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Today, a commercial construction project manager shares how he and his wife took out a “risky” loan to buy a fixer-upper just outside Asheville, North Carolina.
The basics
Age: 31
Pronouns: He/him
Household setup: Married
Occupation: Commercial construction
What was your home experience when you were growing up?
My wife and I both grew up in families who owned homes. She comes from a family of DIY-ers, and you don’t really DIY unless you own. Together, we had always planned on buying after we got married.
Why did you start thinking about buying?
When we moved to Asheville, North Carolina, we started renting. I quickly realized I hated our rental. It didn’t have a garage or enough space for our hobbies. Between relying on street parking and some safety concerns about our neighborhood, we decided to start looking sooner than planned.
How long did you look before finding your home?
Just two months.
Did you have any non-negotiables?
We needed at least three bedrooms and two bathrooms. I wanted a garage with storage space, and my wife hoped for a walkable neighborhood no more than 20 minutes from downtown Asheville. All of that and a fixer-upper where we could create value.
How many homes did you see in person?
We saw 20 with our Realtor® Michael Hunter. We were his first clients, so he was always ready at the drop of a hat to show us anything we were interested in.
Did you make any previous offers?
Five. One of the homes had a lot of DIY renovations that had been done poorly and needed to be redone. We made another offer on a home the first week it was listed. We offered over the asking price, but then the seller panicked and pulled the house off the market.
How did you know this was the one?
At first, we didn’t even want to see it. It was just outside the geographic range we had set on our search, and the listing photos were atrocious. The only good news was that the owner had invested a lot of money into fixing foundation problems, so that was taken care of.
What offer did you make?
We offered $495,000. The home was originally listed at $560,000. It was at $535,000 when we saw it and had been under contract twice. Our Realtor also knew that this home was owned by a trust. The parents had passed, and the children seemed tired of dealing with the property. They accepted our offer within hours.
How did you come up with that number?
We evaluated the condition of the house and gathered estimates for repairs, knowing that we would do as much work as possible on our own to bui