Buying an old house to fix up has an attraction for many people. If you can find a house with charm and character, a renovation may enable you to create just the living environment that you want. You should start with a good real estate agent to help you locate the right house and recommend lenders who make both acquisition and construction loans.

Financing a renovation is perhaps the most difficult part of the whole project, especially if the house needs extensive work. Few banks will make these loans to people who are not professional developers. You should prepare for your loan application by having a written proposal. It helps to have an engineer's report or architectural plans and to include estimates from contractors covering the costs and timetables for the work to be done. Your real estate agent can help you put together a market analysis of the neighborhood to show that you will not be over-improving the property compared with other homes in the area.

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Stewart J Lowe
Sothebys International Realty Canada
#100-221 10 AVE SE
Calgary, AB T2G 0V9
Office: 403.254.5315
Cell: 403.850.0669
Pager 24/7: 403.254.5315
Fax: 403.476.7608
Direct: sjlowe@sotherbysrealty.ca
Office: sjlowe@sothebysrealty.ca

Stewart J Lowe is an accredited member of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing and an associate with Sothebys International Realty, Canada. Specializing in buying and selling Luxury Homes in Bearspaw, Springbank, Elbow Valley Estates and Residential Calgary, Estate homes, Rural homes, and Urban Homes. We pride ourselves on working very closely with a limited number of clients, enabling us to provide total communication. Understanding the unique lifestyles of the people we work with is very important to us.