Renovating an old house (or even a not-so-old house) can feel like climbing a mountain, and you can choose to sprint up it as fast as you can, or you can choose a slower hike where you really take it all in. Of course, sometimes you can’t choose (some houses are too far gone to pull off a live-in renovation) but if you’ve got the choice, what should you do?

When I was a teen my family bought a 1890’s victorian that needed a whole lot of work, and our family of 6 moved into a one bedroom apartment for a year while we all helped renovate the house. A year may not seem like a “short term” renovation, but with how much work that old girl needed, it was.

Fast forward to me and my husband falling head over heels for our little 1930’s cottage. We knew it needed a lot of work, but it was livable, so we jumped in. Over six years later and our cozy little nest has come a long way, but it still has some big hurdles to get through before it’s done.

So maybe you fell in love with watching “Fixer Upper” and want to Joanna Gaines’ your next home. If you’re thinking about buying a house that needs some work, what do you do? Live in it and do the work as you go, or camp out and bust through all the work at once? Like the true Rory Gilmore (OG Rory, of course) that I am, it’s time to break out a pros and cons list.

Pros to Short Term Home Renovations

“Instant” gratification is the biggest pro, for sure. I mean, who doesn’t want to move into a house that’s already done and perfect? Sounds lovely to me. Especially if you have a full family, it’s going to be an even bigger pro. I assume no one out there really wants to run after a toddler while covered in plaster dust, I know I wouldn’t want to (for more than one reason, but let’s leave that for now).

You might endure a few months of living in a sub-par situation, but getting to walk into a house you don’t need to worry about is usually worth it (although, from personal experience, I don’t particularly recommend 6 people in a one bedroom apartment for a year, but that’s just me).

Short Term Home Renovation Cons

Money! When you’re doing all your renovations at once it means your wallet is basically bleeding non-stop. Renovations aren’t cheap, and doing them in one fell swoop can sometimes mean you end up cutting corners on things to make the budget work, or risk blowing your budget just to get it finished. Renovations always end up costing more than originally planned, so you sometimes end up sacrificing as you go when the budget gets tight. Sometimes that turns out fine, and sometimes it means you end up regretting a few decisions down the line.

Your short-term living situation is another consideration. Most people can’t afford to own two houses at the same time for a couple months, and even if you can, it often eats into your renovation budget to have to pay a mortgage or rent on another property. Even if you’re lucky enough to have a free or cheap living situation while you renovate, often it’s not ideal and can be a stress all it’s own on top of the stress of renovating.

One of the biggest cons (IMHO) of buying a house and renovating right away is not having lived and fully understanding your space first. This is something most people don’t consider. There are some things you just can’t predict you’ll need or want until you’ve lived in a space for a while. There are so many plans we made when we first bought our house that thankfully we couldn’t afford to do right away. I say thankfully, because since then we’ve scrapped those ideas for way better ones. Living in a space gives you a totally new perspective on how it functions and what you actually need from it. To me, losing out on that knowledge is actually the biggest con of upfront renovations.

Long Term Live-In Renovation Pros

This goes back to the last con – you get to know your space! After living in our space we learned so much about how we utilize it and what we need from it. The knowledge you gain from living in a space really is invaluable.

Cash flow, baby. This was one of our biggest deciding factors when we decided to live in and renovate. Knowing we could pay for renovations out of pocket as we go, as opposed to taking out a loan, which is what we would have had to do for a short term renovation. When we resell our house this will leave us with a lot bigger profit at the end of the day.

Patience is a virtue…Right? Nothing will teach you patience and resourcefulness more than having only a small table to do all of your cooking on for years, and nothing makes you appreciate painting more than hours and hours of peeling wallpaper.

Long Term Live-In Renovation Cons

I’m not going to pretend living in a house while you renovate is fun. It’s not. Having to clean up plaster dust from that day’s project before you can make dinner is not the best way to end your day. We’ll be in a particularly hard spot when we renovate our only full bathroom, but we’re just going to not think about that too much until the time comes. I probably don’t need to explain much more than that because, really, who wants to live in a construction zone?

The money is slowly bleeding. Guess what? No matter which path of renovation you take, it’s going to feel like you’re always throwing your money to the wind. That’s just how renovations go, so it’s really just a matter of picking your poison. As someone who hates adding on recurring expenses, like a loan payment, I would much rather cash flow all these projects, but a lot of people would rather take the payment and have the finished product sooner. Either way, be ready to pony up.

The Conclusion

The truth is, there is not right or wrong answer, if you have the choice. To us, it’s been a really eye-opening experience to do things slow, and overall I’m really glad we’ve gone this path. On the other hand, it would be really nice to have things like kitchen cabinets and countertops, or a bathroom that doesn’t look like an 80’s horror movie was shot in it.

Renovations are both frustrating and incredibly rewarding. Renovating a house, no matter the age, is also a huge version of recycling, and I’m a big believer in it. Typically you can also buy and renovate an older home for a lot less than building a new home (although these numbers can vary a lot depending on markets and labor costs in specific areas).

So after 6+ years renovating, would I recommend it? Absolutely!

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