We Paid Off Our Home!

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 shifting, which means no extra mortgage funds…ever!

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

And as an alternative of turning my nostril up at it, or working away in horror, I used to be in a position to see the likelihood. I knew it could possibly be became one thing stunning with plenty of arduous work and dedication, and I knew that if we purchased this home and step by step turned it into our residence, it might afford us plenty of freedom that purchasing a model new, flip key residence wouldn’t.

There have been sacrifices to doing it this manner, although. It meant that we needed to stay by means of 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.

And whereas on one hand, these final nine-and-a-half years appeared to crawl by whereas I used to be within the thick of it, as much as my eyeballs in outdated drywall, insulation, development mud, and piles of instruments and paint cans, now wanting again at it, these years appeared to go by within the blink of an eye fixed.

Matt and I purchased this home on one acre of land in August 2013 for $83,000. Whereas we have been residing within the apartment, we had saved sufficient to place down $20,000 as a downpayment, so we solely financed $63,000. That’s the advantage of 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’ll be able to see the entire home on this submit the place I shared all the photos proper after we purchased the home.) When my brother noticed it, he mentioned, “Nicely, 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 certain?! Are you actually certain that is what you need? Are you certain you are able to do this?”

I used to be certain. 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 identified what I used to be really getting myself into, I could have skipped this home and moved on to one thing else.

Our plan was to repay the home a lot quicker than we did, however we additionally didn’t have reasonable expectations of simply how a lot it will price 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 the direction of reworking the home. (Strive discovering a rental for $320/month! 😀 )

The home had nice bones, however aesthetically, it was in fairly tough form. The entire rooms needed to be taken all the way down to the studs and ceiling joists, and three areas needed to be taken all the way down to flooring joists as effectively. It wanted a brand new roof, new HVAC system (it solely had an outdated 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 listing goes on and on.

However from the very starting, we have been decided that we wouldn’t go into debt doing tasks on the home. It doesn’t matter what room or what mission I used to be engaged on, we paid for it in money as we went. That made some tasks take longer than we anticipated, however on the massive tasks, 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 amount of cash 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 members of the family) over the course of seven months. So spreading out $10,000 over seven months made issues sort of tight for us on the time, but it surely was doable.

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

As soon as the development was solely being finished in areas that could possibly be hidden behind closed doorways, whereas the primary areas of the home could possibly be comfortably used and lived in, the home actually started to really feel like residence for us.

So wanting again, these challenges paid off. Residing for a couple of years by means of 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 a fantastic (to us) residence that’s almost full on the (present) inside, and that we personal. No extra mortgage funds…EVER!!

If I needed to do it yet again, I wouldn’t change a factor. I’d nonetheless purchase a budget 70-year-old fixer higher, stay with the tiny mortgage fee, put that more money that will have gone into the next mortgage or lease fee in the direction of step by step fixing up that fixer higher with my very own blood, sweat and tears, make additional mortgage funds when the chance arose, and have a fantastic residence and be mortgage free in lower than 10 years.

Now don’t get me fallacious. Once I scroll by means of Instagram and I see these folks constructing their giant, sprawling 6000+-square-foot homes with their four-car garages with all the newest finishes, do I discover myself eager for that? Sure, but it surely solely lasts a couple of seconds. As a result of it solely takes a couple of seconds for me to search for from my telephone, go searching my home and what my very own two palms have created, and be grateful for my comparatively modest however stunning residence. And now it’s a modest however stunning residence that we personal. That freedom is precisely what I’ve been working so arduous in the 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 enhance 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 nearly all of the work on the home on my own. You’ll be able to be taught extra about me right here.

I hope you’ll be a part of me on my DIY and adorning journey! If you wish to observe my tasks and progress, you possibly can subscribe under and have every new submit delivered to your e-mail inbox. That means you’ll by no means miss a factor!