Mid Century Modern Money Pit - Exterior Evolution from Boring Beige to Palm Springs Perfection
Beige, Brick, Boring and Beat Down…
Mid Century Modern Money Pit Exterior - Before
“It has good bones”, or so my appraiser said. When we decided to make the move from Austin, TX to waaayyyy out West with only a minuscule pool of available funds to use for a down payment, I got creative. I started to look for homes on the government owned foreclosure website HUD.gov.
What to do you need to know about foreclosures?
Absolutely do your homework - find out who truly owns the property
They are going to smell bad and someone may have peed in a place that isn’t a toilet
They are going to need work - a LOT of work
Everything is going to take longer than you think it will to fix
1 —
Where to search for government foreclosures:
www.HUD.gov
www.homepath.fanniemae.com
www.homesteps.com (Freddie Mac)
2 —
Find a reputable real estate broker to help you place a bid.
Make sure you review all listing details. This includes the “Property Condition Report (PCR)”.
Hire an inspector
Make your bid competitive. To win this desert gem, I came in a whopping $500.00 above list price
3 —
Congrats! This money pit now belongs to you! So now what?
Write it down. Make yourself a list of all your hopes and dreams for this house.
Stack rank this list by your “MVP” items
Get an inventory together of everything you will need for the project. This includes costs and timeline.
4 —
Be a bad bitch
If you are not going to DIY, don’t care to know what the colored electrical wires in the wall do, don’t want to know what kind of creatures may be living under the old toilet, etc. Do your homework on whomever you plan to hire.
Make sure that you have personally read up on local codes, ordinances, etc. If you need to have a permit pulled to replace a roof, make sure your contractor is playing by the rules.
Look up the company on the Secretary of State’s website, BBB, Angies’s List, etc. It’s very hard to hide online if you are a contractor and doing subpar work.
Get it in writing. Make sure you have the scope of the work to be done, completion date, and any costs for materials or labor in writing up front. Ask to see proof of insurance, licenses, etc. It’s your home, your domain, you’re the boss!