This sounds so much like someone who wishes to live on a boat, having only been on one before.

If you want to put up with living in a perpetual construction zone have fun. Make sure you know what you're doing, have twice as much money as you think you need, and be prepared for the friends who promise to help to find other things in thier schedule to do.

I've done it, and it's just so much nicer to write a check to someone else for big projects.

All houses are fixer uppers in a way. Repairs have to be made. if you aren't skilled in all areas of repair they can cost a fortune. And there's the permits and inspections. That's the reason I gave up my house and went to an apartment. But I'm older now. Good luck.

My house is nothing if not a fixer upper. My dad wrecked my childhood home in spectacular hillbilly hoarders fashion and it’s sat here, an abandoned zombie house for 8 more years. It’s taken me the better part of 2 years just getting the trash and mouse mess cleaned up out of it. Hundreds of lbs of trash, paper, farm supplies and rat nests I’ve hauled off or burned. Two shipping palate crates worth of old electronics sitting out back under tarps. A basketball sized bunch of cobwebs cleared. 18 years worth of leaves and bird shit I had to shovel from an above ground pool before it could be torn down.

When I imagine what I started with and see that now I have clean floors, usable electricity and plumbing it gives me a lot of pride. Everything that looks remotely good or works in this house is something I was on my hands and knees scrubbing for hours or taking apart and fixing. Just put in a new kitchen faucet a couple days ago. Still gotta redo practically every wall, ceiling and floor in this place, pressure wash, clean the gutters and rebuild the porches before it really looks nice per se. TBH I dread the work and expense it’ll take to sand and paint the whole interior the most, but once it’s done I’ll feel like a million bucks. If you’re dying to help paint I’m accepting roommates ... it’s a beautiful neighborhood, I’m a hell of a cook and I just got a puppy if that helps

Be careful what you wish for!

Do you have skills, or friends & relatives with skills? (Who will soon wish they do not know you!)
Painting, fine, landscaping, fine, other stuff, assess your tolerance for living in dirt, dust, mold, & your bank account!

I used to feel that way. Then I bought a an old house in a charming historic preservation neighborhood and started several projects with gusto. Many years later, there are numerous unfinished projects and the forces of nature and time are gaining on me and the house. Maybe start small.

I have "flipped" a couple of houses and it is rewarding especially if there is a decent profit in it. Just be careful you don't bite of more than you can chew and for a first attempt choose one where you can do the work yourself.

Mine was part way done but I have been doing a lot of work on it. By the time I am finished it should be an amazing place with all new everything. I want solar and wind added so I can use net metering and turn it into an all electric home. Since it is nearly 100 years old now I should have a house with the old Craftsman home look and completely modern in every other way.