this post was submitted on 10 Mar 2025
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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.

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[–] Eryn6844@beehaw.org 1 points 1 week ago

Tequila and weed?

[–] alkbch@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago

Make more money.

[–] qyron@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 week ago

It's yours. Every single thing you can fix is one less thing you need to fix and adds towards your home being more yours.

I bought a house almost 100 years old, badly upkept throughout the years (someone thought it was a good idea to cover wood with cement without making sure it would not wick moisture), severely modified (it was divided into 5 separate apartments) and altered (I have a shower stall inside a bedroom!), it has a lot of work to be done and I sure have too litle time but I'll be damned it's mine!

[–] Zetta@mander.xyz 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

You can do anything you put your mind to. I spent a significant amount of effort (~1500 hours over 11 months) completely remolding my partner and my first house, including re wiring and re plumbing with no previous experience.

If something goes wrong or you want to change something, seriously, you can do it all on your own. Spend some time researching the problem and watching videos of other people doing it. DIY everything and any issues will cost 10x less to fix.

General contractors are mostly just scammers who at best will do a shit job and rip you off, and at worse will actually make the situation worse and still scam you.

[–] billwashere@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

I love owning a home but fuck it’s expensive. Learn how to do stuff yourself is the best advice I can give you.

I have saved so much money being able to troubleshoot and repair simple things like hvac, electrical, plumbing, woodworking, etc. YouTube is amazing for learning this stuff. A good example: I recently had to replace two hvac condenser fans that would have likely cost me a $1000 a pop to fix. It’s bad enough the motors themselves were $300 a pop. Plumbing is easy if you have the right tools (pex is awesome). Electrical can be pretty easy if you’re willing to learn (I was a computer engineer in college and a system architect by trade so I get the electrical stuff). Learn how to patch holes in drywall. You’d be surprised how much you’ll be doing that. Learn how to replace a faucet. Learn how to replace the inwards of a toilet.

The great thing about a fixer upper is you can afford to make mistakes. Take your time, don’t rush it. Make little improvements all the time. It all adds up.

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