to overspent and the market wouldn't support it.

The house we're in right now was yet another one of those "great deals" that I've being keeping my eyes on ... I got it the day it came on the market before the sign was even in the front yard. We have already completely remodeled the whole kitchen, hallway and bath ... the rest is mainly cosmetic and time consuming. I've been telling my husband we got a great deal on it from the beginning but I don't think he believed me until this past weekend ... I took him out to show him an area that I think may be our future location whenever we decide to sell the home we have now ... and while we expected getting a lot more for the money there as opposed to where we lived, we realized that we couldn't find anything as updated as what we have now anywhere close to the price of our home ... and anything in the need of rehab was ridiculously overpriced! ... So at the end of the trip my husband actually turned to me and said "I bet the only real reason you took me out here was so that I would realize what a GREAT DEAL we got when we bought our house last year!" ... FINALLY HE KNOWS!