There are a lot of things you can do with your time but there are not many that can be as rewarding.  From a financial perspective, hopefully you buy right and make out well.  From a physical perspective, there is nothing like a hard-days work that you can see and appreciate.  And from an emotional perspective, it is very nice to work on your own home and know that you have contributed to you and your family’s well being.  Renovating a home is not for everyone but it is for some.

Our first renovation project was in the Vilas neighborhood.  It was a house that no one would want.  It was old and stinky and the kitchen could not be cleaned as much as you tried.  But we were naive and broke and it was the best option we had for living downtown.  My mother-in-law later told us she cried after we showed her the house.  But we were two first-born children and nobody was going to tell us different. 

We closed on the house and my wife insisted that we redo the bathroom before we move in.  So I gutted it and had it all ready for the plumbers to come.  I had given the contractor a key and he was going to be there at 8:30 am to start and put the new tub in (my wife wouldn't touch the old one.)  At 8:45 am, I received a phone call.  "We have problems - come over right away."  Alas, the previous homeowner had put all new plumbing in but neglected to vent any of it.  What is worse, what was there had not been glued properly (no primer) so it fell apart.  Our first day as homeowners was spent at the Red Roof Motel on Gammon Road. 

The plumbing got fixed and we learned a lesson.  Next time, if there ever was a next time, we would get a good home inspector and we would ask a lot of questions.  It was sure sweet to have that new bathtub, and with the new plumbing, we had awesome water pressure to clean off all the drywall dust. 

It took us four years to take that house from a fraternity house reject to the queen of the block.  But we loved doing it and learned so much along the way.  We didn't have any money so we learned everything we could ourselves.  We read up, asked questions and watched a lot of "This Old House."  The things that took us weeks and months take us days now. 

The thing that is funny - when we were done with the house, we were bored.  What should we do with all this free time?  Go out to eat, take up a hobby, travel?  No, do another house.  So now we are on number five. 

I can honestly tell you, buying that first fixer-upper was the smartest thing we ever did.  We never would have done it if we had known better.  But it made us stronger, more dedicated to each other and it set us up financially to do some things we never would have been able to do.  We look back on those days nostalgically, forgetting the hard times and relishing the experience.

If you think you would be interested in something like this, I would like to help.