What does it take to own a home? Budgeting, planning, Zillow-ing, HGTV, and Amazon.

Just kidding, I definitely do not think I planned well enough at ALL. For months I had been searching through Zillow, looking at all the really cool half million dollar houses I could own one day. But how would I be able to own something like that? Looking around at all of my coworkers in their mid-60s and not one of them own a half million dollar home. If they do own an asset like that, they bought in early, before the properties were worth that much, they are vice presidents and their wives work too, or they have multiple rental houses. Well, I was born in an era where a 400 sq ft apartment is $1100/mo in TEXAS so I am buying in too late. I dont know if I'll be a vice president, and I am an unmarried female engineer. I also do not have multiple rental houses I can collect rent from.

Wait... that last thing just MIGHT be something I can prep for and be certain of. This is where I refrained my Zillow search to LOW dollar HIGH square footage properties. And what I found were pieces of crap, but out of those pieces of crap, one day I came upon a condo... with potential. What I saw in my own eyes is not what everyone else saw. They saw crappy carpet, dark colored walls.. navy blue with yellow ceilings, water busted leaking. What I saw was new cabinets, new carpet, new hardwood, a new bathroom, grey walls, aaaaaand my puppy Louie playing fetch in a 1,600 sq foot condo with large windows and a bench Louie can sit out to look out those large windows. This was October 2018. The next day, I visited it and put an offer in $9,000 below asking [which btw was A LOT lower]. I didnt even look at another house/condo. (( Was this a mistake, I still dont know 8 months later)) . They accepted the offer and by late November 2018, it was mine.

Problem was.... I had to move out of my $1100, 400 sq ft apt by early February. I had December and January. TWO MONTHS. To get this place livable. It was NOT livable. What I saw in my eyes, was not the reality of the situation. There were plumbing leaks, mold, smelly cat and cigarette carpets, dust, broken toilets, black tar under laminate tiles.

And over the next 2 months (even with a 3 week break for Christmas), with a lot of hard work, we were able to demo everything out, have carpet replaced, and painted. With 2 days to spare, we got the rest of the vinyl floor in. It was expensive, but not that expensive thanks to Amazon, Wayfair, Lowe's, Home Depot, Joss&Main, RTA cabinets, and Facebook Marketplace. Budgeting was a large contribution to my success.

Where I saved my money (with a LOT of research)...

Carpet: Home Depot Free Installation

Kitchen Faucet: needed gold, Amazon $50

Cabinets: RTAcabinets.com -- they come unassembled, youtube the instructions

Bathroom Vanity #1: $200 from Facebook Marketplace (originally $800 at Lowes)

Bathroom Vanity #2: $350 without top, Home Depot, great quality

Cabinet Pulls: $2 each, Houzz, Great quality

Chandelier: $80 Joss&Main

Kitchen Light: Amazon $50

Countertop: Lowe's, granite instead of quartz ($1500 for roughly 40sqft)

Table: $20 Facebook Marketplace (Pier 1)

Trendy Fans: $100 each from Joss&Main

Tile: $300 that fit both the Shower and had plenty of leftovers for the backsplash in the kitchen. (To put in perspective, A Plastic basin and sidewalls with a door was $1500 at Home Depot)

Dryer: $100 Facebook Marketplace (retails for $900 at Lowes because I had to have a special smaller european dryer to fit under the granite countertops.

10 Tips for Home Renovation Success:

1. LOOK AT REVIEWS THAT HAVE PICTURES (whether that be Amazon or Wayfair)

2. Create a Pinterest Board of your ideas.

3. If you have a cart on Wayfair, counter it by finding the same objects on Amazon. Even with the major sales Wayfair has, Amazon still comes in at a cool 50% lower price most of the time.

4. Skip corners, if this is a future rental, don't go ALL in for your lighting, carpet, or your counter top. I opted for a black and white granite instead of an all white quartz because I knew this wasn't my forever home and probably saved $1500.

5. Create something trendy, the renovated condo below probably would have sold higher if it had granite countertops instead of concrete, and some open shelving.

6. DO IT YOURSELF! I got quoted $6,000 to have 3 bedrooms painted. What a RIP OFF. Do it yourself, and buy a big 5 gallon bucket for $100 and a few brushes for $50. Put in some sweat equity, because you're only 25 years old. I also found a website (RTAcabinets.com) which I highly recommend. Soft close drawers, nice real wood, nice exterior and trendy.

7. Research. We had 5 floor quotes before we chose the installer. Ranging from $6,000 to $10,000 for only 800 sq ft of cheap laminate flooring. We went to Floor and Decor, bought our own flooring for roughly $1000. We would have attempted to install the floors ourselves, however we had approximately 5 days to move in, and I work full time. Need to earn the money some how. So we found a family friend who renovates for a living [a contractor] who we paid to finish it for $2/sq ft.

8. Credit Cards -- that 25% interest rate is over 12 months not 1 month. If you have $1000, your interest rate is not going to be $250 for that month, its going to be around $20 extra that month. If your budget doesn't allow for something right away but you NEED it done for move in, go ahead and put it on a credit card. You can skip something else next month. I think I waited an extra month to buy the granite counter top.

9. Renovate over time. If you need to move in before you're done renovating, just make sure you get the essentials done first.

Install floors that you use daily, deep clean at least one bathroom for use.. and that the only things I can think of besides windows completely missing, but I didn't have that problem. My windows are gross but that's another thing I can wait years on if I need to.

10. Back to credit cards, Home Depot's Black Friday had a great promotion running. I didnt have to pay off their card for 24 months! I got to have all new appliances, and will just have to budget how I will pay it off over 24 months. They also run these sales during the 4th of July, and random other times of the year. So if you have to buy a fridge, I suggest waiting a month or searching on Facebook Marketplace.

ANYWAYS, go follow me on Instagram @KylieMcguylie to view my highlight story to see what I was really dealing with. Follow me on Odyssey for more renovation tips and stories, as well as my insight into electrical engineering, Aryuveda, health, keto, Bichons, Hot Yoga, and more!