I would be very surprised if there is anyone that frequents this site that does not know the term “fixer.” 

     As a home inspector, when I hear the term a couple of things go through my mind.  First of course is: “blog fodder.”  I can’t help but think, “Here is an opportunity to add to my long list of things to blog about.” 

     Home inspectors are REALLY lucky, because finding things to blog about is usually pretty effortless----if perhaps at times a little tedious and boring to the reader.  I know for example that if Barbara Duncan reads one more post about water heaters her TPRV will blow.

     The second thing I think about (actually probably the first thing) is:  “Here comes another long report where I need to charge at least twice as much as anyone wants to hear about”----and actually end up charging a “normal” rate.  But that is just the way it is for a Seattle Home Inspector.

     At an inspection the other day I got to thinking about this because this house was ANYTHING BUT a fixer.  This place was REALLY nice!  The house was on a lot of acreage out in the country and did I already say, “This place was REALLY nice?”

     While lots of things can become things that get “restored,” it seems that houses----that may or may not be restorable----get called “fixers.”  So often one has to wonder if these places are actually going to “pencil out” or are they just going to turn into someone’s very own money pit.  At some point it just becomes good money chasing bad money, doesn’t it?  How do we find balance between what is good conservation and what is a waste of additional precious resources?

     It is not really just houses that can be “fixers.”  Why is it that we don’t think of  old cars as fixers?  Old washing machines as fixers?  We are more likely to call them “Junkers”-----did anyone say, “Cash for clunkers?”  (I think I will stay away from that tangent.) These types of things become antiques that get “restored”----and some even loose their value if they are “repaired.”  Take for example this wagon-----there ain’t no fixing it.  It has become some sort of nostalgic “lawn art” and in that sense has created a new value for itself that required no additional expenditure of time, materials or money. 

     Looks like it also became “blog-fodder.”

Charles Buell

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