{"id":27124,"date":"2026-01-28T11:11:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T19:11:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.roryc.ca\/blog\/?p=27124"},"modified":"2026-01-23T13:31:02","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T21:31:02","slug":"buying-a-fixer-upper-in-2026-its-becoming-increasingly-difficult-in-a-timely-cost-effective-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.roryc.ca\/blog\/2026\/01\/buying-a-fixer-upper-in-2026-its-becoming-increasingly-difficult-in-a-timely-cost-effective-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Buying A Fixer Upper in 2026? Its Becoming Increasingly Difficult in A Timely, Cost-Effective Way"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Fixer-upper homes can be full of historic charm but also urgent projects. When it comes to buying a home in 2026, it can sometimes feel like the only options on the market are sad gray flip listings, something perfect that&#8217;s out of budget, or historic homes that need a ton of TLC.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Channeling your inner Chip or Joanna and fantasizing about fixing up an older home is understandable, but is transforming a rundown home into a dream home on a shoestring budget worth it in today&#8217;s economy, or does it drain your wallet before you even move in?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">We asked two real estate professionals to weigh in on whether it&#8217;s a favorable market for homes that need extensive work.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Got A Small Budget? A True Fixer Upper is Not A Good Idea<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to real estate broker Michelle Mumoli, investing in a true fixer upper isn&#8217;t worth it for inexperienced buyers on a small budget. But the keyword is &#8220;true&#8221; here.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">She defines a true fixer upper as a home that needs a significant amount of work. Think: foundational work and rot repair, not just a few cosmetic fixes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">And in her experience, the amount of work that a property needs is usually quite a bit more than you initially think.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;Truly understanding the costs of a renovation is important because if you have a romanticized notion from watching reality TV about purchasing a fixer upper, but you have no concept of what it entails, you will be in over your head,&#8221; she says. &#8220;If you are on a budget, you will also be in over your head.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>A Livable Fixer Upper is An Exception<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Marissa Castello, relator with Maison Real Estate, says a fixer upper could be worth buying in 2026 if it&#8217;s a home you plan on living in for a while.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;I&#8217;m a big fan of the idea of a &#8216;livable fixer upper,&#8217; which is a home you can move into right away and renovate gradually over a few years.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The key is that you&#8217;re able to live in the home while renovations are happening.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;With rising rental and renovation costs, it\u2019s becoming harder to afford living in one place while renovating another for six months or more,&#8221; she says. &#8220;But a home that\u2019s functional from day one allows you to tackle projects at your own pace. The kitchen one year, the bathrooms the next, and so on.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">So if you purchase a fixer upper with the intention of making it a home rather than a fast flip, Castello notes that you&#8217;ll get to build equity while transforming the space into something that fully reflects your taste.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Looking Beyond 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">If your budget doesn&#8217;t allow for a fixer upper right now, the good news is that both Castello and Mumoli say there may be less competition for these properties in the next five years.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;We\u2019re seeing more and more people shy away from fixer uppers because of the cost and stress of renovations,&#8221; Castello says. &#8220;It\u2019s becoming increasingly difficult to get work done in a timely, cost-effective way. Because of this, move-in-ready homes are often far more attractive and tend to fly off the market much faster.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thespruce.com\/is-buying-a-fixer-upper-a-waste-of-money-in-2026-11865868\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Is Buying A Fixer Upper Worth It in 2026? We Asked Real Estate Pros What They Look For<\/a> by Tessa Cooper | The Spruce<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fixer-upper homes can be full of historic charm but also urgent projects. When it comes to buying a home in 2026, it can sometimes feel like the only options on &hellip; [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.roryc.ca\/blog\/2026\/01\/buying-a-fixer-upper-in-2026-its-becoming-increasingly-difficult-in-a-timely-cost-effective-way\/\">read more<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home-lifestyle","category-real-estate"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Buying A Fixer Upper in 2026? Its Becoming Increasingly Difficult in A Timely, Cost-Effective Way &#8226; Rory C Real Estate | Oakwyn Realty<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.roryc.ca\/blog\/2026\/01\/buying-a-fixer-upper-in-2026-its-becoming-increasingly-difficult-in-a-timely-cost-effective-way\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Buying A Fixer Upper in 2026? Its Becoming Increasingly Difficult in A Timely, Cost-Effective Way &#8226; Rory C Real Estate | Oakwyn Realty\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Fixer-upper homes can be full of historic charm but also urgent projects. When it comes to buying a home in 2026, it can sometimes feel like the only options on &hellip; [read more]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@RoryClipsham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@RoryClipsham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rory Clipsham\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.roryc.ca\\\/blog\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/buying-a-fixer-upper-in-2026-its-becoming-increasingly-difficult-in-a-timely-cost-effective-way\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.roryc.ca\\\/blog\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/buying-a-fixer-upper-in-2026-its-becoming-increasingly-difficult-in-a-timely-cost-effective-way\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rory Clipsham\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.roryc.ca\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0672b9777e67473b9bd9247df49499c7\"},\"headline\":\"Buying A Fixer Upper in 2026? 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