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Buying a Fixer-upper


For the last few days, my agent and I have been looking at apartments in need of renovations. In other words, fixer-uppers. As mention before my budget is small and therefore I'm willing to make some concessions on my wish list items, such as updated kitchen and updated bathroom. I am not willing to compromise however on closet space, that is an absolute deal breaker to me.  Needless to say we were hoping to get a bargain. Neither apartment were in my ideal neighborhood and I decided that I would compromise on the location because they were not too far away from where I wanted to be. Apartment # 2 best fit my location wish list as it was close to a subway station and lots of buses. It also has a business district which includes shopping, restaurants, etc. Apartment #1 was in a more quiet area and is less than 10 minutes away by driving and maybe about 15 by bus. I like that Apartment # 1 had a balcony, as I really wanted an apartment with some outdoor space.

  I actually liked Apartment #1.  I'm scarred of the amount of work that is needed. Firstly, it was severely outdated but it has a lot of  potential.  And perhaps most important, It has a balcony. if it hadn't been for the water damage in the bathroom and the confusion over who's responsibility it would be  (mine or the coop board) to fix the pointing issues that are causing the water damage, then I would have definitely made an offer on this property on Saturday.
outdated kitchen with formica walls and counter top

Stained flooring in master bedroom and plastic covering the opening in the wall were an AC should be

water damage in bathroom wall caused by pointing issues

the roof of the balcony

water damage in bathroom ceiling caused by pointing issues

damaged flooring

pointing issues
Apartment#2 I was less found of. I hated the building and felt that it wasn't very well kept. There was peeling paint on the lobby walls and building exterior. I know it seems petty but this is actually a pet peeve of mine. The building didn't look the way I wanted it to. Let me get to the unit. It was dark. And small. And the owners had divided the small living room into two, using one half as a third bedroom.  the property is listed as a two bedroom but I suspected that it was originally a large one bedroom that was turned into a two  to maximize it's rental potential. The listing agent said the unit was previously rented to college students. Below are the best pics of this space. The other images were too dark to publish. Trust me when I saw that the unit was horrible.
the small livingroom

the small master bedroom

bathroom, the best part of this apartment


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