How to turn your fixer-upper to your dream home

It may seem like you have a lot of work ahead of you, but soon this fixer-upper will turn into your dream home.

When deciding to buy your fixer-upper you took a huge leap of faith that with a lot of blood, sweat and probably some tears you could turn it into the place you always wanted.

You were ok with the idea that you had to be a bit of a visionary to imagine the potential of everything it could become because you knew you were the person that could do it.

But now that you actually have it and are ready to start the transformation you are probably feeling pretty overwhelmed and don't really know where to start.

Luckily, with one foot in front of the other and one step at a time, you can begin the process of turning your fixer-upper into your dream home, and here are a couple suggestions on where you can start.

Go bottoms up

When it comes to a fixer upper it’s best to start with the bottom and then work from there.

It's important to check to make sure the foundation is strong and up to code, especially since you are most likely going to add a lot to the house and want to make sure it’s structurally sound.

From there you can fix what you need to and then go room by room, and then you can do the roof and the exteriors.

Consult a professional

If you don’t know where to begin and how to check if things like electrical, gas, and even the foundation are sound and up to code, it’s definitely a good idea to consult a professional.

In fact, that may be the first thing you want to do right after purchasing your fixer-upper and before you move in and start any repairs because they can be the ones to advise you about permits, insurance, electrical wholesale for the wiring throughout the house, cost efficiency, etc.

Make a plan

After you talk with a contractor or designer about your dreams and goals for your home you can then lay out a plan on how you want to get it done.

You can take into account how much time you have, how soon you want to be in the house, how much work actually needs to be done, and of course your budget.

Fixer-uppers are not always going to be like you see on TV and will take time and a lot of effort. You may have to pick and choose what’s most important and most practical at first versus what you were envisioning.

But eventually it will all come together and you will be glad you came up with a plan along the way.

Know you can do it

A fixer-upper can seem super overwhelming, and while you are in the middle of it all it may seem like next to impossible.

But understand with these types of projects everything looks much worse before it actually comes together and you just have to keep your vision of what you want in mind and persevere through it.

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