A Kink in the Plan for a Handyman Special

  |  March 4, 2013
21 Highland Ave, Monticello: mini bungalow colony fixer-upper

21 Highland Ave, Monticello: mini bungalow colony fixer-upper

When we asked our beloved readers to fill out our survey, many of them responded with a plaintiff plaintive cry, noting the recent absence of Five-Figure Friday posts. Yes, we’ll bring them back this week, but we came across this post by a Sullivan County realtor, detailing the challenges with a handyman special.

“It’s tough to get financing for handyman condition houses, and some are beyond qualifying for even a rehab loan,” he writes. “If they can be rehabbed, the cost of doing so is often a multiple of the purchase price of a property. A 1,500 sq. ft. handyman farmhouse you might pick up for $50,000 could conceivably take another $100,000 or $150,000 to ‘bring back’. It’s not a project for the faint of heart or light of wallet.”

How many of you out there are hardy enough? And how many of you have rehabbed a handyman special? For many of our readers, a house that costs a total of $150,000 still seems like a bargain.

Read On, Reader...