Should I buy a fixer upper condo as a first time homeowner?

September 11, 2024 7:02 AM

Condo unit and roof deck needs some work. Please advise this first time home buyer?

I’m looking to buy a home! I’ve found what could be a promising condo unit. It’s got a great location and the layout is good (I’d like more natural light but what it has works). But it needs work.

The unit itself needs a new tub or shower, in addition to minor cosmetic work like a floor refinishing, paint, and blinds. The building is only 15 years old and needs some TLC; the roofdeck wood needs to be stained and sealed, there’s an unsafe step, and the common areas are a bit scuffed.

I’m tempted to buy this if I can get the right deal. I’m a first time home buyer and I didn’t grow up in a handy family but I like the idea of learning. But I’m not sure how the HOA would affect my ability to do work like this. What should I think about? Any Chicago specific advice?

Also, if you’re a Chicago homeowner looking to sell, I’m looking…

posted by nicodine to Home & Garden (20 answers total)

I’m a first time home buyer and I didn’t grow up in a handy family but I like the idea of learning

If you’re thinking of doing the work yourself, absolutely do not go there.

As someone who has owned several houses over the years, the only way I would do this is if I was able to postpone moving in until after the work had been done by an experienced contractor.

Learning how to do household maintenance and repair is something that you want to wade into slowly.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:32 AM on September 11 [12 favorites]

Common areas are the responsibility of the condo association. You can't just hop in and fix things yourself. The association should have proper management and sufficient funding in reserves to handle fixes.

Part of your responsibility as a buyer is to get the financial statements and bylaws of the HOA and review them before buying. I would strongly advise hiring a lawyer to represent you in the purchase. Do not let the realtor represent you in the negotiations. I can't repeat that enough.

Buying a condo can be a good way to get into the real estate market and build equity, but there are a lot of lousy choices out there. Tread carefully and best of luck to you.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:55 AM on September 11 [6 favorites]

Cosmetic updates aren't a huge deal- anything you can live with indefinitely is a non-issue IMO. Focus on the function, the bones - when you say "need" a new shower or tub, is it functional now?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 8:04 AM on September 11 [1 favorite]

The unit itself needs a new tub or shower, in addition to minor cosmetic work like a floor refinishing, paint, and blinds. The building is only 15 years old and needs some TLC; the roofdeck wood needs to be stained and sealed, there’s an unsafe step, and the common areas are a bit scuffed.

I'm guessing this is anywhere from 5-25 thousand dollars if done right with decent contractors.

Floor refinishing is not something you can do, nor is installing a new tub or shower.

Painting is pretty simple if you have the time and prep right, same for staining. You'll probably do it wrong but a 15 year roofdeck is going to need to be replaced at some point so nbd. An unsafe step will remain unsafe if an amatuer fixes it.
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 8:06 AM on September 11 [3 favorites]

Think carefully about the possibility of an assessment to do repairs to the condo building itself -- not your unit. You describe the building as needed some TLC. The residents pay for that TLC, either through the building's reserve fund or through assessments, which can be quite large. If there are things like a swimming pool, exercise rooms, elevators, etc. an assessment can be quite large, and when the board passes one, you have to do it, there's no avoiding it.
posted by OrangeDisk at 8:12 AM on September 11 [12 favorites]

I would be leery of buying into a condo complex that was visibly not staying on top of maintenance. That's how you end up with a huge special assessment eventually.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 8:15 AM on September 11 [38 favorites]

Related to the repairs and the financials of the HOA, you'll want to ensure that the HOA has a reserve fund set up. Any responsible HOA has been setting money aside (into the reserve) for large maintenance projects. This will help keep any special assessments to a minimum for you. If they don't have plans for how to fix the common areas, that's a bad sign.
posted by hydra77 at 9:15 AM on September 11 [3 favorites]

Replacing a tub/shower is not something I'd do in my own house, let alone a condo. The potential for water leakage and damage to units below yours, and the chance you end up on the hook for it, is way too big.
posted by Dashy at 9:15 AM on September 11 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I would be very reluctant to buy a place that needed nonspecific plumbing work done. Water damage, mold or no, is awful and maybe awfully expensive, and you can’t know how bad it really is until you’ve stripped a room bare.

Ask me how I know.
posted by mhoye at 9:39 AM on September 11 [3 favorites]

Is the rooftop deck common space, or part of your unit?
posted by tristeza at 9:50 AM on September 11

Replacing a tub/shower is not something I'd do in my own house

Depending on HOA rules, you may not even be allowed to DIY this in a condo - our strata (HOA-equivalent) and apartment insurance is contingent on things like plumbing, electrical work being done by insured professionals, exactly so an enthusiastic amateur doesn't accidentally flood the entire lower floor, etc.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 10:58 AM on September 11 [2 favorites]

15 years is not that old, why are so many repairs needed already? Has it not been maintained properly?

The blinds and paint are no big deal but why does the floor need refinishing?

Also keep in mind that many of the major exterior repairs for a condo will take place at around the 20 year mark (roof redone, windows, etc). So you may have a big bill coming down the line, aside from any special assessments.

What is the condo's reserve fund looking like? That's a very important aspect. Have they saved enough for major repairs?
posted by winterportage at 11:07 AM on September 11

I second everyone's comments about the status of the HOA - but I bought a fixer-upper home 15 years ago and though I did some construction work as a disinterested teen, I didn't buy my house until I was 30+ years old and hadn't even set foot in a hardware store since like 16 years old, with my dad.

Anyways, there are lots of construction tasks one can do if you are even halfway interested, can read a tape measure, have a place to store the endless number of tools needed, and have half an eye for detail, and though you probably shouldn't take on replacing a shower as your first task, plenty of other things are easy and I have no regrets.

Also you really have to decide if living in a fixer upper is the worst or if continuing to rent while purchase prices rise is the worst - they are both terrible.
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:22 AM on September 11

By the by, when you do end up doing your own handywork, definitely take advantage of the classes offered by Home Depot or possibly even a carpentry course at your local junior college.

There are at least five wrong ways to nail two boards together, and I’ve done all of them.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:25 AM on September 11

When you say it needs a new tub, is this an aesthetic thing like it's ugly but functional, or is something wrong with the tub or floor around it that suggests bigger problems?
posted by zippy at 12:06 PM on September 11

If the condo HOA does not have much money saved, getting it to make reasonable repairs and preventative maintenance can be like pulling teeth.

If they cannot promptly replace an actual safety hazard like a broken stair step, that's a sign that something is amiss. Could be money woes, hands-off management company, apathetic or clueless owners, non-optimal decision-making practices...

All of these problems are resistant to a new owner coming in and wanting to fix things, for what that's worth.

I'd also look at how big the condo development is - if it's small or self-managed, I'd recommend avoiding it.
posted by mersen at 12:15 PM on September 11 [2 favorites]

What the hell does a 15 year old unit need so much work for? I've done stud-level teardowns and rebuilds, plumbing and electrical work, and I would not buy this unit, things should not be falling apart after 15 years. Absolute bottom dollar construction, idiots swinging hammers, you have no idea what shortcuts were taken.

Hard pass.
posted by seanmpuckett at 1:23 PM on September 11 [3 favorites]

Best answer: There are so many red flags here I'm not sure where to start. But I'll start here:

I’m not sure how the HOA would affect my ability to do work like this

In both of the condo buildings in which my wife and I have lived, there is an architectural/design committee that has final say over what renovations can be done in owner's units. Most of the time, that isn't a problem - like-for-like repairs and stylistic updates generally don't raise eyebrows, nor do things like replacing linoleum with tile or replacing a built-in tub with a free-standing tub (and paint is never required to be approved by the committee). But if you're replacing, like, basic tile with wild color tiles, or dramatically changing the footprint of the room (moving the shower, etc), expect there to be significant pushback.

And as others have noted, as a person who has never done home renovations, you do NOT want to do this work yourself in multi-family housing. I'm not sure what the layout of the building is, but if you have neighbors adjoining, and your pipes leak or fail as a result of any plumbing work you do, you're on the hook for their damage as well as yours. So that's a thing to think about.

And while, as people have mentioned, common area maintenance is the responsibility of the HOA, if after only 15 years it looks "a bit scuffed", that doesn't speak particularly well of the HOA's ability to maintain its assets. I'm not sure how big the community is, and I wouldn't expect it to look brand new after that amount of time, but if it looks visibly worn, that's not great! I live in a 20 year old building (well, the building's 100 years old, but the condos in it are only 20), and the lobby and hallways don't look "scuffed" at all. And if the roof deck needs staining now, I'd definitely ask how often it gets stained.

This sounds like a place I'd walk away from without thinking about it too much, honestly.
posted by pdb at 3:59 PM on September 11 [2 favorites]

Are you willing to be more specific about location? Like, neighborhood-level (not cross-street level)?

Given the way Chicago tends to work, this may be worth it in some neighborhoods and not in others.
posted by aramaic at 6:45 PM on September 11

Response by poster: Thanks MeFi! I’ll give this one a pass. My search continues.

(Closing this. For any other advice here or via private message: I am primarily looking in Rogers Park, but am open to other neighborhoods.)
posted by nicodine at 10:30 AM on September 21