We answered this question after the sale of our first house (spoiler: we bought in the bubble and sold in the recession), so now we’re back to do it again – but this time the coins stacked a bit more favorably, thanks both to selling in a slightly better market and by not sinking as much into this house’s improvements (it helped that we didn’t need expensive upgrades like a new roof and windows this time around).
We managed to sell this latest house for $23,000 more than we bought it for back in 2010. And our best estimate is that we put around $14,500 into improvements that stay with the house (i.e. not furniture or other decor that moves with us). That means we made a net gain of about $8,500. Here’s an estimated breakdown of where the money went:
- Kitchen renovation (including appliances, new flooring, backsplash, lighting, counters, opening the wall, etc): $6,955
- Deck building/staining/sealing: $1,783
- New patio: $1,252
- Built-in desk in the office (it conveys with the house since it was custom-built for that area): $124
- Laundry appliances & built-in shelves: $712
- Hall bathroom update: $168
- Guest bathroom update: $51
- Crown molding that we added throughout the house: $218
- Fireplace upgrade with new tile/mantel: $147
- Board & batten in hallway: $57
- Pergola over carport: $214
- Column update for porch: $198
- Window boxes/plants for them: $132
- Paint/stain for every room, built-in, and outdoor area (this doesn’t include furniture paint/stain since that comes with us): $800
- Landscaping, light fixtures, curtains, and miscellaneous other items that stay (like new border tile & toilet in the main bath): $1,700
- Total: $14,511*
*some of these prices are total costs for projects, including some items that won’t convey with the house – for example the bathroom makeover costs include art and accessories that came with us. So this isn’t a perfect tally.
But regardless of how meticulous our math is, we’re incredibly grateful that in just a few years we were able to increase the value of this house so much – especially given our experience with our first house (to which we barely boosted the sale price at all – stupid market!). But of course, we owe a 3% fee at closing to pay the buyer’s agent commission (but we would have owed twice that amount if we used a seller’s agent, so we’re thankful for that as well).
In the end, we probably broke about even on this house. House flippers we’re not. But house lovers? You betcha. The thing we’re most excited about is finally getting to roll all of the equity that we’ve built over seven years of paying the mortgage on our first two homes into this new house – nearly cutting our mortgage balance in half. Yeehaw! That was definitely worth the wait.
What about you guys? Have you added up what you’ve spent on a house and compared it to what you got back? We always hear kitchens, bathrooms, and outdoor “square footage” (decks, patios, etc) tend to up the resale value of a house. Has that rung true for you? One thing we haven’t really heard much about are built-ins, but we think they’re such a nice feature (like the built-in desk we made for the office, the ones in the dining room that we inherited, and the one that we added to the laundry room).
So built-ins will definitely be making an appearance at the new house (especially since we’re already starting to notice a lack of built-in storage here). They add a nice feeling of function + customization, and both of the built-ins that we added were under $125, so that’s definitely some nice bang for your buck!
Katie says
Yay for 7 years’ equity! Thanks for sharing these numbers (along with everything else you share every day!). It’s a nice reminder that you guys are real and work with a real-life budget. :)
-Katie at AdventuringAtHome
Wendy @ New Moms Talk says
Well done on the less wordy, but full of great content and visuals post!
We’ve yet to buy a house (always rented), but we think we have decided on a spot for the first house purchase down the road in a few years. (As in it meets our top 5 living requirements after moving 60+ combined times.)
Christine says
While I’m sure you would have loved to make oodles on your just sold house, somehow the way you did it just seems (and feels) right. It appears you did all the things that you wanted to, to make the house your own while not getting crazy about adding unwanted upgrades just to sell the house at a later date. I think it is a good guidepost for anyone making changes to their home, especially if they plan to spend a couple of years living in it. We knew our kitchen upgrade would put our house in the “most expensive house on the block category” – and that’s not a position one wants to be in actually, because the comps will scare off potential buyers. BUT, we wanted a functional kitchen that we loved and a couple of years later, we know the money we sunk into the kitchen was well worth our satisfaction while we are here. Every time I walk in there, I smile. Great job – both the record-keeping and the selling!
Sara B. says
I love your glass half full attitude, but I am astonished that you did not see a bigger return on your investment — compared to the condition of the house at purchase time, you have made huge improvements, especially to the core living spaces — the living room and kitchen. And the landscaping work you did yourself would have cost someone tens of thousands to hire out — maybe Richmond is still a depressed market, but I would have expected a much bigger return on your investment.
YoungHouseLove says
I don’t think it’s a depressed market as much as housing is just very very affordable here. I have never heard of anyone buying and selling a few years later and making a giant profit because since home prices are so low there’s not doubling or anything. For example, our house was 2XX,XXX and we sold it for 3XX,XXX which is a big jump in Richmond since most homes of that size in that area are still in the 2XX,XXX range. I think it’s all relative since someone who lives in DC might buy their house for 7XX,XXX and made improvements and immediately see that it’s worth around 9XX,XXX since prices are higher so they grow more than a $200,000 house can – ya know?
xo
s
Jenny says
But in housing math, I’d probably put a value on having a place to live for those years. If you figure renting an equivalent space would cost maybe $1k a month (?? don’t know, up here in DC, as you note, housing costs are higher and that kind of space would easily be $4k/mo), you can figure that in as a “value” provided by the home for four years. As in, the whole transaction provided you with (in some weird economic terms) roughly $0 in cash and $30k or something like that in housing services. Right?
YoungHouseLove says
True! Never thought about it that way!
xo
s
Christi says
I agree, I am in real estate and I was shocked about the low return. But in AZ it must be different.
Val says
It really must depend on the area. Because I’m in Alabama and I think that you guys got a huge return on your investment, especially considering how little time you’ve lived in the house. We’re in a very affordable market as well and Sherry’s right, a house isn’t going to double in value in a few years here. Not great for flipping, but we were a bit more protected from the housing crisis.
Lauren {L'amour chez nous} says
I was somewhat surprised at how (relatively) small the total worth of the house increased, considering how lovely you both made it! You all make a good point about the cheaper market. I’ve always heard about big leaps in my city (Vancouver, Canada) but that’s clearly also because I live in an area where regular homes sell for more than 2 million. I suppose that’s the one “upside” (though of course it’s all relative) for being in an expensive market, if I ever manage to get into it!
Meredith says
Thanks for sharing this. I’m curious why you say you “about broke even”? I’m estimating the 3% commission was probably between $6000-$8000, so if you sold for $23,000 and sunk $14,500 in expenses….and I have now answered my own question. I’m a dork. Congratulations on increasing the value so much!
Crystal says
Bahahaha, I have nothing really to say except your comment cracked me up.
Jodi says
I love that you committed to posting this. :)
Emma says
Thank you! That was very kind of you to share. I suspect “regular” folks that have to hire labor rather than do it themselves would have worse #s but you should be VERY proud of yourselves for increasing the home’s value by so much in a few years. You deserve every penny. I’m excited to read all about the beautiful things that will happen to your new house.
Henna | HENNA BLOSSOM BLOG says
I can’t believe you guys share so much but really, it’s quite helpful!
We’re vacationing (and yup blogging) from Croatia this summer and it makes us wonder if maaaaybe we should sell our house and move abroad for a bit and have another adventure. WHO KNOWS.
These things are such big decisions and it’s so helpful having people like you break it all down!!
Thanks as always as sharing so much with us! You don’t have to, but we appreciate it!!!
Maja says
Oooh I’m from Croatia! I hope you’re having a good time! :)
Lee says
That sounds awesome! I’m planning a trip to Croatia in 2 months – I’ll have to check your blog for tips!
Henna | HENNA BLOSSOM BLOG says
Maja, we’re having a great time. Croatia is such a beautiful country.
Lee, definitely stop by and say hello! So fun that you’re planning a trip to Croatia yourself! Feel free to ask if you want tips on where to go! Our home base is Split but we were in Dubrovnik over Memorial Day weekend and we’re going to the islands this weekend. Also planning a week in the Istrian region. It’s a small country but so many beautiful cities! :)
bergie says
We just sold our house (and breaking a little better than even) and are moving abroad with a toddler and newborn — we’re crazy but love big adventures! You can do it!
Maja says
I’m from Zagreb, currently in Ohio but moving back to the East Coast in a bit. Reading your blog posts makes me miss home so much! I’m glad someone’s enjoying it at least. :)
In case you might be looking for some light summer reading, here’s a blog I think you might enjoy called Zablogreb. It’s written by an American who married a Dalmatian girl, moved initially to Split and now they live in Zagreb. It’s his take on some of the cultural differences and stuff he enjoys or is completely baffled with (google “propuh”, you’ll see). I wonder how many of his experiences you might identify with! :)
Have an awesome vacation!
Teresa says
We purchased our house in 2006 and spent 35k improving it. We just listed for 12k more then we bought and in this market we will end up losing money. Our agent said we bought when it was high and selling when low! Very disappointed but we hope our new house will be our 20+yr home to watch our 2 little ones grow up. Live and learn right?!?
alivicwil says
It’s only money xx
A home that you’re happy in means more than the moolah.
Vidya @ Whats Ur Home Story says
Wow, that’s great. Good for you. With our first house too we were in the same boat. Bought during the bubble and sold during the recession. So hopefully we’ll see a better outcome whenever we sell this house. The No VA market seems to be doing well these days. How do you account for the labor hrs that you put in on all the DIY that stayed with the house? If you had hired contractors for those jobs that would have been part of the price tag for those projects, right? Congrats once again. So excited to see what all you dream up at the new place.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, if we had hired out these improvements we would have lost money bigtime, so we look at it as “by putting in sweat equity, we grew the value of this house and then got to sell it for more and roll all of the equity that we built up paying this mortgage (and the one on our first house) into our new house. Seeing that loan amount drop by almost 50% = awesome!
xo
s
Sally says
If Sherry & John had hired contractors, they not only would not have made money on the sale; they would not have had anything to write about on their blog. :-) I think that the fact that the home improvement projects provide material for blogging (and consequently, income) needs to be taken into account as well.
Jenn says
First of all- I hope unpacking is going well!! Secondly, I’m just curious (and forgive me if you’ve addressed this elsewhere) but do you guys make an attempt to pay extra on the mortgage each month? My husband and I are so inspired by your ability to live “richly” while being frugal, and I’m just curious if this may have been one way you gained additional equity…
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, we try to overpay when we can (without stretching ourselves of course) and also are huge fans of 15 year mortgages (you pay MUCH less interest over time that way – seriously if you compare how much more interest is on a 30 year loan vs. a 15 year loan, it’s staggering – so if you can afford a 15 year loan it’s sort of like overpaying every month since it’s a larger amount but it’s for a shorter period of time with less interest :)
xo
s
becca says
We pay (significant) extra principle on our mortgage each month. When we refinanced a few months ago, we considered switching to a 15 year loan, but for us it would’ve only saved us 2K in interest over term of the loan. We decided to stay with the 30 year, since we hope to pay it off in 8 years anyhow, because if one of us lost our job, or we had some other unexpected big expense, we wouldn’t HAVE to make the bigger payment. For us, 2K (over the life of the loan) wasn’t worth possible foreclosure in an emergency. But each person’s finances are different, definitely do the math and check out all your options!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, 2K over the life of the loan is nothing! You totally made the best call. When we had our loan guy do ammortization schedules it saved us tens of thousands of dollars over the course of the loan to go with the 15 year one. I think it must matter what rate/what type of loan/how much it’s for/etc :)
xo
s
lisa says
my brother is an actuary and always works with figures. he told me something a few years ago that totally makes sense…no matter what type of mortgage you have–a 30 year, 20 year, 10 year, whatever, you can make that mortgage into any type (15 yr. 20 yr etc) you want by paying extra each month. so, even though one person may have a 30 year mortgage at the same interest rate as a person with a 15 year mortgage–but the 30 yr mortgage person puts tons of extra payments in each month, you can make it “become” a 15 yr mortgage, or a 10 year mortgage, etc…during this time, by doing this, in the long run you will cut off tons of interest payments also since you are paying it off quickly…like the bimonthly payment plan..you don’t need to sign up for that…just pay 1 extra month’s mortgage payment in a year’s time, and it’s the same as having a biweekly plan. so, just remember, just because you have a 30 year loan, doesn’t mean it has to be 30 years…you can make it 25, 22, 15, 10 etc….
Starr @ The Kiefer Cottage says
We sold our first home in 2010–my husband (then a singleton) had purchased it a couple of years before for way too much. At closing, we owed $0 and we were cut no check in “profit”. Adding it all up, we lost about $10,000 on improvements. In the end, though, I was just grateful to be rid of that place!
We’re hoping to stay in our current home for a long time, but if we sold it tomorrow, we would break even or maybe make a few bucks because the market is hot around here. I’d like to think we’ve been pretty thoughtful about what we’re putting into this house. However, I’m no psychic, and the market could turn sour on a dime. I just try not to think about that.
Rebecca @This Nest is Best says
We also bought on the bubble with our current house and I can’t imagine we’ll ever be able to sell for what we paid. But, I guess you have to live somewhere :) Glad to hear the outdoor space is a selling feature – we’re hoping to add a backyard deck or patio in the next few years!
karen says
wow! houses over here, north of Toronto go up 10’s of thousands in a few years!! so ofter 3 and a half years we made a profit of 60,000.
Housing prices here are CRAZY!!!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s awesome!
xo
s
Sarah says
Sure, it’s awesome, but it also means that it is incredibly difficult to get into the market for first-time buyers. It falls in line with the comment you made earlier, Sherry – the pricier the market the greater the return on small improvements. To give you an idea… it wouldn’t be unusual for your first little ranch to be listed in the $500K range in Toronto. And your current home could go for somewhere around $1.2M. Karen is right…absolutely CRAZY housing prices!
YoungHouseLove says
Woah!
xo
s
Lesley says
Location, location, location!
We luckily were able to forge our way into the Toronto market 12 years ago (this week actually), made a shrewed decision about neighbourhood and have since tripled the value of our investment!
The other thing to keep in mind is that the cost to renovate, even when you put in the sweat equity, is higher in the more expensive markets too – our completely do it yourself kitchen remodel cost over $10k and we didn’t even get new appliances at the time…
I think a more compelling case is the % of value. We have put 10% of the purchase price of our home into renovations (still have about 5% to do), which feels about right at a total of 15% additional investment… the advantage to our situation is that the market has now made that investment less than 5% of the current market value.
Rena says
just wanted to say go toronto :) even with the crazy prices!
rachael says
We live in a very small town about 2.5 hours west of Toronto. Housing is very affordable here. Our next door neighbors used to live in Toronto (Distillery District I think), lived there for 5 years and made $100,000 on their place when they sold it. Moved here to our quaint town and bought their house for just over $110,000. Now he doesn’t have to work and they are living their dream!!
Barbara says
We live in a smallish community (40,000) in northwest GTA and the properties have appreciated like crazy here. Our little 1400sqft house appreciated over $100,000 in 3yrs and all we did was put down hardwood floors and paint. Of course when we wanted to get something bigger, it then cost us that much more to buy as well!
Rachael – where is this little haven of yorus – perhaps I need to consider moving again lol!
Rainbow Miller says
I was just going to comment on how jealous I am of house prices. I’m in Alberta, Canada (outside of Calgary) and its also freaking crazy here. So hard for first time buyers to get their foot in the door! i’m moving to Richmond…
YoungHouseLove says
Come on down! We’d love to have you :)
And just like that, I’m the Internet Mayor of Richmond… haha!
xo
s
Mary says
I agree! My 880sq ft condo that I bought for 193k in the fall of 2008 went for 245k 3.5 years later…
Our new tiny (1100sq ft bungalow + fully finished basement) cost us 280k…we had to buy a 50+ year old house in order to get detached and a decent sized yard…
Lynn @ Our Useful Hands says
See that’s what I like to hear. You made a little bit of a profit and ended up almost even stevens but you’re like “meh…that was fun!” :o) I love living in a house and making it our home. I don’t know if I could ever become a flipper – even with houses going for 20K down here right now! – because I would take it way too personal if someone messed up something that I put so much blood, sweat and tears into. Ha!
My best, Lynn
*And Canada sounds bananas right now. Pretty much sounds like America did right before 2008 happened. I’d be selling high like my life depended on it! haha…
Claire says
Lynn, don’t fear for us! :) Canada’s banking system is set up quite differently than the US, so the risk factors that led to the housing crash in the last decade aren’t really there. Plus, it’s really just a few big cities that have crazy prices (Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary…). We live in Calgary and the condo market isn’t crazy, but inner city homes are. We bought for $605 in Nov 2011 and equivalent homes are listed around $690 today. We’ll hold on a couple more years, finish the basement, and see what we can get.
Shannon says
I’m glad you’re sticking with built ins. I LOVE them. Unfortunately at my house I only have a built in spice rack, but since we are completely remodeling two rooms for my boys, I’m planning on adding something in there for them.
Terresa says
A built in spice rack!! that’s pretty sad/funny:)
Kathy says
I always think about “resale value” when we’re thinking of tackling a project. We know this isn’t our forever home, in fact, we’d like to move sooner rather than later. Additionally, we live in an area where the homes typically sell for less than other parts of our township, so we definitely don’t want to sink in a tons of money that we’re not going to recoup.
We tore down the original brick deck because it was leaking water into the crawlspace (split that cost with the sellers) and DIY’d a deck in the first summer. Last year, we found out we had bats nesting in the attic, so that cost us about 5K (& no other projects happened last year). This summer, my husband is tackling a fence and we’re having new laminates installed in our downstairs den (hopefully soon!). Then it will just be other cosmetic upgrades, but no other “big” projects in the works for this year.
Alice says
I haven’t sold a house, so I don’t know what will help sell it. What sold this house to me is the curb appeal. I’m really picky about what the front looks like (I like peaks) so if a house doesn’t have it, I won’t look at it. :/
Also, a fence and a finished basement would be giant plus marks.
Bake And Sew says
I am always interested in those who like curb appeal as ‘you’ being the owner of the house are not looking at it from the curb, others are.
Jessica says
You being the owner get to see your house from the curb or street every time you pull into your driveway. IMO, it’s nice to pull up and say “Man, my house looks great.” Especially when the exterior and landscaping looks better than any other house on the block. Plus, I’d say curb appeal is important for an owner because no one wants to be “those” neighbors whose house is the biggest eyesore on the street.
gail says
Great recap and love reading about the progress of your move.
Excited to get more details!!!
Questions?
did you keep the big round dining table? did it fit in new house?
I just love that table and the chairs!
YoungHouseLove says
Yup! It’s in our new dining room! Can’t wait to share moving and progress pics about where things are landing :)
xo
s
Sheila says
This is probably the wrong audience for this thought but I’ll throw it out there anyway – The amount of money that some of those improvements would’ve cost if you hadn’t done most/all of the work yourselves would be much higher and therefore the profit margin lower. Of course, this is a DIY site so I’m sure most of the readers will be DIY-ing it also rather than paying someone to do the work.
Congrats on this exciting new chapter of your lives!
Rachel says
Oh, you leave behind your washer and dryer? I would think that’s something you can take with you. The previous owners of our house sold theirs before we moved in (now, the machines were probably older than me so it’s just as well). Also, you guys have great taste so I’m sure it’s awesome for the new owners to inherit all your curtains, etc., but I’m sure that’s not true with all houses. Like ours. Or your new one. Old yucky curtains are just old and yucky! I wonder, do buyers always expect to have things like that left behind?
YoungHouseLove says
I think that’s a regional thing! In our area when you’re selling a turn-key house, you get to command a higher price but it needs to be move in ready, so folks don’t take appliances with them. But by buying a fixer upper, we saved a lot of money on that end so we can put the money we saved into brand new appliances over there :)
xo
s
Catherine says
I actually think that is a good thing because then the appliances fit the house. In Australia you nearly always take them but it doesn’t make sense to me. Of course then you don’t have control over the quality but at least you get appliances that fit (besides, moving fridges is a pain!).
Jennifer says
Yes, things that convey do vary by region. However, in our area, things that must stay are things that are attached. Curtain rods, blinds,microwaves over the stove, stoves, light fixtures etc. Curtains, refrigerators, washer/ dryers etc do not have to be left. They can be. They can also be written into the contract if its something the buyer wants. (Everything has a price!) or you can always list that all appliances, curtains convey. But you have to be very specific. ALL curtains means all curtains etc. It has to be written in the contract. If the new owners don’t want all your curtains there could be fees for the old owners for removal of property (not that this happens a lot). Some buyers appreciate not having to buy new appliances and having curtains on the walls, even if its just until they figure out what they want! I’d rather leave it and not have to move it :). Hope that helps clarify what conveys.
Lauren says
We added some built-ins in our living room and LOVE them! It’s a nice decorative feature but also extremely functional–we have all our electronics (DVR, game consoles, etc) hidden in ours and when the doors close, you’d never even know they were there!
Congrats, I think it’s fantastic how much value you added to the house in the time you were there! :)
Anele @ Success Along the Weigh says
That’s actually great that you broke even on it since a lot of people aren’t that lucky these days. I know when we sell, we’ll be lucky to get what we paid for it unless we’re willing to wait for a serious upswing. We’ve probably over-improved for our area (remodeled the bathroom, kitchen and have a patio that is truly like an outdoor room) with another must remodel in the basement. Ours is unfinished and there isn’t a single home in our complex that doesn’t have a finished basement. So we’ll likely just throw up some dry wall and a half bath.
I don’t mind doing those improvements that we’ll enjoy while we’re here. It’s been 17 years so they’ve more than paid off for us even if they technically don’t money wise when we sell. Still kind of a bummer though.
Maggie Wallace says
Well done on coming out in profit (or at least even) I’m so pleased for you! So looking forward to seeing what you do with your new home. I noticed that the handrail to the front door seems to echo the pattern of the arms on your office chairs. So guess that must make you feel at home already! ;-) Good luck with all the unpacking!!! We’re in the throes of moving stuff from our old home to new home (we’ve been here nearly 2 years already eek!) as DD2, SiL and the GrandTwins are going to stay there for a bit as they just sold their home and haven’t managed to find another yet. So I know what it feels like living in a house full of boxes! And they’re not even all here yet.
My best wishes to you both and the rest of your family (does Burger like the new house?) for many happy years in your new home.
Maggie from Liverpool (UK)
YoungHouseLove says
Thankfully Burger is loving it! He walks around like he’s the kind and has already found a bunch of “favorite spots” to lay around and be lazy. Haha!
xo
s
Needle little balance says
Maggie, the thing about the handrails to the front door and their similarity to the office chairs was the first thing I noticed about the entrance, too. Soo funny!
S&J, it´s so interesting to read about your adventures! Here in Austria people buy/build houses like once in a lifetime and then they want to stay there forever. Even if they have to drive long distances for work changes or the house is too big after the kids moved out or if they don´t get along with the neighbours -they won´t move (good for the lawyers haha). You american guys seem to change places much easier according to current needs. I like that.
YoungHouseLove says
So interesting!
xo
s
Chelsea says
This post, and the last time you did this, are so interesting to me! And I say that as a renter who probably won’t be a home buyer/owner/seller for a very long time. Thanks for sharing these!
YoungHouseLove says
Of course! We had fun with it last time and had documented more costs this time (we did more budget breakdowns as we made over our second house) so it was nice to have those for easy reference :)
xo
s
Kim Rosas says
I love that you guys are so willing to get down to the nitty gritty with this stuff! Congrats on the sale and the new home.
I secretly can’t wait to sell this house (no plans to anytime soon) just to see how people react to what we have done inside. It has been a year of work (so far) and it is a completely new DIY home. It is kinf od like atending your own funeral and finding out what people really liked about you…
YoungHouseLove says
Haha! All the best of luck Kim!
xo
s
Alisa says
We’re doing that right now. It is SO fun! Our realtor was the very first realtor on this house (it’s from the 70s) and she lost her breath when walking in when we decided to list. It was a pat-yourself-on-the-back kind of moment for sure :)
Tanya says
Wow, the new homeowners got a really great deal. If you add the cost of your labour and account for the full cost of items (for those times your totals include the great deals you seem to find)the new home owners received a really good value for their money – they should love you. If you made the same types of changes to a similar house in my area you would probably get $50-75K more, but our market is strong and few houses are for sale.
I think it is smart to sell on your own and save that 3% – you worked hard for it.
Best of luck on the new place.
Bake And Sew says
The thing to consider was that if you were paying someone to do the renos then you would not have made a profit. So there is a huge lesson for everyone – learn DIY skills!
Congrats on making a profit guys!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha! Oh yes, sweat equity probably saved us around 30K, so by DIYing it, we didn’t have to take a big loss to update this house and live with nicer areas like a new deck, patio, kitchen, etc :)
xo
s
Rene @thedomesticlady says
Thanks. This is so encouraging. We recently refinanced to a 15 yr at 2.78%. And we just added hardwoods to most of the house (4k) and are starting reno on our front porch and kitchen….looks like we are headed in the right direction.
Thank you for all you do!!!
Marin says
That’s amazing! We bought our condo 5 years ago just before our market really sunk. The one above us is now selling for 41% of what we paid for ours. Yup. 41%. Between what we put down, what we’ve paid in mortgage payments, and the money we’ve put in to improvements, we’ve already spent more money than that upstairs one is selling for. Such a bummer. I can’t wait to be free of condo living and have a big house for the kiddos.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no! Hope the market turns around for you soon! We hear it’s on an upswing here!
xo
s
Stephanie, Sandpaper & Glue says
We bought our house 2 years ago on a short sale and plan on selling it in 3-4 years so I’m always super careful about what I update so we make a big enough profit to really help out with house #2’s mortgage. Would I love new kitchen cabinets? Heck yes. Would it make a lick of difference in what we make back on the house? Nope. Our cabinets are in great shape, I just hate them anyway. It’s tough to find the right balance with all that stuff!
Miranda says
That’s really impressive! Congratulations! I think it’s really cool that you all keep track of money in vs. money out. It’s not only interesting, but also very helpful to the rest of us, too! One thing, though – I think you’ve undervalued your time by not representing it in the figures in some way. The people who purchased your homes didn’t just get the “stuff” you put into it, but also the hours! The many, many hours. That, of course, is worth it by being able to spend time in a house you truly love, but the “time is money” evaluation is always something I consider.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, we definitely put a value on sweat equity! If we had hired all of this out we would have probably lost around 30K, but by putting in the time ourselves, we were able to save that loot :)
xo
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Alex says
I still can’t believe that fireplace upgrade was less than $150 bucks!! Are you kidding me?? And 200 measly clams for ALL THAT CROWN MOLDING? Rock on, Petersiks. That is bananas. !! :)
Alisha says
That’s what struck me, too, about this breakdown, Alex! Looking at all the big projects collected together, I am reminded how obtainable they actually are! @Younghouselove–I cant believe so many of the projects that made such a difference to your whole house vibe were soooo affordable! The board and batten. The crown molding. The bathroom upgrades. The patio addition. THE KITCHEN.
Thanks for allowing us to dream with some helpful perspective! I love this break down!
Gretchen in Tennessee says
I should have 9 years equity in my house, but thanks to the market it’s not as much as you’d think. These days breaking even is difficult to do, so you two should be VERY proud! Obviously your (previous) home is BEAUTIFUL and it’s not a surprise that it sold in the blink of an eye! :) And I’m sure this one will end up just as stunning!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Gretchen!
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Suzanne says
Thank you for sharing this! I love how you guys keep it real. So many design/DIY blogs make me feel completely inadequate (says the girl whose latest paint project is covered in tiny bugs from drying outside), but not YHL. You guys make good design seem attainable by showing us every little trick (and cost) along the way. THANK YOU.
Steph says
I love how much you guys share with us. The people who bought that house from you are very lucky. :) And I too love the optimistic view of things. :)
I bought my house a year ago & since it was a foreclosure (a foreclosure in really good shape) it’s already worth more than I paid. But I don’t so much care about profitting off it some day as much as I actually did it for the long term equity.
Anne says
Ahh, the “depression of 2008-2009” … ugh. I bought in Jan 2008, got laid off in Nov 2008, couldn’t find work until late 2010, so we couldn’t do improvements. We’ve done some but it takes a long time to recover. I’m guessing at this point I would lose 10% – 20% of the purchase price if I sold right now. Better than the 40% loss of a few years ago. So we are just hunkering down, improving a bit (no point in over improving and adding to the loss) and hoping to break even in a year or two.
Casey says
The British Columbia bear is back – bursting through your stack of quarters like the rebel ad he is!
YoungHouseLove says
THAT BEAR!!!! Why I aughta…
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Bethany says
I wish I could see this bear that everyone is talking about! Haha
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, me too! If only just to give him a good pet. And then send him packing…
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Megan A. says
I’m impressed by the classiness with which you go about talking about money. It’s refreshing! You give enough details to get your point across, but you don’t just lay it all out there. So, thank you for that :-)
Cara D says
We paid way too much for our house due to first time home buyer and really wanting to be out of the apartment. But we do plan on keeping it for our forever house so all our upgrades are for us only and we aren’t worried about resale. That being said I bet we have spent more on upgrades than we would get back. It did apraise for more than we paid 4 years ago though so that is something.
I am working on built in bookcases for the playroom right now. Actually buying the kreg crown pro today!
Jaya says
I just have to say that your honesty about this whole process is so refreshing and really appreciated! Thanks for sharing all these details – it’s very helpful!
YoungHouseLove says
So glad!
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Morgan says
Hey, I didn’t get this post in Feedly for some reason. I think you mentioned a few posts ago that you were having feed issues… The only reason I know I missed it is because I saw that you posted it on Facebook but it’s not in my reader. I did get the Arhaus giveaway though.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no! Anyone else having that issue?! It came through in ours, but we don’t know if it’s being glitchy for some reason…
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Amy says
My Feedly is being weird today…
YoungHouseLove says
Boo! Maybe it’s a regional thing? Are you guys both in the same area?
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Amy Nagy says
I am always so impressed with your record keeping!! It.is.awesome!
Charlotta says
Well, we did a full bathroom makeover before selling our apartment and it might have paid off – hard to say when the market over here hasn’t gone down very much.
As for when we bought our house I think the location was the thing that made the price go up with around 30% from the original listing price. We wanted it mostly for the location and the fabulous garden…
jeannette says
i love your wordy posts. never stop.
ouch, i missed the bad news on the profit for your first house.
the thing is, in addition to equity for young people in a very hard time, you derived your living and invented a whole new medium from both of those houses, made a life for yourselves and baby clara. priceless.
finally, real is always good. thank you.
xxx
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Jeannnette! It’s true that we never could have guessed that this would turn into a job for us. We’re so grateful that we wrote that first post back in 2007…
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Rachel says
You guys should feel great about your selling price for this house and the last house- a recession is the perfect time to move up the property ladder- if the cheaper house you’re selling lost 10% of its value but so did the more expensive house you’ve actually benefitted! A lot of people don’t think about that and are scared to sell their houses in a recession when it’s the ideal time to trade up!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, the new house was super on sale (it sold for 50K under assessment and 100K less than a similar house up the street that had already been updated). So it really did feel like this diamond in the rough (very very rough, haha!) that we were looking for!
xo
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Debby says
My husband just said that. You don’t get as much for your house, but you don’t pay as much for the new house either. Love this blog. Don’t even know how I happened on here, but I come back every day!!! Congrats on your new home. Just bought the same paint sprayer so I could paint my 90’s honey oak cabinets. Estimate for the job from outside contractor…..4K. No way. I can do it for under $500 including the cost of the sprayer. I have redone cabinets before. 43 cabinet doors and drawers. Wish us luck. You two inspire me.
YoungHouseLove says
You can do it Debby! Good luck!
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Angela N says
That is fantastic that you were able to cut your payment so much!! Totally our goal to have no payment on our house by the time our kids get to college age. (They are 8 and 5, btw.)
We had a significant amount of equity in our last home after moving 3 times before it. Then we found out our home had defective chinese drywall. UGH!! Losing it all and taking a huge credit hit with it. (We are currently still dealing with it.) Unfortunately the builder wanted nothing to do with it and the chance we would win a lawsuit are slim to none. All our equity lost. :-( But we bought a new home just as the market started to come back here in FL and we are already up aprox $35k based upon the new ones selling in our neighborhood. Fingers crossed the markets keeps up for a bit here so we can gain back some of the equity lost.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no! That stinks about the drywall Angela! Hope the market keeps up and your equity comes back to you!
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MrsB says
I will NEVER get back all I put in this house built in 1957. Bought at height of market (but had plenty to put down as sold a house that appreciated about 55%).
All the insulation, roof, outside paint took up first year.
Save, save, save – then did the kitchen, minor repair to screen porch, paint all but three rooms. Big hit.
Small bathroom being done this summer – big bath next year.
Then the HVAC has to be upgraded and a new hot water heater.
Plus all the landscaping I’ve done.
But – you know what? I love living here. It should be the last house I own – so I just bit the bullet and keep on fixing up.
YoungHouseLove says
Amen! It’s so nice to love where you live.
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jeannette says
i wanted to add, if the value of your DIY frugality has ever been in question, this post puts paid to it. to have paid others to do the work on house #2 would have eliminated your profit, as it did in house #1.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah, we think we could have easily spent 30K to outsource the deck, patio, and kitchen reno alone (maybe even more) so sweat equity definitely saved us. And the fact that we truly DIY and started this whole thing as a hobby is the icing on the cake. Getting to do what you love everyday = priceless.
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Allison says
Thanks for sharing! I find these posts quite interesting.
When we bought our house, we renovated the kitchen immediately and then we have done landscaping as well. I hope to eventually be able to do the bathrooms too. We know that we have put more money than what we will get in return if we eventually sell, but I feel we also can’t put a value on comfort. I can’t imagine if we had kept the kitchen the way it was!
We also refinanced a couple years back, but we decided to keep paying the same mortgage amount we were before, so we have actually knocked off 8 years from our mortgage by doing so!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s awesome Allison! Congrats!
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Kristen says
What about the master bath update? Didn’t see it on the list?
Regardless, it’s amazing you spent so little and accomplished so much!
YoungHouseLove says
Dang, should have broken that out! The border tile, toilet, and light fixture are factored into “miscellaneous” since we did that over time in a few phases, so I didn’t have one final rundown post to link to (which is probably why I didn’t think to make that a bullet on its own).
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heyruthie says
thanks for the real-life “slow and steady wins the race and we’re not ashamed to admit it” attitude. when you read about other people who seem to have miraculous success, it seems so out of reach. but when I read your story, it’s basically, “we work our butts off, and eventually it all pans out.” i like that. it’s the real American dream–aided by the power of the internet–as opposed to overnight internet success. it’s one reason why i’m still reading y’all’s blog 5 year later :-) I’ve been a daily reader for years, and I’ve enjoyed each step that you’ve taken as you’ve made your dream come alive, including John quitting his job, and your pregnancy announcement, and dozens of other “moments” that were small steps, that have taken you far. i’m proud of you guys, and it inspires me to just keep grinding away, knowing that it does pay off.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks so much!
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jeannette says
yeah. this.