J and S Life Progress

After experiencing our first “fixer upper,” we have come up with a list of things to think about for someone else before buying and flipping that could be helpful. If it weren’t for COVID, John’s ability to do a lot of the work himself, and financial support from family and the bank, we could have caused ourselves some serious stress and debt. So, if you are thinking about buying a house to completely renovate, I hope these points we came up with help you with your decision!(:

1. Time: This is the biggest thing to think about- Well, right up there with money anyway, lol. It is so easy to underestimate how long a project will take, and that can totally mess up any sort of schedule or budget in place. I think that the HGTV shows may be to blame partially, because they only show the highlights of the work and are able to fit an entire project of hard work within 40 minutes. Understand that majority of the projects will take way longer than expected, especially if you plan on doing most of the work yourself. For our house, we were fortunate that we bought the house when COVID shut everything down and we were not able to work at our jobs so we spent each day and night working on the house. In a normal time, we would not have finished the house when we wanted and would have lost a lot of money.
2. Money: This is another huuuuge, but somewhat obvious thing to think about before buying a house to renovate. Renovating a home almost always takes more money than expected. Extra expenses may be from an uncovered issue during the demo process, extra materials needed, or having to pay for labor longer than expected. It is always good to give yourself a cushion so that you do not go way over budget.
3. Knowledge and Skill: Having knowledge and skill in the construction business can help a ton if you are considering about buying a home to renovate. If you already have prior knowledge or experience on certain jobs, it can prevent you from having to hire someone for help and save a lot of money. If you are unfamiliar with a project, it is a good idea to look up how much the job typically costs and to price match with companies in the area. John was able to do almost every job himself, so it saved us a tremendous amount of money.
4. Help and Connections: For those times that you do need to reach out for help in a certain area, be sure that you find help from someone you trust. As you go through the home renovating process, it is good to reach out to friends and family on professionals that they have trusted and used before. It is good to use connections for help through people you trust and know, so that you do not end up with an issue down the road. Luckily, since John’s family owns several apartments, his family has built connections with plumbers, HVAC workers, and painters that they know and trust.
5. Passion: This one seems sort of cheesy, but it is really important. If the passion to flip the home is not there from everyone in the family, it can ruin relationships and cause endless stress. It is important to understand that things get stressful.. like really stressful when renovating a home, but if you are able to find satisfaction in the process and appreciate the milestones along the way, it makes it all worth it. You have to understand from the beginning that things will not always go as planned, but that everything will work out in the end. There were several times when John and I were working late at night screaming at each other while working on a project and almost decided to just throw in the towel, but I am glad we didn’t because we were able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and finish the job.