1. It's going to take time

Sometimes, people go into buying a fixer-upper with an idea that they can fix it up and re-sell within a few short months. This is generally not possible unless you have unlimited funds for a construction crew to work on your house every day. Fixing up a house takes a lot of time. Just accept it, embrace your new life as an owner of a fixer-upper, and settle in for a long ride. This is definitely a marathon instead of a sprint!

2. You're going to need help

Even if you plan on doing most of the work yourself, there will be certain jobs that you cannot (or should not) do yourself. Get recommendations for local handymen that can work with you to help with your renovations. I talk more about this here in our post about how to save money during home renovations.

If you have helpful local family and friends, ask them if they'd be able to help for a day. It's amazing how much can get done! We did this for a painting day – pay everyone in pizza and snacks, and give everyone a roller to help paint. Just make sure you make yourself available to help them when they're in need of some extra hands with their house projects, too!

3. Things will not go according to plan

You can have the best and most thought out plan for your renovations, but things will not go according to plan. Make sure you have some extra funds saved for an emergency (we had to use ours on our burst water pipe in our small bathroom).

Be flexible! Our porch ended up costing more than double what we budgeted because we uncovered rotting support beams when we started our renovations. We were able to sit down with our budget breakdown and find funds that we could move around from other rooms in the house. We sacrificed in certain areas of the house so we didn't go over our original budget.

4. You're going to need patience

Coming from a very impatient person – this is key! You will find yourself being frustrated time and time again when projects are taking a lot longer than you anticipated. For me, it was stripping wallpaper! It seemed like I would be stripping wallpaper for years!

Try to take a step back when you're feeling impatient. Take a LOT of pictures through your renovations and then look back at the "before" pictures often! It's a great reminder of just how far you've come even when you feel like you're moving at a snail's pace.

5. It will be worth it

Fixing up a house is a lot of work, but it is so worth it. You're going to learn so much, and you'll have a wonderful sense of pride about your home. You'll have stories for every corner of the house, and it makes it so much more of a home.

Source:  http://porch.com/advice/buying-fixer-upper/

Call Denny Brandt today.  He's here for all your Real Estate needs.

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The Homesale Family of Companies is the leading real estate company serving the Baltimore, Maryland, South Central and Southeastern PA real estate markets.  Homesale Realty has more than 27 offices with over 1,200 REALTORS®. Homesale Realty's footprint includes Maryland real estate offices in Baltimore City, Federal Hill, Fells Point, Westminster, and Timonium. Pennsylvania real estate offices include York, Lancaster, Wyomissing, Chambersburg, Gettysburg, Harrisburg, and Schuylkill Haven.