We bought a house last summer and we opted to redo the kitchen, one bath, refinish hardwoods, paint the entire interior and recarpet the bedrooms. I do not consider this a fixer upper by any stretch but we opted NOT to live in the house while the work was being done. And we hired a general contractor.

There was no way we (well I and DD) could have survived the construction on a day to day basis. It took 3 months and was worth not living here during it. We were here everyday, checking on the contractors etc.

My DH is VERY handy but there was no way we'd tackle a kitchen and a bath on our own, we'd be divorced if we did. There is just no time during the week and weekends go fast. It was worth it to us to pay someone.

So you have to decide, will you do the work yourself or hire someone. And if you opt to do it yourself, are you willing to live with what you currently have, in case you don't have time to get to that project....for example I lived with this butt ugly wallpaper at my old house for 8 years b/c it wasn't a priority.