Sweat Equity Part 1

“Buy a fixer upper”, they said. “It’ll build sweat equity”, they said.

If you’ve read through other early retirement blogs, cost-saving websites, or live somewhere on planet earth, you’ve probably learned about the financial benefits of keeping housing expenses low, using sweat equity for home improvement projects, and the importance of refraining from upgrading to a newer, nicer home every few years. Here’s a little story of how I got my family wrapped up in these shenanigans…

I used to get such a guilty pleasure from watching home renovation shows. Seeing attractive people design homes on their fancy tablets, then point to walls that magically seem to get fixed during the commercials looked like so much fun. The renovators consistently made beautiful homes, and earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits, all the while fixing problems efficiently as they arise. 

What fun! I want to do that! 

A little background to my starting construction skills: I could spackle and paint any wall like the best of them. This skill carried me for a while, but it only got me so far. At the time, I didn’t even realize that a kitchen faucet could be replaced on its own. I used to think the whole sink had to be replaced, and ultimately, the entire island. They’re all the same piece, right?  

Thankfully, I have joined forces with a wonderful partner who has shown me how this crap works. Not only can something be taken apart, it can be fixed and put back together.

Mindblowing. 

After meeting and joining forces, we took on my house projects together, such as replacing broken tiles, or updating light fixtures. 95% of the time we spent seemed like it was used at big construction stores, or a random plumbing store when we had to go on a wild goose chase for the exact male or female pvc or wtf or idk piece to fit the other one. 

Another skill learned during these renovations projects?

Patience.

Patience to wait until the right tool is available.

Patience to think creatively, long enough, to find a better solution.

Patience to go to the store. Again. For the other thingy.

So we face-lifted my home, and improved it more and more for ourselves. But something was itching in the back of my brain…

A little backstory- I grew up and stayed in the same city for most of my life. I had always dreamed of moving to a particular neighboring town. As comfortable as I was in my current house, I started looking around, wondering if I wanted to stay in the same location for the foreseeable future. 

There were a lot of memories in this house. Perhaps too much history. I wanted a quieter neighborhood, less busy streets, and a fresh start for my little family.

YoungFUnd was still very young, so a move would be easier on them now than if I were to wait until they would be older with more friends. Even though the timing wasn’t perfect (it never is)... it was time. 

It was on to the fun part- house hunting!

Did I say fun?

The year was 2021.

…I still have nightmares about it.

We started looking at houses when the interest rates were ridiculously low. Homes, sight unseen, were being over-bid without contingencies. In cash. One house wouldn’t even accept walk through’s until after a written offer was made.

Living in Southern California can be more expensive, but I have always believed it is worth it. We expected competition, questionable properties, and a long ride between searching and signing. And yikes- did we get it. I wasn’t expecting such a sense of urgency to be part of the experience; however, houses were nabbed after being posted for less than a day. I would call about a house the morning it was on the market, and it was already contingent from an accepted offer. During our house hunting process, I probably refreshed realtor websites more than a teenager refreshes their Instagram feed.

It was incredibly tempting to change the budget during this phase. Just a little more, and we can expand our search…

Just a little more, and we can beat the other offers…

Just a little more than a little more, and we can get that even better location…

We held firm to our budget, knowing something would work out eventually. It seemed like people around us were going crazy for houses, and we were determined not to lose our minds.

Finally, we had our turn. The right layout. The right neighborhood. We clawed our way to the front of the pack, and had our offer accepted. We had 30 days to go until we closed.

There was one huge hurdle to face, however, before any boxes could be packed…

I am a single parent, who has learned the delicate art of “co-parenting” with my ex. Making a big decision, such as moving, comes with the daunting task of sharing such plans and getting approval from an ex-spouse. We both have a say in events that impact our child. Depending on the situation, it can get wildly complicated. 

I almost avoided the entire adventure of moving and improving quality of life, all out of fear of the unknown response.

The outcome?

One conversation. It took less than a minute, and everything was fine.

My anxious brain had expected and feared a thousand ways the conversation could go. I had worried and over-prepared for no reason. I wish I had been more confident in a positive outcome, but at the time, it didn’t even occur to me that a positive outcome was an option. 

My dream of moving my little family to a beautiful neighborhood and a perfect house was coming true. 

Did I say a perfect house?

We were moving to a house. It was one of our ideal neighborhoods for schools, on a quiet street. Even the floor plan was just how we liked it. It’s a solid start.

There was a bit of a catch, of course.