Fixer Upper Homes – Save Thousands on Your Home Purchase With a Fixer Upper Home (Part 2)

Step #2 Set a Buy Budget and Stick To It!
When it comes to fixer upper homes, this is where MOST PEOPLE BLOW IT!

If you pay close attention right here, you will find a great deal, fix it up and enjoy the fruits of your labor and your newly found equity.

If you ignore this step, you may end up with a dud of a deal.

The first rule of thumb is to set a budget and if the deal doesn’t fit, don’t force it; just walk away.

Your budget should be set by your finances and the overall market conditions. Right now, there’s a glut of fixer upper homes on the market just about everywhere, which means we’re in a buyer’s market. That means you can tender incredible offers and expect them to get accepted. Your budget determines how much you’ll bid, the max you’ll pay and the max you’ll spend on the fix-up and still walk away with equity.

When you see and hear about people who buy fixer upper homes and end up in the red, its because they missed this step! Actually, truth be told, fixer upper homes are simply a better deal than any other path to buying a home.

Step #3 Set Up a Brainstorm Team
When buying any home, it is critically important to set up a brainstorm team prior to putting in any offers. Your brainstorm team consists of a group of professionals who will be involved in the real estate transaction looking out for your interest. By enlisting their expertise, prior to inking any deal, you end up dealing with people who you know and who know you and are familiar with your goals.

Each state will vary, but your team should include but not be limited to: a real estate attorney, title person, notary public, mortgage broker, real estate agent and an accountant. REMEMBER: these professionals are part of your team and are there to help you get the best deal possible. Without them, you are essentially like a person trying to represent himself or herself in a IRS case. Never go it alone when it comes to any real estate transaction. Always use professionals.

Step #4 Set Up Your Financing
Obviously, the best way to buy a house is with cash because cash gets everyone’s attention. Make no mistake about it, when it comes to fixer upper homes, cash trumps financing any day of the week. When you don’t have cash on hand to close the deal, it is best to set up your financing prior to putting offers in. This way, sellers know for a certainty you are serious. You can best believe people are going to put in offers to buy fixer upper homes hoping and praying their offer gets accepted with no idea how they are going to fund the deal if it does. I know what you’re thinking… you’re right! It’s crazy!

Step #5 Find a Skilled and Professional Home Inspector
This step is actually skipped by the average home buyer but it happens one of the most critically important steps whether you’re buying a new home or one the many fixer upper homes. A professional home inspector goes into the home with an agenda and that is to find ANY issues that would cost you money now and after the offer is accepted, signed, sealed and delivered. Issues such as: termite damage, roofing problems, active water entry/leakage, gas pipe leakage, structural deficiencies, dangerous or improper electrical wiring.

When dealing with fixer upper homes, you should have a Home Inspector on speed dial! After you’ve done your due diligence in performing a self inspection, put in an offer and gotten it accepted contingent upon an inspection; then you call your guy.

Finally, stay plugged into our informative website: REODR.com. We are here to help you reach your financial dreams through REO Real Estate Ownership! We’ll show you how to Buy and Sell REO Properties, Short Sales, Fixer Upper Homes, Foreclosures and How to Flip Houses. We’ll also show you the MONEY! Meaning how to get Private Hard Money, No Doc Mortgages and Home Equity Lines of Credit.

• Fixer Upper Homes – Save Thousands on Your Home Purchase With a Fixer Upper Home (Part 1)

Author, Joel Marks of REODr.com