Our home when we bought it wasn’t in the best shape. We wanted a fixer upper because we like having projects, but there was also the reality that we couldn’t afford a home that already looked exactly the way we dreamed. When we put the offer down on the home, we accounted for a few different things.
- Did we have the tools in order to do the necessary jobs?
- Did we have the know-how to complete jobs?
- Was it worth it?
Tools can be so. So. Expensive. And don’t even get me started on storage! Luckily, we had several people around us who were willing to let us to borrow their tools for free, otherwise this job would have taken FOREVER and would have cost double as much. We also couldn’t afford to hire someone to do all these jobs, so we needed to be able to learn the job quickly through videos, or already know how to do it. Or ask someone else to help! In home projects, you really can’t be afraid to outsource for advice, tools, or extra hands. And finally, and importantly, before buying the home we looked at the market value of homes in the area. That showed us how much homes in the neighborhood sold for. We bought our home for $205k after some negotiating, and the market value of the home was $230k, meaning even updated, it is unlikely to sell for more than that. This means it wouldn’t make sense to do more than $25k worth of repairs on the home. This means we either really need to prioritize jobs in order to make a profit, or be aware at some point we are most likely not increasing the value of the home.
The carpet was deemed hazardous by a home inspector, so within a week of closing on the home, my husband, his brother and friend all came over and tore it all up and put down laminate wood flooring. It ended up looking so much better than before, and at the end of the project we had spent less than $1,500 to redo the flooring of about 1,000 square feet!
My husband and I were also bothered by our wall, it was just so flat! We scoured Facebook Marketplace for a mantel that we could put up to make the wall a little less bare. The mantel cost us $50, and after buying liquid nails and other things to mount it properly to the wall, this project probably cost us a little less than $100.
I put the baby in front of the fire, he loved the sounds and flickering lights!
We will keep you posted, rumor has it we may want the mantel to be blue…
A couple days ago, we decided white walls weren’t our thing. In long Minnesota winters, if there is too much white all around you, you can start to get a little stir-crazy. We picked out some colors and dove in head first, with the goal of finishing two rooms in one day. We were actually really surprised how fast we were able to paint all the walls, I would paint along the ceiling and about 2 inches down, and my husband would paint the rest of the wall with the roller. We really feel that it makes out home look intentional – like we really intend to live here for a while.
Baby was calm as long as he could watch us paint!
I think I like the colors, but what do you guys think? The green is just so…well…GREEN! I think I wanted something a little lighter, but I also do like the moody look…let me know what you think in the comments below!
The painting materials and paint itself for 2 rooms cost us about $80. If you’re not picky about the color, there are always cheap buckets on Facebook Marketplace or discounted at home improvement stores!
For us, it was definitely worth buying a home that needed repairs. Everything was in working order because needing to buy all new appliances or fixing a foundation was just too much for us right now. But renting wasn’t going to work for us forever, we needed to be able to make investments somewhere and real estate made the most sense for us right now. We had the savings to back us up if we needed it, but a lot of the process truly has been trusting that God is going to provide for our family. We prayed so much for this house, and prayed that if it wasn’t where we were supposed to raise our family something would cue us into that fact somewhere in the process. But the whole time, it was nothing but easy and peaceful. Except for the end where we were signing paperwork while I was in labor…I’ll tell you about that another day. But my family trusts that whatever the Lord gives us is for our betterment even if we don’t understand. So if this home means our budget is tight as of right now, but we believe it was a gift from God, who are we to say no?
It’s not always that easy, but here we talk about the power of a joyful “yes” to God’s will…if God wills for you to buy a home, I pray that he makes it clear to you and provides you with a home that is exactly what you need in order to do His will, whatever that may look like.