Here’s the truth: When we bought our first home in 2016, we didn’t plan on buying a fixer upper. It just kind of happened. It was a “when life gives you lemons,” kind of moment.

For starters, we thought house hunting would be like what we’d seen on HGTV (we were first-time homebuyers, what did we know?!). Well, it wasn’t really like that for us, but we survived and we love the house that we bought.

First, we figured out the details of what we needed vs. what we could afford in our area. The bank pre-approved us for a mortgage, and we’d saved enough money for a down payment (thank you to our parents for letting us live at home after college!). Plus, we narrowed our location search to just three towns in the Boston suburbs. Next up was the fun part – it was time to start looking at houses!

Our Must-Have List:

• 2-3 bedrooms
• 2 bathrooms
• 2-car attached garage
• 1 acre of land
• Quiet street (Pete’s rule was no double-yellow lines on the street)

Well, we learned the hard way that house hunting isn’t really like what you see on TV. In our case, the real estate market was extremely competitive at the time. Unfortunately, it was a seller’s market, and houses were selling left and right. We were scrambling to see houses we liked ASAP, and they would sell in a matter of days for over their asking price. We’re talking like $30,000 over asking. We’d submitted offers at the top of our budget on two homes so far, and were outbid both times. It’s no wonder why we felt panicked and pressured – it was tough to compete with the other buyers.

Finding our Fixer Upper

So, what did we do? We changed our expectations a bit. One day, a house came on the market in a nice town and in a great neighborhood (quaint, family-friendly, and a short drive to the train for Pete). The catch was, the house needed work. Truth be told, a lot of homebuyers are only interested in move-in ready homes (including us at the time). Updated homes tend to sell quickly and for more money than fixer uppers, because renovations mean time, money, and risk. In fact, another couple had already backed out of buying this exact home because some minor repairs were noted on the home inspection. Yikes. But, apart from the house’s only shower leaking into the garage (meaning no showers until it was fixed), there were no major issues.

To make a long story short, we bought the house for below the asking price, and without a bidding war. On paper, the house checked off everything on our wish list. Also, going the fixer upper route gave us the luxury of not having to compete with other buyers. To help our cause further, we wrote a heartfelt letter to the sellers with our offer, explaining how much we loved the house and the neighborhood. And they accepted! Writing a letter is a great way to let the sellers get to know you a little, and it makes you stand out!

Fortunately, the sellers hired someone to fix the minor repairs that came up on the other couple’s inspection, and they gave us a $1,000 credit toward the shower repair. That meant we were only left with cosmetic updates. 1600 square feet of cosmetic updates. No problem for first-time homebuyers with no DIY experience!

Here she is!! I know what you’re thinking, lots and lots of grey. Since the house was built in 1970, I’d say it’s time for a makeover. Now we’re off to rip out some carpet. Stay tuned for more!