Just bought a house for $9,000...

[ned.ryerson]

Yep, just bought a house.

Is it a super sexy house that will have hordes of women knocking on my door, oogling at my new abode?

Nope, not really. It's an older house and has some work that needs to be done with it. (Drywalling, updating the HVAC system, and tearing out the shagadelic calico orange carpet)

But it does something critical for my future unscripted lifestyle. It gives me mortgage-free freedom.

What's the best part? It's a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom house and I have someone lined up to rent out the other half of the house.

Living for freeeeeee! Similar to what @G_Alexander did quite a few years ago in one of his threads I think. (House hacking)

I'm pretty pumped to say the least. I've also been developing a product for the past 3 months and I plan on turning the living room into a fulfillment center... lol

On my way to becoming unscripted , baby...

We recently downsized from freeing up $300k equity and reduced yearly

Be the bank.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

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[YoungPadawan]

Nobody has asked, but while $9,000 sounds like a great deal on the house, what will it be worth when you have fixed it up a bit? Are other houses in your area selling for significantly more than what you paid?

Either way, living for free is a great accomplishment and you won't have to fear going all-in on anything since you still have a roof over your head!

This house was an exception, not the norm. The next lowest price for a house for sale in the town is $40,000.

I'm not planning on dumping a bunch of money into the house as it is an older house and has some issues. I just wanted something basic that would give me some space and be cheap to live in.

I was able to score some free kitchen cabinets , a nice Formica sink, and countertops recently from a friend that was remodeling. Nothing better than free stuff!

 

[Merging Left]

This house was an exception, not the norm. The next lowest price for a house for sale in the town is $40,000.

I'm not planning on dumping a bunch of money into the house as it is an older house and has some issues. I just wanted something basic that would give me some space and be cheap to live in.

I was able to score some free kitchen cabinets , a nice Formica sink, and countertops recently from a friend that was remodeling. Nothing better than free stuff!

In that case, this is undeniably a phenomenal deal - well done! Looking forward to hearing about the progress of your other ventures as well.

 

[YoungPadawan]

Remember the upstairs bathroom?


This is what it looks like currently:


I'm in the process of tearing out the millions of layers of wallpaper that they put over the plaster every time that a piece of the plaster cracked.



I've found that it works pretty well to wet down the wallpaper a bit, let it soak a little, and then scrape it off. I will say - my shoulders/arms are going to be shredded by the time I get done with this. lol

I'm also working on tearing out the badly cracked plaster. Everything is pretty messy at the moment.

This sounds kind of nuts, but I actually am really enjoying this rehabbing process. It's really satisfying visually seeing your progress and checking things off of your to-do list. The Fastlane venture that I've been working on for quite a few months now takes a lot of computer time, so this is sort of a refreshing break from the computer.

Something that I've been doing lately that I've found to be helpful, both with my house as well as my Fastlane venture, is to write the amount of time I spent on it. Then, at the end of the week, I add up the hours and I'm that much closer to my goal. I don't focus on the huge task at hand - just putting in one hour of work at a time.

 

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[Michael Burgess]

Awesome, keep the photos coming! I love seeing properties get rehabbed.

Are you going to replace the lathe with drywall, or plaster over it again? How's the electrical in the house?

 

[YoungPadawan]

Awesome, keep the photos coming! I love seeing properties get rehabbed.

Are you going to replace the lathe with drywall, or plaster over it again? How's the electrical in the house?

Yep, I'm going to be putting in drywall. The electrical is updated for the most part.

 

[JG17]

Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

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[YoungPadawan]

Home renovation/construction hack:

If you only need equipment or tools temporarily, buy used tools off of Ebay. That way, their value won't depreciate (compared with buying new). Then, when you are finished, simply list the tools on Ebay again for the same price you bought them for.

Renting tools/equipment for free!

 

[Merging Left]

Home renovation/construction hack:

If you only need equipment or tools temporarily, buy used tools off of Ebay. That way, their value won't depreciate (compared with buying new). Then, when you are finished, simply list the tools on Ebay again for the same price you bought them for.

Renting tools/equipment for free!

There might also be some local places that will rent or even loan tools to you. There are a small handful of places in my area that will lend you tools for short periods of time. Put down a deposit that you get back when you return them.

 

[B. Cole]

Dude congrats on the hustle. Rehabbing a property is way more than most folks can mentally undertake!

Don’t want to scare you, but something to think about - have you had any of the materials tested for asbestos/lead/cadmium/chromium?

The 60’s was a hot era for asbestos, usually in mastics for flooring, pipe elbows, etc. - but sometimes that old plaster has asbestos in the skim coat and sometimes the scratch and brown coats. Old popcorns also had it, it was a great reinforcement for finish materials and sometimes caulk. There are places you can send a sample to in a plastic baggy and they’ll test it.

If any of that construction or renovation work took place between 1930-ish and 1980-ish, best to have it tested.

Can’t wait to see it finished!

 

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[YoungPadawan]

Dude congrats on the hustle. Rehabbing a property is way more than most folks can mentally undertake!

Don’t want to scare you, but something to think about - have you had any of the materials tested for asbestos/lead/cadmium/chromium?

The 60’s was a hot era for asbestos, usually in mastics for flooring, pipe elbows, etc. - but sometimes that old plaster has asbestos in the skim coat and sometimes the scratch and brown coats. Old popcorns also had it, it was a great reinforcement for finish materials and sometimes caulk. There are places you can send a sample to in a plastic baggy and they’ll test it.

If any of that construction or renovation work took place between 1930-ish and 1980-ish, best to have it tested.

Can’t wait to see it finished!

Yep, I bought some asbestos kits on Amazon to do some testing. As for the paint, particularly on the floor, I'll probably just paint over it and not sand it just in case of lead paint. Definately a smart thing to test!

 

[Sega Saph]

Hello sir. Just found randomly this thread. Do you have any progress? Do you have any photos? And how much monye you paid for a reconstruction? I asked, because thinking about buying a house, and how is it looks like in numbers. How much times it's more expensive than buying? Thank you

 

[YoungPadawan]

Hello sir. Just found randomly this thread. Do you have any progress? Do you have any photos? And how much monye you paid for a reconstruction? I asked, because thinking about buying a house, and how is it looks like in numbers. How much times it's more expensive than buying? Thank you

Yep, here are some before and after of the kitchen:

Before:





After:





Entrance before:



Entrance after:



More below this message

 

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[YoungPadawan]

Bathroom before:


Bathroom after:


One of the upstairs bedrooms:



After of living room (sorry it's messy lol):


So the total renovation costs were around $15,000 as I did most of the work myself. I could get about $45,000 for the house if I sold it I think. (not totally sure, just an estimate as I haven't had it reappraised or anything.)

I've been kind of lazy and haven't worked as fast on the upstairs. The bathroom and hallway just got sheetrocked and it is still being renovated.

 

[Matt_2190]

Great job!
Congratulations.

 

[Sega Saph]

oh, i see! So cool! Man keep it up, you did a great job. Grats! Do you have any business, or what kind of job do you have? And what is your final goal with this house? Do you want to finish recosturction and sell? Cheers

 

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[originalMJT]

Nice job on the loo, what the worksurface on the breakfast bar made of?

 

[Guest-5ty5s4]

Phenomenal job!! This is the best way to learn this stuff IMO, by first being an owner-occupant and doing work on your place. That's what I've been doing too.

 

[JIRS]

Kansas city has plenty of houses around that, but not nearly that size or the lot size. good score.

I wonder if it is possible to put 2 and 2 together for an entrepreneur and get the $10k grant for remote workers and score a livable house for the same amount...

Apparently Kansas has the remote worker 10K grant program:

Some cities will pay you $10,000 to live there. Should you move?

More cities and states are shelling out cash incentives to lure remote workers. Might the math of moving work for you?

www.cbsnews.com

 

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[jdm667]

I wonder if it is possible to put 2 and 2 together for an entrepreneur and get the $10k grant for remote workers and score a livable house for the same amount...

Apparently Kansas has the remote worker 10K grant program:

Some cities will pay you $10,000 to live there. Should you move?

More cities and states are shelling out cash incentives to lure remote workers. Might the math of moving work for you?

www.cbsnews.com

Vermont has a similar remote worker program as well, if I recall correctly. My friend bought a house there for $90K, but there are more remote areas that would probably be much cheaper.

There are also cities all over the U.S. that have these remote worker programs in various forms. Definitely not a bad idea for someone who works remotely anyway.

Some cities also offer incentives to buy property within city limits (sort of an economic development credit type of thing).

Imagine buying a fixer-upper at a discount, getting a $10K remote worker credit, and a $5K credit from the city for buying the property. You would make $15K just by moving! Even better if you move to a state with lower/zero income tax.

Combine that with house hacking, and a young entrepreneur could be well on the way to a stable financial foundation.

 

[Guest-5ty5s4]

I wonder if it is possible to put 2 and 2 together for an entrepreneur and get the $10k grant for remote workers and score a livable house for the same amount...

Apparently Kansas has the remote worker 10K grant program:

Some cities will pay you $10,000 to live there. Should you move?

More cities and states are shelling out cash incentives to lure remote workers. Might the math of moving work for you?

www.cbsnews.com

I was just driving around here in town, looking at all of the falling and dilapidated buildings and thinking how sad it is that it's going this way...

And here you have a city paying people $10,000 to move there.

This city isn't. They don't have the funding or budget to. Where is that money coming from?

 

[jdm667]

I was just driving around here in town, looking at all of the falling and dilapidated buildings and thinking how sad it is that it's going this way...

And here you have a city paying people $10,000 to move there.

This city isn't. They don't have the funding or budget to. Where is that money coming from?

I'm not sure where the money is coming from. Some states get income tax from remote workers who live there, but that doesn't necessarily translate to money for the cities.

If you are a remote worker in Vermont, you might pay 6.5% or so in state income tax. If you make $80,000 that comes out to $5,200 per year.

So the $10K remote work credit pays for itself in about 2 years (and they probably require you to stay for that long to keep the credit). After 2 years, it is extra income for the state.

Maybe the cities get a deal where they get a dollar amount per year from the state for each remote worker who moves there. The city gets money from the state, the state gets income tax from the worker, and the worker gets an incentive from the city to live there - win/win/win.

 

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[Guest-5ty5s4]

I'm not sure where the money is coming from. Some states get income tax from remote workers who live there, but that doesn't necessarily translate to money for the cities.

If you are a remote worker in Vermont, you might pay 6.5% or so in state income tax. If you make $80,000 that comes out to $5,200 per year.

So the $10K remote work credit pays for itself in about 2 years (and they probably require you to stay for that long to keep the credit). After 2 years, it is extra income for the state.

Maybe the cities get a deal where they get a dollar amount per year from the state for each remote worker who moves there. The city gets money from the state, the state gets income tax from the worker, and the worker gets an incentive from the city to live there - win/win/win.

Yeah, that's interesting. The incentive is to get people to move there. Well, locally, the cities I have in mind don't have anyone there to pay for the incentives...

Anyway we're getting off topic, this $9,000 house and remodel is phenomenal. You could definitely do that in the town I'm describing!

 

[YoungPadawan]

oh, i see! So cool! Man keep it up, you did a great job. Grats! Do you have any business, or what kind of job do you have? And what is your final goal with this house? Do you want to finish recosturction and sell? Cheers

I work at a dairy processing company for my day job and I farm on the side with my dad raising corn and soybeans.

My goal with the house is to finish fixing it up and live in it until one of my Fastlane ventures is finally successful (as I haven't had much success starting a successful Fastlane business). Once I'm successful, then I would like to move to a nicer place on a lake nearby and sell the house. That as well as get a winter home in Arizona, as today it's -20 degrees out! Brrrr!

 

[YoungPadawan]

Nice job on the loo, what the worksurface on the breakfast bar made of?

It was epoxy that I mixed up and put over an older-looking countertop I got for free from a friend

 

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[YoungPadawan]

I wonder if it is possible to put 2 and 2 together for an entrepreneur and get the $10k grant for remote workers and score a livable house for the same amount...

Apparently Kansas has the remote worker 10K grant program:

Some cities will pay you $10,000 to live there. Should you move?

More cities and states are shelling out cash incentives to lure remote workers. Might the math of moving work for you?

www.cbsnews.com

For sure, my brother in law does something similar to this as he does all remote work doing tax accounting for corporations making like $60/hr. He lives like a king out here with a nice place on the lake. It's definitely doable, especially now with Covid and companies are getting used to workers working remotely.

 

[YoungPadawan]

Phenomenal job!! This is the best way to learn this stuff IMO, by first being an owner-occupant and doing work on your place. That's what I've been doing too.

For sure! Hope your project goes well!

 

[originalMJT]

It was epoxy that I mixed up and put over an older-looking countertop I got for free from a friend

Looks cool

 

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[YoungPadawan]

Looks cool

Thanks!