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FIX AND SELL YOUR UGLY HOUSE YOURSELF! Are you asking yourself, "If all these other guys are making money fixing up ugly houses to resell, why can't I do the same thing with my house?" Well, maybe you can. In this series of articles, I will discuss the possibilities and how to go about fixing your "ugly house" yourself. Some of the foremost problems that arise are; money, contractors and knowledge. MONEY and CONTRACTORS: More often than not, people who live in an ugly house, have a lot of equity in the home. They've often lived in the home for many years and the real estate has appreciated steadily over time. Most property owners do not even know how much their home has gone up in value and when asked, often quote numbers that are even several years old. "Why has my home gone up in value, if it's condition has steadily gotten worse?" You might be wondering. What has gone up in value is the ARV (what investors call the After Repair Value) of your home. So, if you can get the property into it's "repaired value" state, you will find there is a considerable amount of equity there. I talk about equity, because equity is money. When you have money, then you shouldn't have a problem fixing your home. One problem is that banks sometimes don't want to live in a house that is in disrepair. If you, or someone is presently living there, then it will be a lot easy to get an equity loan on the home, in the form of a second mortgage. This money can then be used for the repairs to the property. In the event that you are not able to get a second, or third, on the home, there are other options to consider. There are contractors who may work out a payment plan and take out a second lien on your home for these repairs. Of course, the most important thing in choosing a contractor is finding a reputable contractor, who can do the job affordably. When I say "reputable" I don't mean expensive, famous, brand name company. I mean a contractor who you have done some serious due diligence research on. You should never hire a contractor that you have not done thorough checks on. Some things you can check out are: -How long have they been in business? -What references do they have? -Have you called all the references? -Do the phone numbers of those references match with the addresses and names of the owners when you look them up online at whitepages.com, or a similar service? -Ask your friends, relatives, neighbors if they have references. -Look up the contractors own name and company name on the BBB.com and other consumer sites to make sure there are no outstanding complaints. -Do some general searches on the Internet for the company and, or name of the owner online, look for complaints, red flags, etc. -Do they have insurance, workers comp, etc? -What does the contract look like that they've presented to you? -NEVER, EVER, hire contractors without an ACCEPTABLE CONTRACT and include a time limit, with late fees per day uncompleted. -Your contract should list all work to be done, in as much detail as possible. You may also list things you do not want them to do, touch, or damage. -Do not accept their contract without reading it in detail, cross out and change anything unacceptable and write your own terms in there. If they don't like it, find someone else. So, once you've found a contractor you know you can trust. Discuss payment plans and options. If they agree to a payment plan, with or without, a second lien on the house, look over the documents thoroughly and make sure it is clear about the terms for release of lien. Also, when all payments are completed, the contractor should provide and file, a notarized Release Of Lien document, to clear the lien that was placed on the property for payments. |
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