House hunt with confidence by follow these expert tips .
As I get quick to start my first abode - purchasing journey , I turned to an expert I ’ve been learn from for year : Chip Gaines . On a recent slip to Magnolia , I sat down with Gaines totalk about all things home buying , DIY , and home advance . When I mentioned I was last in the market to buy my first home after years of at leisure scroll through Zillow , he had so many helpful tips .
Whether you ’re alsoshopping for a home , or just bet to do a fewminor renovationsto your space , this is the best advice from Chip Gaines .
Credit: Kritsada Panichgul
DIY—But Not Too Much
If you ’ve ever learn an episode ofFixer Upper , you know Gaines is all about Demo Day . His advice is not to shy away from DIY project — but beware of taking on too much . He suggest not buying a home that needs major morphological employment , and instead focusing on more attainable projection likefresh key , new tile , and smaller renovations . “ You require an expert to come in and bribe a house that has severe foundation problems — you do n’t need you and your husband to do that as your first DIY , ” he sound out .
Avoid ‘The Big Four’
When it comes tored flagsin the dwelling house - buying procedure , there are four thingsGaines always watches for . “ If you’re able to avoid the four big I — the big tragical foundation , electric ’s not in terrible shape , plumbing system is not in terrible figure , and the roof ’s not in terrible shape — then it ’s something fun that you and your husband could ready in a weekend , ” he says .
“ you’re able to say , ‘ yeah the thousand ’s overgrown ” or the paint ’s dire — but you cat could do some of those things yourself , ” he says .
Ignore Bad Landscaping
Chip and Joanna Gaines buy a fair amount of homes to flip , and his biggest piece of advice is not to pass on a house because it has a bad yard . In fact , he saysupgrading the landscapingis one of the easiest ways toadd cut back solicitation to a dwelling house , and even improve the resale economic value . “ you’re able to get a destiny of bang for your buck , and it does n’t be you a million dollars — but maybe you get a million dollars deserving of American Stock Exchange solicitation out of it , ” he says .
Focus on Simple Cosmetic Changes
I mentioned to Gaines that my budget and my vision for the house we corrupt do n’t of necessity gibe up : I have bombastic , new - construction taste with the budget for a fixer - upper . His advice was to look past dated element like old wallpaper or chipped key , and look at each home through the lens of it ’s potential drop . A fresh coating of key , new floor , and update ironware can easily take a household from date and outpouring - down to refreshful and modern .
“ Jo and I , when we first got splice , some of the first projects that we ever did together were just paint projects , ” Gaines says . “ The house that we lived in at the very get-go was not much gravid than [ a trailer ] and so I update the backsplashes with a cool roofing tile — it was $ 200 at the big boxwood store and a weekend Charles Frederick Worth of work . ”
He enounce working on these simple projects not only made them love their outer space , it brought them nigher together , too . " Something about working together on something like that really link up you two and builds a story that you guys will be talking about years from now , when you’re able to buy whatever house you want , ” he state .
Bring in Pros to Finish That Last 10%
“ Things have just gotten expensive , so I call back the movement is definitely going to be endeavor to figure out how you maximise what you have at the lowest common denominator , ” Gaines says . He recommends teach how to do the majority of any renovation work and doing the volume of it yourselves . Then , if you need to bring in an expert to finish up that last 10 % of the project , you ’ll be able to hire it out for a fraction of the cost of the intact project .
