I wouldn’t mind getting a fixer upper. I happen to have the J-man, who happens to be extremely skilled in such things.  Sometimes something that looks like a fixer upper only needs minor cosmetics.  For instance, a house that has an ugly exterior…well that is what vinyl siding is for.  Or maybe it just needs a fresh coat of paint.

Is the house drafty or does it have ugly old windows? You know the kind that looks like it should be on some broken down trailer?  We’ve had houses with those kinds of windows.  We would have loved to get replacement windows, but when you rent…you don’t want to put that sort of investment in.  Even though replacing them sure would have helped with the electric bill.  So much escapes from old windows.

There was one rent home we had that really needed gutter protection.  It’s sad that the landlords choose not to listen to a professional like my husband.  They could have avoided a lot of more costly repairs later on.

Right now we have a leak in the roof over the garage.  We told the landlord months ago, now water is pouring into the garage from the heavy rains that have come.  Now the repairs will be more than what my husband originally quoted.  Keeping up with repairs when they are minor can prevent costly damage later.