I get calls from a lot of people wanting to buy a fixer upper. They’re usually motivated by buying something on the cheap and then investing a good deal of themselves into the property to enhance its value. And that concept works— (drumroll….) when there is enough time and skill to get the work done AND enough money to buy the materials. (I can’t tell you how many houses I walk through where it’s obvious that the people had good intentions but just ran out of money.)  It’s easy to do. Fixin’ up houses take chunk money. A hundered here and a hundred there can work for small stuff, but when it comes to buying furnances, roofs, siding, kitchen cabinets, appliances, carpet, hardwood flooring, etc., etc., etc. you need chunk money. and if you don’t have the cash on hand then the project stalls out or the cost gets put on credit cards. Neither strategy works and inevitably puts people in a real bind.
A far better solution is to start out with a 203K loan. The 203K is a government loan, a FHA product. It provides the funds to both buy a property and to fix it up.  The total loan amount is capped at $295,550 and the required cash down payment is just 3.5% of the total.  The money is parceled out as the work is being done. And the interest rate is (right now) somewhere around 3-4%.  Now, that sure beats paying credit card interest rates or letting your project (and the home of your dreams) die a slow death.
Be smart- do it right! If you’d like to get all the details, call me.
