Free tool · buyers

Fixer or move-in ready?

Put a dated house and its remodel next to a finished one. See the cash you’d need, the monthly payment, and the equity you’d start with.

Town (sets the property tax)

Fixer’s price What the dated house costs. Remodel budget Not sure? Tim, the builder on my team, can give you a rough number. Move-in ready price What updated homes like it sell for nearby. I can pull these for you. Down payment Same percentage for both. Interest rate Freddie Mac’s weekly average, Nov 5, 2026. Closing costs Of the purchase price.

Equity on day one with the fixer

$60,000

The fixer costs $443 a month less and needs $10,500 less cash to close, with the remodel financed into the loan.

Fixer + remodelMove-in ready

Total cost $640,000 $700,000

Cash to close $80,500 $91,000

Monthly payment $4,853 $5,296

Worth when done $700,000 $700,000

Loans that pay for the remodel

Over the Limited 203(k) cap of $75,000. A Standard 203(k) has no repair cap and can cover structural work, but it needs an FHA-approved consultant.

Within Fannie Mae HomeStyle’s limit. A conventional loan that can fund renovation up to 75% of the lesser of price plus renovation or the finished appraised value (here, up to $480,000).

Which one fits you depends on the details. Loan limits, credit and down payment all matter. Ilya, the lender on my team, can tell you which program works and what the rate looks like.

Plan for the parts a calculator can’t see: the months the work takes, a place to live if the house isn’t livable during it, and a cushion for surprises behind the walls.

Got a house in mind?

Send me the listing. I’ll pull recent sales of updated homes nearby so you know what it could be worth when it’s done, and Tim, the builder on my team, can give you a rough read on the remodel before you write an offer.

Tim works at United Signature, a design-build remodeler where I’m also Marketing Director. Using him, or anyone on my team, is always your choice.

Estimates only, not a loan offer. Both columns use the same down payment, a 30-year fixed loan, insurance of about $1,600 a year (a 2026 Washington average, Insurify) and mortgage insurance at 0.75% of the loan a year under 20% down. The fixer column assumes the remodel is financed into the loan; property tax uses the Snohomish County Assessor’s typical 2026 levy rate for the town, applied to price plus remodel, since the assessor can raise the value after the work. Loan program limits: HUD’s 203(k) program comparison (revised November 4, 2024) and Fannie Mae’s HomeStyle Renovation product page.

Buyers What does your payment buy? Pick a monthly budget and see how far it goes in seven towns north of Seattle. Homeowners What can you build on your lot? Type an address. See the lot to scale and what Washington law now lets you add.