Ten or so years ago it wasn’t common to have home or apartment security cameras.

They were either cost prohibitive, overly complex, or both.

Ring is one of the companies that changed that.

Most people are familiar with Ring because of the Ring Video Doorbell, but they also offer a wide range of other products including home security cameras.

If you are considering adding Ring Cameras, this post will help you decide whether to get POE Ring cameras or WiFi Ring cameras.

What are the Different Ring Camera Options?

 
As you can tell from the title, one regret I have is setting up a bunch of WiFi Ring cameras instead of POE Ring cameras.

The problem is that most people don’t know what “POE” means. It wasn’t until after I set up many cameras that I learned more about POE, or power over ethernet, and why POE Ring camears are better than WiFi Ring cameras.

To be clear, I think that WiFi Ring cameras are better than no cameras at all. It was a game-changer the first time I traveled to be able to log in and check my cameras, and even get alerts of motion. Since then I can’t imagine not having some sort of camera system and broader home security system in place.

When it comes to power source, there are three major types of Ring Cameras:

• Wired

• Battery

• POE

The Ring Stick up cam is an example of a wired Ring camera. This camera can also be powered by solar, which is actually quite affordable for Ring cameras.

Regardless of the power source, these Ring cameras are going to need to connect to your home network, and that’s accomplished by connecting to WiFi.

The same can be said about battery-powered Ring camera options. It still needs to connect via WiFi.

This brings us to POE Ring cameras, or power over ethernet. The unique thing about POE is that it provides both power and network via one cord. An example of a Ring POE camera is the Ring Stick Up Cam Elite.

Why POE Ring Cameras are Better than WiFi Ring Cameras

 
As I already mentioned, there is nothing inherently wrong with a WiFi security camera. In fact, the nice thing about them is how easy it is to connect to your network.

But WiFi Ring cameras come with their disadvantages.

In general, WiFi is less reliable than wired devices. This is true not just for Ring cameras but any device you are connecting to your network. WiFi signals can get jammed up or face interference, which is an issue for something meant to provide security.

Another thing to think about is placement of cameras. A lot of times you’ll want to place cameras around the exterior of your house, with soffit being the most likely thing you mount your cameras to. With wired Ring cameras you are going to need to have an outlet nearby, or you’ll have to run extension wires such as these to the closest outlet.

This may not seem like a problem at first, but when you really think about how many outlets you have in places like your garage and how accessible they are, you can run into issues once you start adding multiple cameras to your house.

Since you are already running wires, why not run POE wires (which are essentially cat6 ethernet cable and connect to a POE camera? From a wiring perspective it’s the same or less work, and you end up with a more secure and stable network connection.

How Does POE – Power Over Ethernet – Work?

 
Most people aren’t familiar with POE. And even when you first hear about it, it can be difficult to wrap your head around it.

If you can get past the initial “new-ness” of the concept, you can get comfortable with using it as your power and network source for your cameras. Perhaps more importantly, you can avoid the mistake I made of going with WiFi cameras. Because like me, you can avoid first buying WiFi cameras and then later swapping everything out to POE.

A graph can be helpful. Below is how POE works for Ring cameras.

Most home networks consist of a cable modem, a router, and that’s it. Using POE just takes one extra step: a POE switch.

The way a POE switch works is you run ethernet cable from the router to the switch, and then you run ethernet cord from the switch to the cameras.

And that’s it – you’ll have a wired network connection and power to your cameras.

Below is an example of a POE switch:

Once you start comparing the process of running wire for wired Ring cameras to running cat6 ethernet wire for POE ring cameras, running ethernet is more flexible. You only need an outlet for the switch, not for each camera.

There is one advantage wired Ring cameras have over POE Ring cameras: price.

If you compare the Ring Stick Up Cam, which is the wired option, to the Ring Stick Up Cam Elite, which is the POE option, the Stick Up Cam is about $100 while the Stick Up Cam Elite is about $200. So essentially with each camera you purchase you are paying double for POE.

With all that being said…POE is the future for security cameras. You are better off setting up POE cameras now instead of WiFi cameras which you likely will eventually upgrade to POE.

If you are ready to set up your Ring home security network, here’s a list of supplies:

• POE+ Switch (we didn’t get into POE vs. POE+ vs. POE++ in this post, but I recommend getting at minimum a POE+ Switch)

• Cat6 Ethernet cable

• POE Ring cameras

I did not include a modem or router since most people have it, but you can of course shop for these on Amazon as well.

Unexpected home expenses is one reason why many in the personal finance space recommend homeowners have an extra-healthy emergency fund. “Small” unexpected expenses of $100-$300 can add up quick, and big expenses of $1,000+ can be tough to manage if they come out of nowhere.

Home expenses wouldn’t be terrible if there wasn’t a hundred other demands on our money. The cost of healthcare keeps rising, and with HSAs becoming commonplace consumers are on the hook for potentially thousands of dollars before their health insurance kicks in. Pets can get sick and result in a big vet bill. And for those with kids I don’t even need to mention how much of a bite kids can take out of your finances.

The purpose of this post is to list out potential unexpected home expenses to make them a bit more real. It’s easy for people to say homes are expensive without giving examples, but when you can picture what these costs actually are it can become more real.

I’m not trying to convince people to not buy a house. If anything I hope to motivate people to save a bigger emergency fund so they can deal with unexpected home expenses rationally. There is a clear difference between facing an unexpected $2,000 house repair with money in an emergency fund versus having no cash reserve to cover it.

I bought a fixer-upper seven years ago and I’ve learned a lot from the experience. My biggest regret was not having more cash in the bank when my wife and I bought our house. Not only did we face a number of unexpected expenses that I will mention throughout this list, but we also had a lot of renovations we wanted to do. Having cash in the bank would have taken away some of our stress in those first few years, and helped us stay calm as we faced never-ending home expenses.

Let’s dive into examples of unexpected home expenses to plan for. Some will argue that not all of these are “unexpected” because they are routine maintenance. While that may be true, people aren’t thinking about their homes 24/7 so even routine maintenance can come out of nowhere, especially if something is broken and you have no choice but to fix or replace immediately.

Roof

 
Roofs can last a long time, but they don’t last forever. Replacing even a small roof will run in the thousands. Another thing to think about is potential damage from snow and ice. Ice dams can cause serious issues.

Garage Door

 
The first year in our home the coils on our garage door snapped. Replacing them was a few hundred dollars, partially because we have a heavy garage door and partially because it was on the weekend. Garage doors can work for decades without issues, but there are a lot of components that can break and stop working.

Water Damage

 
Another fun story from my first year of home-ownership. We had a heavy rainstorm and the city’s storm drain was overwhelmed, pushing the water out to smaller drains throughout the city. Our basement had a foot of water outside the basement walkout, and water slowly was pouring into our basement. Thankfully we were home for this and could address it right away, but this happens to many people each year when they are away from their home, leaving serious damage. Even worse is water damage that happens behind the walls, sight unseen, since you don’t even realize it’s happening.

Water damage can be a minor inconvenience or cost you thousands of dollars in repairs, especially if mold is part of the issue. Sometimes there isn’t much you can do, but proactive things include installing drain tile and a sump pump in your basement, not putting carpet in your basement (tile and rugs are the way to go), and making sure your landscaping pushes water away from your home.

Structural Issues

 
A coworker of mine bought a house and started working on renovating the basement. When he pulled panels off one of the walls a gigantic crack became visible. Usually cracks aren’t a big issue, but this was a massive one. After consulting an engineer the solution was using a massive and expensive brace system to stabilize the house.

Thankfully he and his wife were able to recover the $15k-$20k bill from the previous owners for not disclosing the issue. This is an extreme example, but smaller structural issues can come up from things like termite damage and rotting wood.

Washer & Dryer

 
Pretty simple example – washer and dryers break! We had an older washer and dryer that I have done a couple minor repairs on, but eventually we had a problem that would have cost a couple hundred minimum to diagnose and repair so we opted for buying new ones. If you have a gas dryer you will need a professional to do the installation, which will run you at least a hundred dollars. You’ll have to decide whether you want to foot a couple grand for fancy new models (we did and don’t regret it) or get cheaper alternatives.

Sewer Drain-Out

 
Every house has a drain that goes from their house to the main sewer line. Some of these lines are made of clay. These lines can collapse. As you can imagine, it can be expensive to replace a collapsed sewer line because it oftentimes requires digging up a yard, street, and/or sidewalk.

This happened to us, again in our first year of home-ownership (we have good luck). Our first quote was over $7,000, and came from Roto Rooter. The repair person was high pressure and told me not to contact the city about it since there was almost zero chance it was their fault. I hired another plumber through Angie’s List who not only would have done the repair for $3,000 or less, he also consulted with the city and found one of their contractors made an illegal repair four years ago when a water main broke. This story is why I swear by Angie’s List and why I always advocate for getting multiple quotes on home repairs.

HVAC

 
HVAC stands for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. Heating units break. Air conditioners break. Water heaters break. All these things cost money to repair and replace.

I have two friends with homes in the same cities as me who bought houses with improper ventilation in their basements. This is an issue because if the basements are finished or semi-finished, as they are in these houses, the only way to fix the issue is to rip out the ceiling and install the appropriate ducts. This typically is not something at the top of a new homeowners mind, but is just another example of an unexpected expense.

Work that involves hiring people in the trades such as HVAC specialists, electricians, and plumbers, isn’t cheap. There is a labor shortage and despite the potential for high pay, most young people would prefer a desk job. My point here is you should plan on spending at least a couple hundred dollars just to have someone in the trades come out to your house, and then expect potentially more costs for supplies and additional labor needed to fix your issue.

Driveway

 
The actual cost for installing a new driveway or replacing an old one is usually in the thousands of dollars. Our driveway is in rough shape and I didn’t take action as early as I should have. One way to delay the installation of a new driveway is to use cold patch to fill in potholes and then seal coat the driveway each year. I didn’t seal coat the first five years we had our house and I wish I had. It adds thickness to the driveway and will help prolong having to install an expensive new driveway, which I’m convinced would add little to no value to a house when you sell it.

I recommend going the DIY route for seal coating. It’s a messy job but it’s cheaper and it seems like more and more seal coating companies are pushing people to install brand new driveways. While that advice technically isn’t always “wrong,” from a personal finance standpoint I just don’t see the value.

Cement Work

 
You may have a cement slab in the back of your house, or even a cement driveway. Most people have some cement work around their house, and it can be expensive to replace for obvious reasons: it’s difficult to remove without machinery and it typically takes a cement truck and skilled labor to install.

Wasps, Rodents, and other Pests

 
We’ve had some wasps nests in our yard, and like most issues that require a professional to come out it has always been a couple hundred dollars for treatment and removal. Mice are an issue for many homes and the best way to fix the problem long-term is to find where they are coming in, which is easier said than done.

Kitchen Appliances

 
Similar to a washer and dryer, kitchen appliances can break and need repairing or replacing. High-end appliances are great, but this is where cheaper appliances win out. When your stove only costs $400 it’s easier to foot the bill versus needing a $1,000 replacement. Appliances can last a long time, but they eventually do break.

Plumbing and Electrical

 
Plumbing issues are more commonplace than electrical, but both can come up unexpectedly. One example of ours was replacing an old bathroom drain. To remove a bathroom drain you sometimes have to get a “key” that goes into the drain and unscrew it that way. Well…after multiple people tried to crank the drain loose we unfortunately had to call a plumber who torched it out. As expected, having a plumber come out can cost you a couple hundred dollars even for a simple issue.

The nice thing about plumbing and electrical is some things can be done yourself. You may not be able to install new shut-off valves yourself, but you likely can replace a toilet or sink yourself. Electrical work you obviously have to be very careful with, but with the proper precautions and training it’s not unreasonable for a homeowner to replace light switches and outlets. For anything even moderately complex, though, you will need an electrician. The reason why is because you want the work up-to-code and you want to protect yourself from dangerous situations.

Tree Trimming

 
I grew up in a newer development, so when I bought my first house in a neighborhood with mature trees I wasn’t quite ready for the thousands of dollars that tree trimming could run. The good thing about tree trimming is it isn’t typically absolutely necessary, and is more personal preference of whether the cost is worth it. With that being said there will be some situations where a tree or trees will become so overgrown you have no choice but to pay a professional.

 
This is not an exhaustive list (unfortunately!), but you get the point: as a homeowner the sooner you build an emergency fund, and the bigger you can build an emergency fund, the better.

Related: How Switching Banks Made Us an Extra $500+ a Year

It makes sense. If you let others know you are out of town, it can make your home a target.

I’ve always thought this was unrealistic, though. Even before the time of Snapchat and Instagram stories, people wanted to share things when they travel, in real-time.

Not surprisingly companies that are focused on home security have grown drastically the past five to ten years. Technology is making it easier and easier to safeguard your home. There are also the classic total home security packages, though they aren’t as affordable for the average millennial with student loan debt and other financial obligations.

I will go over some of the options for protecting your home while traveling, so that you can enjoy your trip and not worry about what’s happening back home.

Motion Lights

 
A while back I read an article that interviewed a security expert who had previously robbed home before joining the other side to help homeowners. One thing he said that has stuck with me is that home should have motion-sensing lights covering all the exterior walls of a home.

It may sound like overkill, but it makes sense: homes that have motion-sensing lights are less likely to be targeted than homes that don’t have them.

Amazon has a ton of motion-sensing floodlight options. Most people have at least one location, likely above their garage, that is wired for a floodlight. But what if you want more options and don’t want to pay an electrician thousands of dollars to wire additional lights?

My solution was to get battery-powered lights. I’ve been using Mr. Beams, which is really affordable and easy to install. I was skeptical about how long the batteries and the light itself would last, but even in Minnesota where you deal with the swings in weather these have lasted for multiple years without needing a battery change.

While you can get the single light version for $20 or less, and which work pretty well, I recommend getting the dual head version with two lights, which is pictured below. The lights are bright and fully adjustable.

WiFi Camera

 
I’ve spent a lot of time – perhaps too much – researching outdoor security cameras. Similar to motion-sensing lights, a home that has a security camera is much less likely to be targeted than a home without one. Plus it has the obvious added benefit of providing video evidence if anything were to happen.

I decided to get the Ring camera for a few reasons. First, it’s an easy install and storage is entirely on the cloud. You get notifications to your phone when motion is detected, and Ring starts recording as soon as it detects motion. (Don’t worry, you can turn these notifications on/off as desired). There is 1080p HD video, two-way talk, night vision, and a siren you can activate right from your phone.

There is a 30-day trial for the Ring Protect Basic Plan, and $3 a month per device after that. There is also a Ring Protect Plus Plan for $10 a month for an unlimited number of devices.

I’ve used Ring for the past year and I would definitely recommend it. I went with the Stick Up Cam, which is pictured below.

House Sitter

 
Most people don’t get a house sitter unless they are traveling for a long period of time (i.e. a whole month) or if they have pets. With how easy it is to find a pet sitter on a site like Rover, more people seem to be getting a pet/house sitter instead of boarding their dogs.

If you are currently a renter but are looking to eventually buy a home, you need to save for a down payment. Depending on your cash flow, this can potentially take a long time.

But the good news is you are reading this! I’m going to walk you through seven tips for renters who are looking to save for a down payment on a house.

We’ll cover a lot of ground in these seven tips, and if you cover off on all of them you will put yourself in a great spot financially when you purchase your first home.

First I want to share a little about my own experience. Close to seven years ago my wife and I bought a fixer-upper. I learned a lot through the process (I highlight everything in this post if you want to read about it).

Some of the lessons I learned will influence the seven tips I share, but a big one was you really can’t save too much because everything is more expensive than you expect, and expensive unexpected repairs can and will happen.

Saving for a down payment is easier said than done, so I like to start at the source: cash flow.

1) Understand Your Cash Flow

 
A down payment requires socking away cash (the more the better) over a long period of time. A positive cash flow that can be diverted towards your down payment fund is essential.

There is no way of avoiding this: to understand your cash flow, you need to track your income and expenses.

I personally don’t budget and haven’t kept a budget for years. Instead I simply track my income and expenses. I’ve already created a positive cash flow, so as long as I don’t experience (too much) lifestyle inflation I will continue to be see money going into my retirement and Health Savings Account.

In a similar way, you want to be aware what your general cash flow is and how much you can realistically siphon off into a down payment fund each month. Is it $100? $500? $1,000? This will have a big impact on how long it takes you to build up a big enough down payment to purchase a house.

First things first: track your income and expenses. You can do a backwards look on your past few months of bank and credit card transactions using an automation tool like Tiller, which is the service I use.

2) Look for Ways to Increase Your Cash Flow

 
The more money you can put in your down payment fund each month the faster you can purchase a home. When you run the numbers of how much you can set aside each month and convert that to how much you can save in a year, you may be motivated to increase your cash flow (I was).

There’s two ways to increase your cash flow: make more money or cut expenses.

My wife and I are both in our thirties now, but we got married in our early twenties. We’ve tried a wide variety of things to increase our income and to cut expenses.

We’ll start with making more money. You can either do this by maximizing your 9-5 income or starting a side hustle.

At the time of this writing labor market is tight, so it makes sense to evaluate your current position and see if a raise makes sense. Alternatively, most people get a nice pay bump when they leave their current employer for an external opportunity.

But let’s assume you are maxed out at your job from an income perspective or that you are content with where you are at. You can always make money through side hustles. I have 50+ online and at-home side hustles listed here that can help you start brainstorming the right side hustle for you.

Cutting expenses can only go so far, but its an important thing to take a look at. There’s a reason why companies and businesses spend so much time and energy looking at their costs – there’s always more that can be cut. My suggestion here is to focus on your priorities. If you care about renting a nice apartment that you can come home to, then cut expenses elsewhere. If you love travelling and refuse to cut spending there, perhaps you should live in an apartment that’s a bit older but cheaper.

As far as ideas to cut expenses, go to this post and scroll down to the save money section (it starts at #23) to help you brainstorm ideas.

3) Get Rid of Credit Card Debt

 
Sometimes saving for a down payment for a house has to come secondary to other financial goals. Getting rid of credit card debt is one of those goals.

Credit card debt is at a high interest, and that interest is eating into your cash flow. You need that cash flow to save for your down payment, not to mention other goals like investing and building a retirement account.

It can be a bit depressing to realize you need to first tackle a beast like credit card debt before taking on another difficult goal, namely saving for a down payment. The general concept is the same, though: increase cash flow as much as you can, and divert that cash flow towards your credit card debt. Rinse and repeat.

If you feel in over your head with credit card debt, please reach out to a member agency of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, or my friend Leslie Tayne, who is a debt lawyer who meets 1:1 with each individual who is seeking help and/or more information on their options.

4) Save, Save, Save

 
This is kind of a “duh” tip, but saving is clearly at the core of being able to afford to buy a house.

There are many examples where renters are paying more on rent than they would be on a mortgage, or a mortgage would be comparable to their rent. The biggest thing holding most people back is that big down payment they have to save for.

This is exactly why I started the post by talking about some of the proactive things you can do to get a good understanding of your cash flow. Once you’ve eliminated high interest credit card and other debt and start diverting positive cash flow towards a down payment fund, it’s just a matter of time before you have a down payment for your house.

As I discuss in my post 10+ things I learned from purchasing a fixer-upper, the more cash you have the better. Our basement flooded the first summer and our sewer drain-out collapsed the second Winter (why us?). Stuff breaks and emergencies happen where you need to make repairs. Not only do you need a down payment to purchase a home, I do think a healthy emergency fund (at least three months of expenses to start) is necessary as well. Once you have a home you are opened up to more risk and potential demands on your wallet. Having that money set aside will make those situations a lot less stressful.

With that I’ll get off my soap box and talk about a related topic: where to park all that cash.

In theory you could put some of your down payment funds in the stock market. After all, if you have an emergency fund plus down payment fund, you realistically could end up with tens of thousands in cash sitting in accounts that could be exposed to the stock market. The problem with putting it in the stock market, though, is that the market could have a downswing and we have no idea how long that will last. The choice is up to you, of course, and you’ll have to weigh your risk tolerance.

Within the past year I ditched my bank’s savings account (which was paying me something like 0.01%) and parked our emergency fund in CIT Bank’s High-Yield Savings Account. This account gives you 2.30% APY, which is one of the highest in the industry. You can read my review here or check out the details on CIT Bank’s website. Like I said, I’ve personally switched to CIT Bank and get $500+ more a year in interest than I was getting at my home bank.

5) Improve Your Credit Score

 
While the interest rate that the Federal Reserve sets will play a big role in what interest rate you get on your mortgage (baby boomers love to talk about their 10%+ mortgages and how it was standard “back in the day”), your credit score will also play a role. If you have excellent credit you will be able to get the lowest rates possible. If you have average credit you will get worse rates.

Unless you refinance, which can be a hassle and costs money, the interest rate you get on your mortgage will stay with you for years. With that in mind, it makes sense to improve your credit score as much as possible.

Here are the five areas that impact your credit score:

• 35% Payment History

• 30% Amount Owed

• 15% Length of Credit History

• 10% New Credit Applications

• 10% Types of Credit

On-time payments are very important when it comes to credit scores. Lenders do not want to see missed payments. As I explained earlier, before savings for a down payment your first goal should be to knock out credit card debt. Whether you accomplish this by cutting expenses, increasing income, or just leveraging your current cash flow, you’ll want to get this debt off your books as soon as possible.

Once you are out of credit card debt, or if you never had credit card debt, you should be paying off the account in full every month. I also generally don’t recommend closing credit cards (unless you have a bunch with annual fees), because once you close a card you won’t have that credit history or access to credit to help give your score a boost.

Finally, amount owed is another big factor. Said differently, that means your credit utilization. If you charge $1,000 to a credit card but have access to $100,000 of credit across all your credit cards, your credit utilization is a rock-bottom 1%. Even if your credit limit is low (sometimes you have to start with a limit as low as $500), keep your utilization below 30% at all times.

Don’t have a credit card or haven’t opened one in a long time? Unless you had issues with credit card debt in the past, it can really help build your credit. Here’s some cash back cards I recommend, which are great for everyday purchases.

Bottom line: focus on improving your credit score if you ever plan on taking out a mortgage.

6) Use Your Future Home as Motivation

 
We’ve gone over a lot already, and it can all be overwhelming. Which brings me to this tip: use your future home as motivation.

A more negative take on this would be: use your disdain for renting as motivation.

Like any huge personal finance goal that will take time, saving for a down payment on a house can be a slog. Remind yourself often about the reward for all your hard work: your own home!

I could go on for days about renting vs. buying, but the fact you are reading this means you are at minimum a little interested in potentially saving for a down payment on a home. Funnel that motivation into taking the actions you need to make it a reality, starting with understanding your cash flow by analyzing your income and expenses.

You can do this!

7) Think NOW About Potential Future Scenarios

 
I may not have worded that the best, but my point here is to try as much as you can to think a few years down the road BEFORE you buy a home.

I freely admit my wife and I jumped into home ownership quickly. In reality, it would have benefited us to save more money and have a bigger cash reserve, especially considering the fact we were buying a fixer-upper. I’m not sure we would have had the cash necessary to get our home into “rental shape” if we had to move for a job or grad school, which was always our fallback option if life presented opportunities out of state. We could have sold if we needed to, but given the short time between buying and selling we probably wouldn’t have recouped all the costs that went into the process.

Also think about your lifestyle. I ended up writing my first book while working full-time…and while building a 40-foot retaining wall in my backyard. Because my side hustles became more time-consuming, it has been more difficult to work on our fixer-upper than I anticipated. But looking back, it was a definite possibility that opportunities could come up, and I had no plans of leaving my 9-5.

Focus on the first 3-5 years that you will be in your home. What sort of time can you put towards home maintenance, renovations, and upkeep? If you had to move on a dime to take advantage of an opportunity, would the house be in shape for rental (if this is a desired path for you) or would you be forced to sell because you are short on cash?

______________________________________________________________-

That was a LOT to think about, but I hope these tips were useful for you as you look to eventually move on from renting.

My last request? Keep me in mind when you are inviting people to your housewarming party! :D

This trend is partially due to the fact your money can go much further when you buy a home that needs work. I also blame HGTV and their numerous shows with mind-boggling number of episodes showing homes being renovated.

My wife and I are always looking to maximize our finances (partially due to our student loan debt), so a fixer-upper seemed attractive to us. We figured we could renovate the house over time, doing as much of the work ourselves as possible to build sweat equity.

It’s also worth noting we found a house that had an apartment with a separate entrance built into the basement, creating an opportunity for rental cash flow.

Seven years ago we purchased our fixer-upper. Literally everything needed to be redone, though it was definitely livable and not in terrible shape. But there was no denying the fact that it was quintessential late ’70s and early ’80s design, and not much had been upgraded since then. Bathroom, flooring, kitchen, deck, yard…everything needed to be redone.

We are still living in the fixer-upper we purchased seven years ago, and we still have some big projects left. We’ve also completed many projects in those seven years and learned a lot.

Here are 10+ things I learned from buying a fixer-upper.

Everything Takes Longer Than You Think

 
The thing about home repairs, renovations, and projects, is that they typically involve doing things you have never done before.

To take a simple example, think of how many papers you have written over the course of middle school, high school, and college. It becomes easier and easier to crank out papers as you gain experience writing papers.

Compare this to, say, replacing a light fixture or cutting and installing trim. The first time you do it is going to take longer than you expect. With a fixer-upper there are a ton of small projects. When each project ends up taking longer than expected (sometimes significantly longer), time really starts to add up.

Because I’m a generally impatient person I can’t say that I’ve learned to embrace the fact that everything takes longer than expected with home projects, but I have at least accepted it as reality. If you haven’t bought a home yet and are considering a fixer-upper, go into it knowing that things will take longer than you think.

Everything Costs More Than You Think

 
This is another thing I blame on HGTV. Sometimes the renovation budgets are way lower than they should be. I know I’ve seen bathroom and kitchen remodels quoted as $5k-$7k at times. Trust me, you will pay more if you are hiring out the work.

In general, everything with a home ends up costing more than you think, and that becomes abundantly clear with a fixer-upper. It’s a combination of both seemingly small expenses adding up, such as the cost of tools and materials, and bigger costs adding up, such as hiring out a bathroom or kitchen renovation.

First, tools and materials can really add up. These are costs that I personally didn’t mind as I knew even if I was paying $200 for tools I was saving hundreds or thousands by not hiring out work. Regardless, when you have little or no tools it can definitely feel like you are constantly spending money on them. Eventually this slows down, of course, as you build up your inventory.

Second, small things can cost money. Need a plumber to clear tree roots from your sewer line? That’s a couple hundred dollars. Need an outdoor outlet added? A few hundred dollars. Want someone else to do the sheet rock and mudding on a large room or basement you are renovating? Could easily be more than a grand. These costs add up and are easy to not factor in when you are in the purchasing phase of a fixer-upper.

Finally there are big expenses that you may choose to not factor in, but eventually have to bite the bullet. When we first bought our house I always thought I would gut and renovate our main floor bathroom. But…then I realized how incredibly time-consuming that project was, and the fact that each week it dragged on would be another week we have to go to the basement bathroom, and another week that we couldn’t rent the basement apartment. So I paid…$17 grand…for the bathroom to be renovated. This ultimately was one of the best purchases I’ve made in my life. Which brings me to the next thing I learned…

You Can’t DIY Everything

 
Since buying our fixer-upper I’ve published two books and never missed a beat with Young Adult Money, all while working a 9-5. Not surprisingly, what I’ve learned is that contracting out big projects like bathrooms, kitchens, and decks, can make a lot of sense.

Even with professionals working on our house nearly full-time, it took a couple weeks for our bathroom and basement kitchen (for our rental apartment) to be completed. They both turned out incredible and I’m very happy with the outcome. Looking back I know that if I had gone the DIY route it wouldn’t have turned out as nice and it would have been incredibly difficult to complete the projects without taking off many days from my 9-5 job.

Just because you hire out things doesn’t mean you can’t do big projects yourself. I cleared out 10-15 cubic yards of dirt from our backyard and built a 40 foot retaining wall using 80 pound blocks, which saved me probably more than $10,000. It was a big project, but I could take my time with it and it was more or less physical labor than some expertise such as plumbing or electrical that would have taken many hours to make sure I did the project right.

I also ripped out all the carpet and some hardwood on our main level and put in new flooring, trim, and doors. This was a big project (and I did take about eight total days off from work to finish it), but it was something I knew I could do if I spent enough time and effort figuring things out.

The smaller projects have paid off as well. Whether its swapping out light fixtures, outlets, or light switches, or swapping in a new toilet, these small projects are doable and save a lot of money over time.

Delaying Things Can Be a Big Win

 
The bathroom renovation was expensive, but it was a huge transformation. Friends have called it “an HGTV bathroom” and a “spa.” It was a total transformation, but it did cost us $17k.

What benefited us was delaying it. Our bathroom was old and needed help, but we put off the bathroom renovation for five years. That gave us time to save the money and pay for the renovation in cash. We would not have been able to do that right from the get-go after purchasing our home.

In fact, I’m always looking at opportunities to delay projects. Six months or a year of putting off a project is six months or a year of cash flow that isn’t diverted to a home project.

Yes, there are absolutely times where you need to make a change ASAP due to safety reasons. But many changes people make to homes are cosmetic or “nice to have.” After seven years we still haven’t replaced the tiny, unsafe deck we have that someone probably threw together over a weekend in the late 70s (one of the supports is literally floating). But as I mentioned earlier, everything is more expensive than you expect. It would be at least $10,000 to replace the deck, and when we replace the deck we also want to replace some stairs and redo some other things surrounding the deck. Each year we delay is cash flow that can be used to save, invest, and pay off debt. We make do with our cement slab outside our basement and think about all the money we are saving.

YouTube is Your Friend

 
This is kind of a “duh” statement, but YouTube is your friend if you are a homeowner. It’s incredible how many tutorials are on YouTube. I made minor repairs to our washing machine and dishwasher by using YouTube. I’ve learned how to use tools and complete projects by watching YouTube.

Stuck on a home project? Head to YouTube.

Crazy, Unthinkable Problems Can Come Up

 
With every home there are things that will be discovered later on that you couldn’t have anticipated. I went into detail about our sewer drain-out fiasco that nearly cost us more than $7k (read the story to see how we ended up paying $0 instead). Our basement flooded the first Summer in our home because our backyard drain between our house and our neighbors ended up pushing water out from the main storm drain (apparently this wasn’t the first time…).

I’ve accepted the fact that crazy things can happen with a home, and oftentimes they come with expensive repairs. Granted, when you aren’t planning on paying for a repair or fix it can feel like any dollar amount is expensive.

If you have a fixer-upper it’s more important than ever to build a healthy emergency fund. If you don’t have one, you likely will end up taking out a personal loan or going into credit card debt at some point, both of which aren’t ideal options. Which brings me to my next point: you likely need more cash.

You Likely Need More Cash

 
A few things we’ve established so far:

• Everything is more expensive than expected

• You can’t DIY everything

• Unexpected, often expensive, problems can come up

All three of these things point to needing more money than you expect. Unfortunately, buying a home can clear out a lot of cash reserves. If people have *almost enough* for the down payment, closing costs, and other costs involved in buying a home, they will often raid whatever cash they have left to push them over the edge.

So once you have bought a fixer-upper, you need to start saving ASAP. Cash on hand can help you sleep better and make more rational decisions when faced with potentially expensive home issues.

Even if you already have a healthy emergency fund, having money in stocks that you can sell if needed can be powerful. We’ve had years to build our savings up so I realize this won’t apply to everyone, but through participating in my employer’s stock purchase program we have a decent amount of stock we could sell if needed. We could technically sell our stock tomorrow and get a new deck built, but having those extra liquid assets is more important to me than having an expensive project checked off the list.

Decide What You Care About

 
Unless you have enough time and cash to renovate your entire fixer-upper right away, you need to decide what you care about. For example, our kitchen is still the late ’70s model that is just begging to be ripped out and replaced with some new white shaker soft close cabinets. But we knew that replacing our renter’s kitchen and our bathroom were higher priorities, so we’ve put off the upstairs kitchen for now.

Money obviously comes into play. You could care a lot about something – like a kitchen renovation – but the $30k price tag may make you reconsider. Spending a few grand on making your yard nicer may vault up your priority list.

Said differently, finding what you can and cannot tolerate is helpful. The old bathroom and the nasty carpet we had in the house gave me anxiety, so they were far up on my priority list. The ’70s kitchen, while not nice or practical, is “okay” for now.

Think About What You Will Do If Plans Change

 
One piece of advice that is often given to those considering switching from renting to owning is that you should be certain you will be staying in the same place for at least five years, otherwise you should keep renting. I generally agree with this advice, but let’s be honest: things change.

Think about what you would do if you had to quickly sell your house. This is definitely something I wish I had thought about more before buying our fixer-upper. I think we’d have trouble renting it without doing some bigger renovations, like flooring and bathroom, so we’d likely have to sell. We wouldn’t have much negotiating power, though, since we would have made few upgrades in that time.

Reflecting on what you will do if you find yourself in a situation where you need to move out will likely cause you to realize the more cash you have, the better. Whether that means putting off purchasing a home or still purchasing the home but saving aggressively will be a highly personal choice.

Learn As Much As You Can

 
Blood, sweat, and tears come with a fixer-upper. Projects can be intimidating and you may be scared to do something wrong. For example, it’s easy to think “I don’t want to tile the floor myself because I have never tiled so it may not look great.” But if you don’t tile the floor of your fixer-upper, when will you ever tile a floor? It’s better to take the plunge and learn the skill. Worst case scenario you have to start over, but at least you will learn a lot in the process.

Some people learn home-related skills growing up, but I have a hunch that a large majority of people didn’t. Whether they lived in a home that was already updated, or their parents never taught them, or they lived in a rental, there are many reasons why someone wouldn’t have learned home renovation skills. A fixer-upper is an opportunity to learn.

Yes, the main value in a fixer-upper is the increased value of the home, but I think the skills you learn throughout the process are also really valuable.

Completing Big Projects Feels Really Fricking Good

 
Building a 40-foot retaining wall was ridiculous and I’m not sure I would do it again. If I did, there’s no doubt I would outsource certain aspects of the project like having the dirt hauled off. Regardless, it feels really fricking good to know that I finished a big project and saved over $10k in the process.

I have a similar feeling about the flooring, trim, and doors in our house. It was a big project that was time-consuming, but it feels really good knowing that I went the DIY route. Back to the topic of learning, the project started slow as I got used to using a miter and table saw and the general process of laying flooring, but by the end of the process I was going much faster. It feels great to know that the next time I have a flooring project I can take it on with confidence.

A Fixer-Upper is *Probably* Worth It

 
The biggest question people have who are considering a fixer-upper: was it worth it?

I am just a single example so you have to take anything I say with a grain of salt, but I think in most cases a fixer-upper is probably worth it. I say probably because there will always be those examples where it was more hassle and more costs than it was worth it. If you are going into it with your eyes open, realizing that there are unexpected costs and inevitable frustrations, it probably is worth it.

Besides the expenses that will come up, the biggest warning I would give is the time commitment. I really struggled – and continue to struggle – to find time to work on our house. Everyone is busy these days, so it’s not easy to carve out hours and hours to work on a fixer-upper. You almost have to think of it as a side hustle in the sense that by doing work yourself and not purchasing a turn-key home you are saving money that you ultimately will get back when you sell the house down the road.

Looking back I think it’s safe to say I jumped into home ownership instead of carefully weighing the pros and cons. I didn’t think through all the things that could make home ownership – especially a fixer-upper – difficult. Whether that was time constraints that prevented me from going the DIY route as much as I would like, financial constraints such as not having thousands of dollars to outsource expensive repairs and renovations, or life changes such as job offers and opportunities in different states.

Thankfully in my case it has worked out so far. Fast-forward seven years later and I’ve learned a lot through owning a fixer-upper. We’ve had ridiculous things happen, such as our basement flooding and our sewer drain-out collapsing leaving us unable to flush **** down the toilet. But I’ve also learned new skills such as how to lay flooring, install trim, and replace outlets and switches.

I also quickly learned there are things you have to hire out. I simply was unable to make time to renovate our bathroom and kitchen, and I ended up hiring out the work. I also clearly could not go the DIY route in repairing a buried sewer drain and had to contract it out.

These two projects highlight exactly why you need to get multiple quotes for home projects and should never settle for one. The first example is my favorite because I saved over seven grand by talking to more than one contractor.

Different Contractors, Vastly Different Amounts for the Same Job

 
The second Winter in our home we had a big problem: s*** wasn’t going down the drain. A literal s****y situation!

The first time this happened the problem appeared to just be tree roots. It’s a very common problem for people who have any clay for any section of their sewer drain-out (which is essentially the drain that connects from your house to the main sewer line).

But then the problem happened again. This time a camera was ran down the drain and the true problem was discovered: there was a PVC pipe at one section of our drain that had shifted an inch or two, making the opening much smaller than it should be. This inevitably caused clogs.

The first company I had come out was Roto Rooter. Why? They were the first that came up when I did a Google Search.

The contractor came out and ran their camera, telling me I needed to have the road dug up and the section of PVC pipe replaced. It was Winter so it would be more expensive than usual. He said it would be at least $7,000, possibly more.

I asked if I should reach out to the city and see if there is any chance they would pay for it. He said I could but it would be a waste of time because they are not responsible for the drain-out.

Technically nothing he said was wrong. The city is only responsible for the sewer main, not your line to the sewer. But little did I know that Roto Rooter was pushing these repairs and would be part of class action lawsuit in the Twin Cities from homeowners who allege Roto Rooter pushed for these types of repairs even when they were unnecessary, costing homeowners between $3,000 and $17,000 per repair.

This is when I purchased Angie’s List, which I swear by. Here’s why.

I found another contractor who does this type of work on Angie’s List. They were highly rated, and after working with them I knew why. They confirmed the same issue, but said if they had to do the repair they would do it for between $2,000 and $3,000. But what did they do? They went to city hall and talked to the city engineer. The engineer confirmed there was a water main break on my street three years ago (which was before I moved in), and the repair that was made – by the city’s contractor – had no permit pulled.

It was an illegal and more importantly, incorrect repair, and the city was going to make the contractor fix it.

Not only did I not have to pay for the repair, the contractor I found on Angie’s List also got the city to agree to cover all my bills up to this point.

$0 instead of $7,000+.

As a new homeowner with a massive problem I was in a vulnerable spot. One contractor took advantage of the situation with a high pressure pitch. The other went out of their way to make this as affordable as possible.

Always get multiple quotes!

High Pressured Sales Techniques = Hard Pass

 
We somehow made a bathroom that was in rough shape last about five years. And I’m glad we did. As other homeowners can attest, every year you can delay a major renovation or project is another year where you can sock away money.

I still think one of the best decisions I made with this house was paying someone else to do our bathroom. We have had people refer to it as a “spa” and “an HGTV bathroom.” If you had seen it before you may not believe the change. And I am 100% confident if I had taken the repair on myself it would not have come close to the quality of seasoned contractors. That’s not a bad thing because I think there is a ton of value in learning the skills necessary to renovate a bathroom, but I’m glad I didn’t do it.

But I digress…we obviously were happy with our contractor. Like most of the other great contractors we’ve found, they were on Angie’s List.

The three contractors we got quotes from came from three separate sources:

• Angie’s List

• Personal Referral

• Minnesota State Fair exhibit

We initially weren’t impressed with the contractor we went with. He showed up 45 minutes late and was younger. But after getting the quote and getting to know him and his background, it was obvious he had built a relatively large home renovation company and they prided themselves on their work. Their quote was also the lowest, but not by much.

The Personal Referral gave a quote that was $3k to $5k higher, and we didn’t feel confident he was going to put in the best cabinets and was definitely not worth the premium.

The State Fair Exhibitor is what I want to highlight. This was a big company, and they used extremely outdated sales tactics.

It was almost shocking to hear the pitch. It included:

• Telling us they do not install bathroom fans and that we do not need one (crack the window open, even in the Winter! In Minnesota…?)

• You have one style of floor tile to choose from. That’s it.

• You can pick out a sink and vanity at Home Depot and they’ll install it for you.

• They only do bathrooms, no kitchens, so we’d need to hire a second contractor for that.

Like I said, this is a very big company that does tons of volume, meaning…people are actually saying yes to this.

This wasn’t even the worst part. We had to decide whether we would hire their company at that moment. Once he left the quote was gone and they would not come back out.

Are. You. Kidding. Me.

I would really love to see this business have a huge drop-off in business. It has to be people in their 50s and beyond saying yes to this because I know few, if any, 20- or 30-somethings who would feel compelled to say yes to someone using such a ridiculous high pressured sales tactic. Felt like a freaking timeshare presentation. Total waste of time.

I have more examples, and I’m sure if you talked to other homeowners they would have their own stories where getting multiple quotes paid off. It may take more time, but if you are paying potentially thousands of dollars for a home project, repair, or renovation, you owe it to yourself to talk to at least three contractors before deciding. You’ll save money – sometimes LOTS of money – and ultimately are more likely to be happy with the decision.

Whether you’re looking to pay off debt, save for retirement, or simply more wiggle room in paying the bills, most of us could certainly use an extra five to ten percent of our take-home pay back in our budget. You can do so by lowering your cost of living. Here are four easy ways to make your living situation more affordable.

1) Consider Where you Work

 
Should you live close to where you work, even if it’s more expensive? Well, it really depends.

Take where I live for an example – Seattle. It can cost hundreds, if not a thousand dollars more per month to live downtown near the city center. In comparison, places outside the city can be bigger and more affordable, while still having plenty of conveniences. In this case, living further away may result in additional time and money spent commuting, it may still be cheaper in the long run.

While that’s an extreme example, you can likely see similarities to where you live. It’s almost always more expensive to live downtown or in a popular business area because everyone wants to live there.

However, many of my friends in Seattle work and live downtown. They pay higher rents, but they forgo cars in favor of walking everywhere, live in simple apartments, or live with roommates. I know plenty of people who save a lot of money by living close to where they work.

So, it’s up to you to do the math to figure out if it makes more sense to live near work, or further away. Either way, you’ll likely have to make some compromises to find a place suitable (and affordable) for you.

2) Downgrade Your Space

 
When my husband and I moved from a small southern city to Seattle, we knew we had to lower our living expectations. Previously, we had been living in a spacious and modern two bedroom apartment close to work. We knew with Seattle prices, we would have to pay an astronomical amount for a similar apartment in Seattle. Since it was out of our control, we chose to lower our expectations.

We decided to prioritize a few features that were important to us, such as being within walking distance to stores and restaurants, and having an in-unit washer and dryer. While we liked having more space in our previous apartment, we decided to sacrifice that in order to find something that met our expectations.

With housing, you pay for all the features you get. If you want the perfect house or apartment, it will prove to be fairly costly. But if you can pick a couple of features that are must-haves and compromise on the rest, you’ll find many more options available to you within your price range.

3) Get a Roommate

 
I know not everyone is keen on sharing their space, but before you skip to the next section, hear me out. Getting a roommate is hands down the fastest way to lower your living expenses.

When I first graduated college a number of years ago, I had rented out my own apartment. My income was small, but I convinced myself I deserved to have my own place. Even though I could “technically” afford it, I found that I wasn’t able to make much financial progress anywhere else. So after my lease was up, I decided to move back in with roommates, and it was the best decision I could have made.

With that one small decision, I ended up saving over $500 a month in living expenses (plus, with roommates, I could afford a much nicer apartment). Not only did my rent lessen, but we split the water, electricity, trash, and internet bills, which saved me a lot of money as well.

Finding a roommate may not be the most popular answer, but it is one of the simplest ways to lower your living expenses. Just be sure to fully vet anyone before you move in with them to ensure you will get along.

4) Move to a Less Expensive City

 
Finally, if you’ve tried everything and are still struggling to make ends meet, then it may be time to consider more drastic options.

It can be incredibly challenging to come to terms with, but sometimes, it may just not be worth it to live in an expensive city.

When we moved to Seattle, I was absolutely shocked at the price of rent and homes. Thankfully, we moved to the city for work and had cost of living increases factored in, so it lessened the blow slightly. Had we not had that, I don’t know if it would have been worth it for us to move.

Don’t get me wrong – I love living in a major city and am so thankful to be able to afford the lifestyle that comes with it. But for some people, it can be tough to make ends meet with increasingly high cost of living expenses.

If you still are having a difficult time affording your living situation, you have a couple of options. One would be to move to a less expensive area. Relocation and uprooting your life isn’t an easy decision, but it could certainly ease the financial burden.

Secondly, you could work to side hustle to increase your income. This is still something I do, and the extra income helps me reach all of my financial goals significantly faster than if I just relied on my 9-5 income. If you’re committed to living where you live, then you may want to consider ways to increase your income to be able to afford it. Trust me, the burden of not having to worry about how you will pay your next bill is so worth it.

 
Related:

• House Hacks to Save Money on Heating Costs

• 5 Ways to Save For a House Down Payment

 
 
Have you ever tried one of these tips to lower your living expenses? What other creatives methods have you tried?