Welcome to FixUpMadison.com. FixUpMadison.com is a local website based in Madison, Wisconsin dedicated to helping people find and renovate homes in the Madison area.
My name is Troy Rost and my wife and I have done several fixer-uppers in the Madison area. Now as a Realtor, I am helping people find the right house for their fixer-upper project. I have put this site together as both a resource and introduction to my services. I'll be adding to it as I have time. I also have clients who are going to put their before and after photos up. Currently, all the photos on the site are of houses that I have personally owned and fixed up.
I have decided to put this site together because I would like to pass some knowledge along and also try to help others find the right house or sell their house. There are plenty of get-rich-quick sites out there and this isn't one of them. This site attempts to show how renovating can be done in the Madison area in a realistic way. By presenting this in a true light, I think it is more fair to the client and also hopefully brings out all the rewards of renovating.
The first project is the hardest and hopefully this site is helps prevent some mistakes. I am starting off simply with some advice and links to resources. When we did our first project, we had a great old contractor who was a friend of the family to help us along. He always had time to answer questions and consequently, we trusted him to do the work for us we couldn’t do. He treated us fairly and we were often amazed at what we ended up creating based on his advice. My goal is that this site might be like that.
There is a lot of bad press out there with regards to fixer-uppers. Shows like "Flip this House" have done a huge disservice to the fixer-upper community. Did you know that one of the flippers on that show is being sued for fraud? Well he is. If only those networks would advertise that fact as much as the ridiculous profits that they say they make.
In truth, there is money to be made in fixer-uppers but probably not the huge windfalls that are on TV. If those houses actually make that much money, it probably is much more likely to be a product of an over-hyped coastal market than of a product of their labor and business-savvy.
In truth, the homeowner who lives in his/her home stands to profit the greatest from doing the right fixer-upper. After two years, you don't have to pay capital-gains (see your tax-advisor for more details), you get two years of appreciation and you will get an owner-occupant mortgage instead of an investor mortgage. These benefits combined with your hard work set the stage for you to own a great home, have a rewarding experience and hopefully create a nice nestegg when you decide to sell.
Please take a few minutes to look over the site. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me or call at 608 320 0232. I would be glad to help you with your fixer-upper. Good luck!
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