Y’all, I’m so giddy and enthusiastic about this. Matt and I paid off our home yesterday! We personal our home outright. And since we don’t ever plan on transferring, which means no extra mortgage funds…ever!
And that, my mates, is why nine-and-a-half years in the past, I used to be in a position to see a home that appeared like this…
And as an alternative of turning my nostril up at it, or operating away in horror, I used to be in a position to see the chance. I knew it might be was one thing lovely with loads of arduous work and dedication, and I knew that if we purchased this home and step by step turned it into our residence, it might afford us loads of freedom that purchasing a model new, flip key residence wouldn’t.
There have been sacrifices to doing it this manner, although. It meant that we needed to reside by years of development, which wouldn’t be sensible for many individuals. And there have been definitely occasions that I questioned if I’d ever see the sunshine on the finish of the tunnel.
Matt and I purchased this home on one acre of land in August 2013 for $83,000. Whereas we have been dwelling within the apartment, we had saved sufficient to place down $20,000 as a downpayment, so we solely financed $63,000. That’s the advantage of shopping for a home that was within the situation ours was in!! 😀
I keep in mind so many individuals, together with my mother and brother, pondering we have been completely out of our minds shopping for this home. (You can see the whole house in this post the place I shared the entire photos proper after we purchased the home.) When my brother noticed it, he mentioned, “Nicely, I’m simply glad it’s you and never me.” When my mother noticed it the primary time, she checked out me with a glance of horror and concern on her face, and requested, “Kristi, are you positive?! Are you actually positive that is what you need? Are you positive you are able to do this?”
I used to be positive. I used to be assured. I used to be overly assured, however I wanted that over confidence and naivety, as a result of had I identified what I used to be truly getting myself into, I’ll have skipped this home and moved on to one thing else.
Our plan was to repay the home a lot quicker than we did, however we additionally didn’t have practical expectations of simply how a lot it could value to redo the home. So whereas we didn’t finance very a lot, and we thought that we’d be making double and triple and quadruple funds every month to get it paid off in just some years, that didn’t actually work out.
Let’s simply say that we have been so grateful for our tiny $320/month mortgage funds, as a result of that allowed us to place extra money month-to-month in direction of transforming the home. (Attempt discovering a rental for $320/month! 😀 )
The home had nice bones, however aesthetically, it was in fairly tough form. The entire rooms needed to be taken all the way down to the studs and ceiling joists, and three areas needed to be taken all the way down to ground joists as nicely. It wanted a brand new roof, new HVAC system (it solely had an previous furnace and window unit air conditioners), all new electrical, all new drywall, new flooring in some rooms, all new home windows, window and door trim, new siding, and the checklist goes on and on.
However from the very starting, we have been decided that we wouldn’t go into debt doing tasks on the home. It doesn’t matter what room or what mission I used to be engaged on, we paid for it in money as we went. That made some tasks take longer than we anticipated, however on the massive tasks, it additionally made it extra doable.
The very first massive transform I did on this home was the kitchen.
I did that total transform for $10,000. On the time, that amount of cash was an absolute fortune for us, and had we employed a contractor and needed to pay that quantity (or half that quantity) up entrance, there’s now method we might have afforded it.
However I did the entire transform myself (with some assist right here and there from members of the family) over the course of seven months. So spreading out $10,000 over seven months made issues form of tight for us on the time, however it was doable.
I’m not going to say that it wasn’t difficult dwelling by the development for thus lengthy, however as soon as I bought the entire predominant “public” rooms of the home completed, life appeared to get an entire lot simpler and way more nice for us.
As soon as the development was solely being achieved in areas that might be hidden behind closed doorways, whereas the principle areas of the home might be comfortably used and lived in, the home actually started to really feel like residence for us.
So trying again, these challenges paid off. Dwelling for a number of years by development, inconvenience, DIYing, and paying as we went alongside, remaining dedicated to not taking over any extra debt to repair up the home, has been price it. As a result of now, right here we’re nine-and-a-half years later, with a lovely (to us) residence that’s almost full on the (present) inside, and that we personal. No extra mortgage funds…EVER!!
If I needed to do it over again, I wouldn’t change a factor. I’d nonetheless purchase a budget 70-year-old fixer higher, reside with the tiny mortgage cost, put that extra cash that will have gone into the next mortgage or lease cost in direction of step by step fixing up that fixer higher with my very own blood, sweat and tears, make further mortgage funds when the chance arose, and have a lovely residence and be mortgage free in lower than 10 years.
Now don’t get me flawed. Once I scroll by Instagram and I see these individuals constructing their massive, sprawling 6000+-square-foot homes with their four-car garages with the entire newest finishes, do I discover myself eager for that? Sure, however it solely lasts a number of seconds. As a result of it solely takes a number of seconds for me to lookup from my telephone, go searching my home and what my very own two arms have created, and be pleased about my comparatively modest however lovely residence. And now it’s a modest however lovely residence that we personal. That freedom is strictly what I’ve been working so arduous in direction of these final nine-and-a-half years.
Addicted 2 Adorning is the place I share my DIY and adorning journey as I transform and beautify the 1948 fixer higher that my husband, Matt, and I purchased in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do bodily work, so I do the vast majority of the work on the home on my own. You can learn more about me here.
I hope you’ll be a part of me on my DIY and adorning journey! If you wish to comply with my tasks and progress, you may subscribe under and have every new publish delivered to your e mail inbox. That method you’ll by no means miss a factor!
