This is the third follow up post to: Enough for now. My attempt at finishing what I started in 2011.
When we bought our house back in 2006 it came with a big list of work needed……that’s the fun with buying a fixer upper, there’s always work to be done!
We procrastinated on getting some of the work done for two reasons 1) out of sheer laziness and 2) by our my taking ’not spending’ too far. I admit that some of the [badly needed] work has not been done because I didn’t want to spend the money. Which is silly because untreated issues will usually cost you more to fix in the long run!
In our case another knock on effect of procrastination is my now lack of physical ability to do some of the work. Hopefully this may change, but for now, much as I hate to admit it, I can’t do everything anymore! So we have to pay for it to be done. And you know how much I like doing that! On the plus side though I do get to support a local business.
I’m writing a detailed to do list for the house (including costs) so that we know exactly what needs doing by us, and by someone else, and then we’re going to get the work completed. Our priority this year was to have the house ready to rent out in 2012, and even if this doesn’t happen [for now] it would be nice to have an empty to do list, even for a short while.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I would be scared to write down everything that needs to be done to this house and the cost….it would be overwhelming!
It’s hard to pay someone else when you are used to doing it. We had to do that with the painting in our basement because neither my husband nor I could do it. But, it was done in a day! That was a real plus!
Good luck with your list! Keep us posted.
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Laura Reply:
July 26th, 2011 at 6:29 am
Thanks Sharon! I hate to pay for painting to be done because I would always, always do it myself. I admit though that getting it done a lot quicker is a lovely benefit!
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Hope you’re able to keep costs down for your house repairs!! And may your list be a little one…
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Laura Reply:
July 26th, 2011 at 6:30 am
@Carla The list is done! Average size, BIG cost!!
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We’re on our second fixer and I’m not sure in the long run if they are such a deal but I did like the smaller mortgage payments. I tend to do to-do lists by rooms. It’s much less overwhelming that way.
We are going to pay to have a garage door installed. We are majorly lacking time and that is one thing my husband will let me outsource. It hasn’t opened in over a year due to it literally falling to bits. (It had already been patched with wood reinforcements once before but now the patches have rotted too). Hopefully, that extra $200 for installation will mean that we will have an extra weekend for other stuff. I’m at the point where I’m ready to spend a little money to make faster progress….but I’m still scared of hiring a hack.
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Laura Reply:
July 26th, 2011 at 5:57 pm
@First Gen American Ha! We do that, wait for months to fix things even if it’s causing us major inconvenience. Hopefully you can get your garage door fixed by a good tradesman
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I can relate to this post! Our house is over 100 years old and the kitchen, bathroom etc. was renovated by the previous owners about 15 years ago. The dishwasher has died and the oven is on its way out too. The roof needs replacing and one of the windows only stays up with the help of a rolling pin! And that’s just the beginning…
We hope to renovate and sell the house in the next couple of years. We will then buy a flat/unit in the same area, but rent that out while we are (hopefully) living in the U.K. My husband works 2 jobs and has no time to renovate so we’ll have to get in tradesmen too.
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Laura Reply:
July 26th, 2011 at 5:55 pm
@SammyLeia
Your house sounds very similar to ours! Sometimes you just have to get help.
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We’ve taken on a bit of a fixer-upper with our weekend “farm”, but some of the work like major electrical and plumbing was definitely farmed out. It would have taken me a year’s worth of weekends to do myself. Sometimes you just have to outsource in order to have more time.
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Laura Reply:
July 26th, 2011 at 5:53 pm
@101 Hi!
Very true and here in the UK it’s illegal to do any electrical work yourself.
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101 Centavos Reply:
July 27th, 2011 at 12:42 am
OK, now you’re pulling my leg…
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I struggle with hiring people too, and I work in the construction industry, so I get a discount even. But it’s definitely a nice feeling seeing a professional do something quickly and correctly. Especially when it would have taken weeks of borrowed time if I’d tried to do it myself.
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