Buy a Fixer-Upper and Make It Your Own

Buy a Fixer-Upper and Make It Your Own – Hudson Valley and Catskills Real Estate with Dino Alexander, CEO and Principal Broker, ALLUVION Real Estate

Google Fixer-Upper Farms in the Hudson Valley and you’ll find endless listings of houses that need at least $200,000 worth of renovations before they can be considered habitable, not to mention beautiful. Many of these fixer-uppers can be found in the Catskills and Upstate regions, though if you’re willing to search outside the immediate area, you may find what you’re looking for even closer to home—or in another state entirely!

Buy a Fixer-Upper and Make It Your Own – Hudson Valley and Catskills Real Estate with Dino Alexander, CEO and Principal Broker, ALLUVION Real Estate

Finding the perfect place

Not everyone has an unlimited budget for buying real estate, but if you’re willing to do some renovations, don’t rule out buying fixer-uppers. There are plenty of upstate NY farms and farmhouses on sale for under $500,000—but depending on how much work they need, they can also be worth much more. Set a budget before you start your search; in most cases, renovating older houses will cost as much or more than building from scratch.

Buy a Fixer-Upper and Make It Your Own – Hudson Valley and Catskills Real Estate with Dino Alexander, CEO and Principal Broker, ALLUVION Real Estate
Buy a Fixer-Upper and Make It Your Own – Hudson Valley and Catskills Real Estate with Dino Alexander, CEO and Principal Broker, ALLUVION Real EstateReal Estate Photography by Alluvion Media

Finding the right realtor

When looking for homes in upstate New York, Hudson Valley, or Catskills, you’ll want to find a realtor that can be flexible with viewing times. The best way to go about finding your own fixer-upper is by going out on shopping trips where you take your time to drive around neighborhoods and look at different properties. Let them know how flexible you are with when you can view properties so they can set up appointments for any time that works for you.

Buy a Fixer-Upper and Make It Your Own – Hudson Valley and Catskills Real Estate with Dino Alexander, CEO and Principal Broker, ALLUVION Real Estate
Buy a Fixer-Upper and Make It Your Own – Hudson Valley and Catskills Real Estate with Dino Alexander, CEO and Principal Broker, ALLUVION Real EstateReal Estate Photography by Alluvion Media

Getting a good deal on your home

If you’re buying in your late 30s or early 40s, that puts you right smack in the middle of your career—when you have access to money and are thinking about things like marriage, kids, and long-term stability. If that sounds appealing to you (and it probably should), then consider looking into buying a fixer-upper with some acreage. You can still get close to New York City while living out your country dream if you look toward upstate New York or western Massachusetts.

Buy a Fixer-Upper and Make It Your Own – Hudson Valley and Catskills Real Estate with Dino Alexander, CEO and Principal Broker, ALLUVION Real Estate
Buy a Fixer-Upper and Make It Your Own – Hudson Valley and Catskills Real Estate with Dino Alexander, CEO and Principal Broker, ALLUVION Real EstateReal Estate Photography by Alluvion Media

Financing your new home

While some people are able to finance their dream home through savings or with help from family, most will need to use financing in order to make it work. The first step is finding a mortgage broker who specializes in fixer-uppers. This type of financing can be tricky; you’ll have more hoops to jump through than if you were purchasing a traditional home.

Buy a Fixer-Upper and Make It Your Own – Hudson Valley and Catskills Real Estate with Dino Alexander, CEO and Principal Broker, ALLUVION Real Estate
Buy a Fixer-Upper and Make It Your Own – Hudson Valley and Catskills Real Estate with Dino Alexander, CEO and Principal Broker, ALLUVION Real EstateReal Estate Photography by Alluvion Media

Renovating your new home

When you buy a fixer-upper, it’s easy to be discouraged by all of the work that needs to be done. But if you renovate your new home with an eye toward making it your own, then you’ll feel a sense of ownership when moving in—and take greater pride in caring for it over time.

Starting with essentials

Before you set out to buy a fixer-upper, start with essentials: How much can you afford? What do you really want? Where would you like to live? If you are in love with rustic farmhouses, stick to that. If your dream home is modern and airy, focus on that. Is Hudson Valley or Catskills closer to home for your children’s school activities? Decide what’s important for your situation. Next comes location.

Buy a Fixer-Upper and Make It Your Own – Hudson Valley and Catskills Real Estate with Dino Alexander, CEO and Principal Broker, ALLUVION Real Estate
Buy a Fixer-Upper and Make It Your Own – Hudson Valley and Catskills Real Estate with Dino Alexander, CEO and Principal Broker, ALLUVION Real EstateReal Estate Photography by Alluvion Media

Bringing in luxuries

If you’re going to work on a fixer-upper, make sure to bring in luxuries early on. Take your time with fixing up your house—it’s not going anywhere. You don’t want to feel like you rushed into moving into a dumpy place, just because it was cheap. By having luxuries already established, when people come over they won’t see it as something that could be fixed; they will see it as luxury right away.

Extra touches that make it yours

Buying a fixer-upper and then flipping it for profit can be an exciting—and expensive—project. To make your new place really feel like home, consider adding extra touches to give it some personality. Try these tricks to personalize your fixer-upper farmhouse: Hang up some wall art: Homes with at least one piece of original artwork are more likely to sell for above the asking price than homes without any artwork. If you don’t have (or want) any fancy art on hand, there are many sites online that offer affordable fine art photo prints. What’s more, buyers are more likely to envision themselves living in your home if they see a piece of sophisticated art hanging on a wall or sitting on a shelf.