We Paid Off Our House!

Y’all, I’m so giddy and enthusiastic about this. Matt and I paid off our home yesterday! We personal our home outright. And since we don’t ever plan on transferring, meaning no extra mortgage funds…ever!

And that, my pals, is why nine-and-a-half years in the past, I used to be capable of see a home that regarded like this…

And as an alternative of turning my nostril up at it, or working away in horror, I used to be capable of see the chance. I knew it may very well be become one thing lovely with numerous exhausting work and willpower, and I knew that if we purchased this home and steadily turned it into our house, it might afford us numerous freedom that purchasing a model new, flip key house wouldn’t.

There have been sacrifices to doing it this manner, although. It meant that we needed to dwell via years of development, which wouldn’t be sensible for many individuals. And there have been actually instances that I puzzled if I’d ever see the sunshine on the finish of the tunnel.

Matt and I purchased this home on one acre of land in August 2013 for $83,000. Whereas we have been residing within the condominium, we had saved sufficient to place down $20,000 as a downpayment, so we solely financed $63,000. That’s the good thing about shopping for a home that was within the situation ours was in!! 😀

I keep in mind so many individuals, together with my mother and brother, pondering we have been completely out of our minds shopping for this home. (You may see the entire home on this put up the place I shared all the photos proper after we purchased the home.) When my brother noticed it, he stated, “Effectively, I’m simply glad it’s you and never me.” When my mother noticed it the primary time, she checked out me with a glance of horror and concern on her face, and requested, “Kristi, are you positive?! Are you actually positive that is what you need? Are you positive you are able to do this?”

I used to be positive. I used to be assured. I used to be overly assured, however I wanted that over confidence and naivety, as a result of had I recognized what I used to be really getting myself into, I’ll have skipped this home and moved on to one thing else.

Our plan was to repay the home a lot sooner than we did, however we additionally didn’t have sensible expectations of simply how a lot it might value to redo the home. So whereas we didn’t finance very a lot, and we thought that we’d be making double and triple and quadruple funds every month to get it paid off in only a few years, that didn’t actually work out.

Let’s simply say that we have been so grateful for our tiny $320/month mortgage funds, as a result of that allowed us to place extra money month-to-month in direction of reworking the home. (Attempt discovering a rental for $320/month! 😀 )

The home had nice bones, however aesthetically, it was in fairly tough form. All the rooms needed to be taken right down to the studs and ceiling joists, and three areas needed to be taken right down to ground joists as properly. It wanted a brand new roof, new HVAC system (it solely had an previous furnace and window unit air conditioners), all new electrical, all new drywall, new flooring in some rooms, all new home windows, window and door trim, new siding, and the checklist goes on and on.

However from the very starting, we have been decided that we wouldn’t go into debt doing initiatives on the home. It doesn’t matter what room or what undertaking I used to be engaged on, we paid for it in money as we went. That made some initiatives take longer than we anticipated, however on the massive initiatives, it additionally made it extra doable.

The very first large transform I did on this home was the kitchen.

I did that total transform for $10,000. On the time, that sum of money was an absolute fortune for us, and had we employed a contractor and needed to pay that quantity (or half that quantity) up entrance, there’s now means we might have afforded it.

However I did the entire transform myself (with some assist right here and there from relations) over the course of seven months. So spreading out $10,000 over seven months made issues type of tight for us on the time, nevertheless it was doable.

I’m not going to say that it wasn’t difficult residing via the development for therefore lengthy, however as soon as I acquired all the principal “public” rooms of the home completed, life appeared to get an entire lot simpler and rather more nice for us.

As soon as the development was solely being executed in areas that may very well be hidden behind closed doorways, whereas the principle areas of the home may very well be comfortably used and lived in, the home actually started to really feel like house for us.

So trying again, these challenges paid off. Dwelling for just a few years via development, inconvenience, DIYing, and paying as we went alongside, remaining dedicated to not taking up any extra debt to repair up the home, has been value it. As a result of now, right here we’re nine-and-a-half years later, with an attractive (to us) house that’s practically full on the (present) inside, and that we personal. No extra mortgage funds…EVER!!

If I needed to do it once more, I wouldn’t change a factor. I’d nonetheless purchase a budget 70-year-old fixer higher, dwell with the tiny mortgage fee, put that more money that may have gone into a better mortgage or lease fee in direction of steadily fixing up that fixer higher with my very own blood, sweat and tears, make additional mortgage funds when the chance arose, and have an attractive house and be mortgage free in lower than 10 years.

Now don’t get me mistaken. Once I scroll via Instagram and I see these folks constructing their massive, sprawling 6000+-square-foot homes with their four-car garages with all the newest finishes, do I discover myself eager for that? Sure, nevertheless it solely lasts just a few seconds. As a result of it solely takes just a few seconds for me to search for from my cellphone, go searching my home and what my very own two arms have created, and be grateful for my comparatively modest however lovely house. And now it’s a modest however lovely house that we personal. That freedom is strictly what I’ve been working so exhausting in direction of these final nine-and-a-half years.

Addicted 2 Adorning is the place I share my DIY and adorning journey as I transform and embellish the 1948 fixer higher that my husband, Matt, and I purchased in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do bodily work, so I do the vast majority of the work on the home on my own. You may study extra about me right here.

I hope you’ll be a part of me on my DIY and adorning journey! If you wish to comply with my initiatives and progress, you possibly can subscribe beneath and have every new put up delivered to your electronic mail inbox. That means you’ll by no means miss a factor!