This is an excerpt from the book “How to Buy Your First Home” by Diana Brodman Summers

Features
The features or the interior layout and amenities of a home are usually what a person is mainly concerned with. Do you dream of a winding staircase that your children will scramble down on Christmas morning? Do you dream of a private bath in the master bedroom suite for relaxing after a hard day? Do you need a handicapped accessible kitchen or a home with ramps? How much property or lawn do you want?

You need to decide what you want in a home; how important each feature is to you; and, what is absolutely necessary. This is the time to be realistic. If you always wanted an indoor pool, but can barely afford more than two bedrooms, save that pool dream for a future home. There is nothing to stop a person from buying a home with more features in the future, as his or her income increases.

Essentials
Essentials is another word for features, but these are the features that you absolutely MUST have. A lot of essentials vary from area to area. For example, in Southern California, an in-ground pool is an essential (in my mind). In Chicago, an in-ground pool, unless it has a building around it, will cause the home to decrease in value.

Most areas have their own essentials: air conditioning in Las Vegas, heated garage in Minnesota, and so on. Learn about the area to determine what are essentials. If you are moving in from another state, look at the real estate ads to see what features are advertised as part of the homes for sale. What is an essential feature in one state, may be a major problem in another.

As with anything else with your home, you must decide what is important to you, and then determine if that will work in the area you want to live.

Handy-Man’s Special or Fixer-Upper
If you have been reading the real estate ads, you will see these two terms. The real estate industry has no set definition for what constitutes a handy-man’s special or a fixer-upper. It depends a lot on the area of the country and what the seller thinks can actually be fixed. In reality, these structures range from “an amateur can fix” to “must hire professional contractors” to “should be leveled.”

The price on one of these homes can be much less than the surrounding area. If you have decided that the neighborhood you want to live in is generally above your price range, this may be one way that you can get into that neighborhood. But realize that this type of home takes a lot of work, and you will either have to do it yourself or have to pay someone to do the work. The big question is the quality of the structure of the house. If the structure is poor, then renovations will be more expensive.

If you are like me and picked the old stately neighborhood with large older homes, you may already be preparing to rehab your home. Be sure that you know what you are getting into. Doit-yourself remodeling requires an infinite amount of patience with construction rubble, a large amount of time and commitment, and the physical ability to do the work.

Several years ago there was a movie, “The Money Pit,” about problems and expenses in rehabbing a home. While some of the things that happened to these fictional characters were a bit extreme, (the characters seem to have an unlimited amount of money), the movie is still worth seeing for any potential rehabber.

Before you decide to look for a “needs work” home, honestly asses your abilities to do the work. Take a field trip to one of your local home repair superstores. That will give you some idea of the expenses that even do-it-yourselfers face. Many of the home repair superstores provide free classes and literature on do-it-yourself projects.

As I have mentioned throughout this book, I chose a “needs work” Victorian home in a perfect suburb. My husband, Jim, assured me that he was able to do the repairs since he and his dad had built a family room in his parent’s home. However, after we had moved in my mother-in-law told me that my husband’s help consisted of going for lunch and passing tools.

The bottom line is that you need to really know your limitations and be willing to learn new trades. Maybe you cannot rewire the house, but you might be a wizard at putting up wallpaper. Over the years Jim has even surprised himself at what he has been able to do. However, he has also learned when to call a professional.