As I stated my wife and I own our home.It is in downtown Milwaukee in an area that is seeing a great deal of improvement.
The fair market value is 60,000 ,and we have a home equity loan
with about 16,000 left to pay,from siding and a new deck she had installed before we were married.
The house needs substantial work including a new roof and plumbing and most likely wiring too.
We would like to fix it up and sell the house to move closer to our jobs and get away from downtown.
My question is what would you do?
Spend the time and substantial money to fix the mess?
This would mean refinancing the existing equity loan to a much higher amount…with the possibility of improving the houses value.
Or, Sell the house and get what we can now and use the money to pay off the loan and get a new mortgage on a new house.
Does investing in massive repairs pay itself back in selling ?
We both have good jobs and no dependants, but our credit history is only so so . What should we do?
MITCH
RODRIGO
I would consult a local realtor that you truly trust. They all will want you to sell w/them but try to get a idea of what the comparables are selling for fixed up vs. not fixed up. The other things to consider will be your ability to live in the home while you are remodeling.
CLIFTON
Call a Realtor and a contractor to come and give you an estimate. It won’t cost you anything but it will give you some extra info you need to make a good decision.
Do not remodel your home without talking to a good Realtor first – don’t spend money you dont need to when you sell your house. They will tell you what repairs make sense and which ones are a waste.
AGUSTIN
I would go and get an estimate on how much it would cost to fix it up. Then go and talk to the realty company and see if they think that you could get enough money out of to pay off the loan.
TODD
I’m in no way an expert, but what I have seen in my neighborhood is that most landlords would prefer to buy a house and use their own cheap labor to fix it up, so that THEY can sell it at a profit.
Some of them might prefer to buy homes that are ready for occupancy, but considering the home is only worth $60,000, chances are you’ll get more bites from the type who rehab and move on.