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How did you have money to renovate your house?
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nicole81




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 15 2022, 5:34 pm
I painted walls and cabinets myself, yes even patched major cracks and did other necessary prep work, saving thousands. I upgraded the cabinet fixtures in multiple rooms off Amazon, I paid a plumber a minimal amount to install an upgraded faucet in my bathroom, and I purchased and installed the rest of the coordinating delta set myself, I purchased new outlet covers online, even learned how to install new GFCI outlets and upgraded them in one room (I try to go room by room). Also purchased and installed window fixtures in many of the rooms from Amazon. These little things make a huge difference. Also some artwork from Etsy.

I purchased a dining set on overstock and it's gorgeous. I got enough point back to pay for a gorgeous buffet for another room. Appliances that I needed to replace, as well as other furniture, were purchased on store credit cards that I specifically took out for this purpose, with up to 24 months interest free.

I probably spent about $200 on extra tools and drill bits needed to do the work myself, and they're reusable for when I want to work on a new project.
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amother
Lemon


 

Post Thu, Sep 15 2022, 5:41 pm
What stage of homeownership are you asking about.

When I moved into my first home, I knew I had certain things that had to be done so I prioritized those because they would have been very difficult to do after I moved in. I need wood floors put in; the whole place painted and I really couldn't live with the mustard yellow formica so I did replace that with a more attractive formica - and then I stopped.

In terms of furniture I had a mixture of stuff from parents overflow and added to that over the years as needed. I bought some beautiful wood pieces from used furniture places.

At a later stage of life I had saved enough to really do what I wanted but that was at a different stage in my life.

Personally I wouldn't have borrowed to renovate the home because I viewed that as discretionary and I don't believe in borrowing money for discretionary expenditures. I wanted to pay off the mortgage instead of using the house as an ATM.
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amother
Orange


 

Post Thu, Sep 15 2022, 5:41 pm
I didn't but everyone in my community aside for 4 people did.
I've long since stopped trying to figure out how other people pay for things.
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amother
Ghostwhite


 

Post Thu, Sep 15 2022, 6:53 pm
We did our attic 18 months ago to expand our living space (our house is pretty small, 16,000 sf).

We saved until we could afford it (cost about 10k).

We're saving now to do our (huge!) attached garage, which is a bit more complex because it has no heating or cooling, and I think there's some rot in one of the walls, so that will need replacing. I'm guessing we need about 20k for that, we've been saving for about 9 months, have about 12k. I'm hoping we'll be able to start that work in about 6 months. So excited !

We did some painting by ourselves. Contrary to other posters, I found it to be a difficult and very tiring job. It's something I am going to outsource next time! On the flip side, I scraped and refinished some of our wooden floors by myself, and really enjoying that process.
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, Sep 15 2022, 6:53 pm
amother Lemon wrote:
What stage of homeownership are you asking about.

When I moved into my first home, I knew I had certain things that had to be done so I prioritized those because they would have been very difficult to do after I moved in. I need wood floors put in; the whole place painted and I really couldn't live with the mustard yellow formica so I did replace that with a more attractive formica - and then I stopped.

In terms of furniture I had a mixture of stuff from parents overflow and added to that over the years as needed. I bought some beautiful wood pieces from used furniture places.

At a later stage of life I had saved enough to really do what I wanted but that was at a different stage in my life.

Personally I wouldn't have borrowed to renovate the home because I viewed that as discretionary and I don't believe in borrowing money for discretionary expenditures. I wanted to pay off the mortgage instead of using the house as an ATM.


I own my home for two years. Me and my husband are in our twenties.
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imacoolmom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 15 2022, 7:06 pm
For our first home-we didn’t renovate at all. We just lived in it as it was bec we had no $$$$$ we were what you’d call house poor
After living there 10 years we were in a much better place and we’re able to save up to gut our kitchen and basement.
Now bh in the next chapter; we sold this house and since it tripled in value since we bought it ( thank u Hashem) we were able to buy a slightly larger home with enough left over for renovations.
There’s no magic formula folks
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amother
Taupe


 

Post Thu, Sep 15 2022, 7:15 pm
amother Sand wrote:
0 APR means that you only pay interest once.
You need to pay the minimum payment every month, and pay the card before the year is up. (Or however many months you get on your card.)

0 APR means that you don't pay interest at all, until the time is up. Most of the time you get a full year, and you can transfer the remainder to another card....
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amother
Powderblue


 

Post Thu, Sep 15 2022, 7:40 pm
We also painted a lot on our own.
I don't set foot in Home depot or Lowes without checking their Oops paint section! I got bargains that way.
For some rains invented bought 2 huge 5 gallons paint cans that I got mail in rebate for. Paint was almost free!
(Obviously you need to like the color but I'm not so picky!)
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amother
Ecru


 

Post Thu, Sep 15 2022, 7:46 pm
Our places was painted before we moved in. A few rooms weren't done well(they did it themselves) so I did it. We have gotten a few small things done but are keeping to a tight budget. I hope that by the time my kids are adults(oldest is 11) we will have most of the work done.
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amother
Tuberose


 

Post Thu, Sep 15 2022, 7:51 pm
We bought before we needed a house and rented it out for a few years while we saved up for renovations. I don't either understand how people pay for a down payment and then renovations right away.
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amother
Blue


 

Post Thu, Sep 15 2022, 8:20 pm
Cashed out a life insurance policy- the renovations where nonnegotiable and had to be done before we moved in due to allergies. The light fixtures waited 2 years and I didn't replace them all over yet. Renovating the bathroom is a dream of mine and so is a new swing set. The swing set might have to wait for the grandkids.

Sometimes I feel discouraged and think its simpler to buy a house with a ready master bathroom to my liking than to redo ours but I like the rest of the house and location so we are staying put.
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amother
DarkOrange


 

Post Thu, Sep 15 2022, 11:11 pm
amother Taupe wrote:
0 APR means that you don't pay interest at all, until the time is up. Most of the time you get a full year, and you can transfer the remainder to another card....


We did this, and since we couldnt afford to pay it off we ended up paying a lot of interest!! There is a reason they offer zero interest, it's because it gets people excited to borrow more and more. but people cannot afford it (OP is wondering how ppl do it so it seems like you cannot currently afford it) realistically it's very hard to pay it back and it's a huge trap. A glorified trap.

are you willing to borrow for these renovations and pay back more than you borrowed?

Stay away from credit cards if you don't have money to renovate their house.
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amother
Lemon


 

Post Thu, Sep 15 2022, 11:17 pm
amother DarkOrange wrote:
We did this, and since we couldnt afford to pay it off we ended up paying a lot of interest!! There is a reason they offer zero interest, it's because it gets people excited to borrow more and more. but people cannot afford it (OP is wondering how ppl do it so it seems like you cannot currently afford it) realistically it's very hard to pay it back and it's a huge trap. A glorified trap.

are you willing to borrow for these renovations and pay back more than you borrowed?

Stay away from credit cards if you don't have money to renovate their house.


My understanding is that if you don’t pay it back on schedule you owe the accrued interest and after a year you would owe high interest in amounts owed.

They are indeed traps for the unwary.
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amother
Wandflower


 

Post Thu, Sep 15 2022, 11:49 pm
amother Sand wrote:
We use a 0 APR card and pay it off with our tax refund.

We don’t really go on any vacations and I don’t have cleaning help or any other luxuries.


Love this answer. Its simplistic and smart but unfortunately my no interest cc are long expired and when I get my tax refund, I need it for daily expenses.
You also have to know in advance what your tax refund will be and if you for sure will be able to pay off the cc in full before the 0% is over because like previous posters said, if you don't pay it off you get hit with tons of interest- been there done that.
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amother
Burgundy


 

Post Fri, Sep 16 2022, 12:15 am
How is everyone using a credit card for renovations? You can't pay a contractor with a credit card?
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amother
Springgreen


 

Post Fri, Sep 16 2022, 1:56 am
amother Burgundy wrote:
How is everyone using a credit card for renovations? You can't pay a contractor with a credit card?


We didn’t use a contractor. Was way to much money for us to do that. We took care of everything on our own. Aside for the actual labor where you can’t pay with a credit card, the rest you can.
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amother
Bergamot


 

Post Fri, Sep 16 2022, 4:11 am
Looking at houses now and some houses need (not updating the look, actually NEED) a lot of work and the price reflects that. Do banks lend out money along with the purchase price for necessary renovations in that sort of case?

Like I could buy a house for $500000 which needs $100000 of work to make it livable, or buy a ready to move in house for a lot more.
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amother
Wallflower


 

Post Fri, Sep 16 2022, 6:49 am
amother OP wrote:
All! And yes ALL of my neighbors did work to their house before or after they moved in. Like major upgrading like painting, new furniture, lighting etc . If you did these type of renovations or more... How did you have the money for it?? We scraped to come up with down payment and we're living in our house for 2 years and are still waiting to do basic painting etc so we don't go in debt for it.

Iighting and painting was cheaper than the repairs we had to do... We did not fully renovate. We did bare minimum to feel like it was decent. No we don't have extra laying around. It costed us more than we were initially quoted bc things come up that aren't expected and we are in some debt from it. Paying it back slowly.

Painting and lighting can easily be under 10k unless you are doing fancy fixtures .
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amother
Wallflower


 

Post Fri, Sep 16 2022, 6:50 am
amother Bergamot wrote:
Looking at houses now and some houses need (not updating the look, actually NEED) a lot of work and the price reflects that. Do banks lend out money along with the purchase price for necessary renovations in that sort of case?

Like I could buy a house for $500000 which needs $100000 of work to make it livable, or buy a ready to move in house for a lot more.


Banks do but you will pay higher interest on the extra
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amother
Darkblue


 

Post Fri, Sep 16 2022, 6:55 am
amother Bergamot wrote:
Looking at houses now and some houses need (not updating the look, actually NEED) a lot of work and the price reflects that. Do banks lend out money along with the purchase price for necessary renovations in that sort of case?

Like I could buy a house for $500000 which needs $100000 of work to make it livable, or buy a ready to move in house for a lot more.


There is a type of loan where you can get money for renovations when you buy your house and it's tied in with the mortgage. I know someone who did this.
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