Fixer Uppers

[keygirl]

I did a search for this and did not find anything, so forgive me if there already is a thread on this.

Does anyone here know of any websites that list fixer uppers or houses that qualify for special rehabilitation programs (e.g. you can buy them for $1 as long as you preserve and restore them within a certain timeframe)? Or just fixer upper historic homes.

We are looking for a historic home to restore, but need to find one that is at a low enough price so we can afford to fix it up. Thanks!

[mamax2]

Fixer upper and historic preservation are different. Fixer upper just means it needs work, but how much work is ultimately up to you. Preservation is going to mean a lot more limits on exactly what you can do - possibly right down to the materials, colors, etc. Your state's office on historic preservation would be a good place to start.

I'm not aware of any homes available for $1. There are some financing options including tax credits and funding orgs available for preservation work but I'm fairly certain they are either 1) limited to lower income neighborhoods or 2) not applicable to individuals for the purpose of restoring a residence (i.e: if you wanted to restore a school, church, etc., it would apply).

Good luck with your research though and please report back what you learn. Restoring an old home is on my list of things to do before I die; I think it would be a fascinating project!

[EJM]

Do you have a specific city/town in mind already? If not, I might start there. We recently moved into a house built in 1924 that needs a fair amount of work -- both updating cosmetically and mechanical type stuff. We focused on a couple of towns that do not permit house tear downs, and instead require renovation and restoration. Once we had a few zip codes it was easy to search for property and saw things that ranged from needs very extensive work to "easy" updates. Where we focused the amount of work did influence the price you were still paying alot of money for location -- so really unless it was a total pit it still wasn't inexpensive or cheap relative to the rest of the neighborhood.