Every drop of water, crack, ant, royally freaks me out at this point. I can’t afford to rent. I own a shitty house that is a fixer upper. So frustrating.
I understand this will sound crazy. I started running, a lot. A few half marathons per year. It’s a juxtaposition of enjoying the benefits and hating the activity.
The biggest benefit is being able to handle more stress, and deal with the stress better, in general. I tell myself during the first mile (as it’s the most difficult to start), “I am expanding my capacity to endurance stress and suffering” it’s shifted the way I look at problems.
A recent example: I paid a contractor to build a wall to split a room, and to install new flooring on the floor. It looked nice. A year later, I encountered a problem in the bathroom that exposed a leak that’s probably existed since the work was done. The bathroom is being torn apart and completely redone by me. I’m not thrilled, and was absolutely pissed at first, but it’s subsided much faster than it used to. I can’t afford to hire someone again, but I do have another bathroom to use during this process, so it can wait. It’s shifted my perspective, and I’m seeing this now as “expanding a set of skills that can be useful again” instead of completely dreading it. Of course I prefer this didn’t happen 😊 but wishing reality is different doesn’t help anything.
Not really much advice other than being proactive about issues, but it is funny how concerned you quickly become with all types of water once you own a home. Rain intrusion, drainage in the yard, leaky pipes, dripping noises, frozen pipes, gutters, humidity, water heater, storms, etc, etc. It’s a real menace and so are squirrels (as I also found out after purchasing a home).
how concerned you quickly become with all types of water
LOL, yes! 99% of my problems these last 5 years have been related to water. It’s really made me want to learn more about plumbing.
I pulled the hydrometer out of my cigar humidor to became more aware of the dampness of my basement. I also spent over $1,000 on evicting a family of raccoons out from under my backyard deck. So yeah, I get it HAH
Did you have to hire a lawyer to serve them papers?
They just ate it as well :(
This right here. Every running water noise your ears perk up thinking that it’s the worst. Then you realise it’s just the dishwasher.
Did you hear that? I feel like the toilet flushed funny
I just fixed the dishwasher that is original to the house. I’ve never used a dishwasher before(ty technology connections). my god is it loud and keeps giving me a heat attack even a week after using it, but I can’t argue with clean dishes.
You certainly can argue with them. It’s only a problem if they start to argue back.
Try to only tackle one project at a time. It gets exponentially more stressful trying to juggle a bunch of incomplete projects. Also, you’ll never be “done”. That’s not the point. The point is shelter and comfort.
This is probably some of the best advice here. It’s important to prioritize what is going to the most costly if you don’t fix it now, and if you try to do 7 things at once, you will feel like none of them will ever be done, which contributes to your stress more than still having 6 broken things after fixing one.
Is this a typical feeling? I’ve been planning to buy a home soon…
I think it really depends on the home, get an inspection to try to see some of the problems beforehand and you won’t be caught too off guard.
For me water is the biggest thing, water in the basement, water through the roof, water by the window sills, it never ends! Every expense seems to be another 5k or 20k, owning a fixer upper is an expensive endeavor
Not for me. I… Don’t have leaks? I know where my water shutoff is if I need it.
I like owning.
Yes, but you get used to it. It’s a typical feeling for the first few years if it’s your first house.
Learn to repair things properly and that will reduce a ton of stress. You will also learn what things can be put off and what needs to be done immediately.
Over the years, I have learned how to do just about every kind of home repair or update. Its been rewarding, actually.
This is absolutely normal when you first buy the place. I bought my place in 2017 and was super anxious over the first year because I suddenly had basically no savings and all my equity was in this building. I didn’t know anything about home repair and couldn’t afford to hire someone who did.
The thought of something going wrong enough that it would ruin the place gave me an anxiety attack more than once.
Then, after a couple years and a few things needing fixed, I realized that things don’t go wrong that often and most of the time if they do, they are easy to fix.
I have have pretty bad anxiety. So it may me just me.
It is, but OP’s is a little worse because they got a fixer-upper. If you’re buying new (or newer), you should have less anxiety given you get a proper inspection done before closing. You’ll still have to learn doing maintenance and repairs of course, as there will always be something that will come up.
I think it depends on the property and the amount of repairs you can afford.
We budgeted .5% of the cost of the house for repairs annually - put it aside in a separate account so you can replace the roof/furnace/etc without taking a lifestyle hit.
Adjust the proportion by the age and state of the property.
Not easy but have enough surplus to cover those things.
Also try to remember all the mortgage you’re paying you’ll most likely get back when you sell, unlike when you rent.
I sure wouldn’t say ‘all’. The first years of your mortgage you are paying the bank more in interest than you are knocking off the principal.
A $300k home with 20% down and an interest rate of 3.5% on a 25 year amortization schedule will see the buyer paying $8k in interest versus $6k towards the principal at the start. Over the course of the mortgage, the $300k home will cost $420k thanks to the $120k in interest the bank takes.
The way people should think about it is not whether or not they break even compared to having not purchased the house. The real comparison is if they end up better off than if they paid rent that whole time instead.
If you bought a house for $300k, paid $420k for it over 30 years, and sold for $320k, you could think of it as a $100k loss, but you’d still end up $420k ahead of someone who had the same monthly payment going to a landlord.
And the more you open up to fix the more systemic problems you find. In an old/fixer house. Try to pick one project at a time. Spend some money when u have too. Have seen some smart people locate home improvement grants for upgrades/HVAC. You’ll need to spend money. No avoiding it. In a couple years you’ll forget how bad it all seemed and get used to the minor annoyances you haven’t gotten too. And don’t forget to learn some things. Buy a bug pump sprayer and specific chemicals on line. Learn how important gutters are and getting storm water away from the foundations. Get some rugs to cover the gaps and caulk the cracks. Most importantly A good partner for the decorating to make u forget it’s a shitty house no matter how much work you put in
To answer your question I just drink a lot.
Best response in the thread lol
shitty…fixer upper
You have the best kind of house! Since its market value is already low you don’t have to worry about all the stupid shit people fret over when their house is too valuable.
What’s leaking?
How old are the cracks? If they’re old, then whatever shifted already happened and no longer matters. Just keep an eye for new ones. Like a casual eye. Don’t obsess over it.
The biggest advice I can give is put systems in place to reduce as much as possible the list of things you have to manage freeing up your mind and time to solve more complex issues.
Stick a hose on the dehumidifier route into the drain never empty it again as an example where as before you emptied it daily or every 2 days.
Good example.
In a similar vein: setup alarms. Smoke detectors is an easy one, but also water leakage detectors. If feeling adventurous, maybe logging of water/power usage as well to catch slow leaks.
I’m generally not a fan of IoT devices, but I know some people with a water metering device that will detect any leaks, and can be configured to easily shut water off in the event of detected high flows indicating a burst pipe. You can also shut water off when you go on vacation so you don’t have to worry about it.
If the hose-to-drain route isn’t feasible, many dehumidifiers come with a built in pump, so it will pump water out when the tank is full. These can go against a hydraulic head, so you could even put one in a basement with no plumbing, and run the drain line upstairs to a drain.
Also, you probably know this, but for anyone else, don’t bother with any dehumidifiers that run on a Peltier element instead of a compressor. They will be slightly cheaper, but they’ll use the same amount of energy for like 1/20th of the capability. They advertise them as “quiet” or “compressor free”, but just don’t do it.
I learned to fix it. Before YouTube, that usually means not so great. But now, I usually do at least as good as a job as the people I’d hire.
Fixing stuff is easy, and you have to accept that there’s no perfect fix.
Ants, set out ant bait traps. Look outside and see if there’s a trail, follow it to the source, and spray it with ant poison.
Cracks, YouTube that. They may be nothing.
Leaks, if it’s plumbing, you can buy pipes at home Depot and replace them.
Granted, it will take a while. Maybe all day. But you’ll get an endorphin rush when it’s done and eventually you’ll come to know all the ins and outs of your house.
But it’s you look at it and it’s too big, Google a company to do it. Even if you’re halfway, and find you’re stuck. No shame in getting help. This shines you don’t have a family member or friend who’s already handy.
But really, if you can’t fix it, can’t afford to have it fixed, just do what you can to keep the house clean and work on it a little bit or put aside money till you can. That’s hard, but that’s owning a house. Like anything in life, it’s difficult. But it doesn’t have to stay that way, with enough time and practice.
You’re already smarter than many, asking for other’s opinions. Don’t suffer in silence. I believe in you!
And if you are not 100% confident, take lots of pics as you go. And every step, do something that you figure you can undo. Worse case scenario, it goes back to how it was…
no perfect fix
And if you need convincing, go measure some parts of your house. Peak around in places and see how its actually assembled compared to how you thought it would be. Then realize it hasn’t fallen over yet, so maybe perfection doesn’t matter.
We all want to believe that these rooms actually follow geometry with things like parallel/perpendicular walls.
I’ve just been making a wardrobe in an alcove where in the space of 1200mm they have managed to be out by 40mm (1.5 inches in 4ft for our American folks) Trying to be within 1-2mm and deciding on referencing a side wall that’s curved but making the room “more square”, and having a variable depth wardrobe or making something that looks right but that I know is a parallelogram. Either way a future guy with a tape measure will ask “what idiot built this?”
Great advice. Here’s another hint for first timers: you’re going to get it wrong. Spend half a day replacing a faucet, following all the instructions and the collective wisdom of YouTube. Turn the water back on and… drip, drip.
Patching drywall, fixing a drawer slide, replacing a loose electrical outlet… No matter how much you read or watch there is some finesse to each. Practice and experience will make it so you get it right the first time more often, and then when you’re an old person like me you reach a point where you can pretty much do it better than the fly-by-night contractor you’d hire.
One more piece of advice. Don’t mess with live electricity. Wall current can stop your heart instantly or start a fire in the middle of the night. Turn off breakers and be diligent about tightening connections and keeping things to code, but don’t be too afraid of it. A little bit of awareness is all it takes. And the first time you turn that breaker back on it may pop, then you’ll see what went wrong and never make that mistake again.
I know I said one more, but here is one more “one more”. Hit yard sales or estate sales for cheap tools. You’ll have to do this proactively and not when you actually need them. Usually you can pick up stuff for pennies on the dollar. An old caulk gun, adjustable wrench, half box of drywall screws… All good to pickup on the cheap.
I know DIY isn’t everyone’s favorite past time, but after the first few things you tackle you might find it actually enjoyable. I know the combination of saving money, securing my home’s integrity, and completing a job well done is something I look forward to.
All this is part of the game. What you save on not paying a landlord you pay in time keeping up with the place. Every ant and water drip is a challenge that you get to learn about fixing and make it your own. We’re all lucky we live in a time where you can learn how to do anything from the internet.
i see repairing my house as a money saving hobby, got lots of plumbing, drywall, lumber, electrical, network, and car repair tools in the shed, garage and laundry room. i prefer to watch a diy vid on yt than any fiction, i guess my frugality drive me
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Practice triage: start with small, achievable projects that can be done on a weekend. Don’t get overwhelmed. Be kind to yourself. Not every problem is immediate or needs fixing.
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If you have access to a local tools library, avail yourself of it fully. The staff are a treasure-trove of wisdom and knowledge. If not, talk to the oldest, crotchiest person at your local bardware store.
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There are so many single-use tools out there (favorite one is so you can unscrew the faucet bolt under a sink). If not, see if there’s a community online board and post a request.
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Vintage appliances, windows, doors, etc are cool. A little elbow grease and they’re in good shape. Junkyards and recycling centers are a treasure trove.
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If it involves anything hazardous or too heavy (gas, electricity, foundation), bite the bullet and seek professional help.
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Ants and cracks are small-fry. Baits and fillers are easy fixes. Focus on big ticket items. And remember, some things are best left alone (see triage, above).
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I’m in the same boat. Bought a home in 2020. It’s been a constant stream of fixes and updates and replacements. My mortgage payments are high enough. Now we’re dumping thousands of dollars on flood prevention, evestrough replacement, random leaky pipes, furnace cleaning, deck refinishing, grass and landscaping. Wife and I both work full-time. We are dipping into savings to upkeep our home. I totally regret it. Should have bought a 2-3bed condo instead. At least we could plan for the monthly condo fees and not worry about sudden emergency fixes. I don’t know. I hate it.
Even with an HOA, you can still end up needing to pay tens of thousands for surprise repairs in the forms of special assessments, especially if the HOA is poorly managed.
Yeah I don’t know how I feel about neighbors. I have good neighbors, but they are about 20 feet from me in either direction.
If you need to hire a tradesperson, find small companies, folks who work for themselves. We’re WAY cheaper than the shops are and can usually a) make time for you and b) work with you on it all. Plus, we need the money more ;D
For real though, I just bought my first home a couple years back and I get it. There’s a lot I don’t know still. It’ll be alright, just keep an eye out for water damage. And if something starts sparking, cut the breaker off and call someone. Pretty much anything up to that point can be handled with YouTube and Harbor Freight.
It gets boring to worry. Now I just view it as a cosy box that I’ll occasionally have to patch up. Also, getting comfortable with DIY, especially that first scary ‘dive in’ moment where you have to cut the wire, drill the wall, or pull up the board. Over time it all just gets as normal and run of the mill as cracking an egg for an omelette.
