DIY - Does It Pay?

[dbhost]

The last two homes we bought were something of "fixer uppers". Our present home was one of at least 50 walk thrus we did with our realtor. To say he was at ends with us minimizes his attitude. Anyway, when we drove up to this home, we didn't even want a walk thru, but I said that as long as we were here, lets do it.

It was a beautiful piece of property, lending the back yard to our dog, which I must say carried as much weight in making a decision as how many bathrooms there were. The place needed a lot of work, but the price was right.

Now, after 9 years here, and having done everything from tile work, changing out all the windows, to replacing ceilings, crown moulding, new kitchen, all new appliances, new roof and much more, we are wondering whether all the work done by ourselves was worth the effort and money.

Granted, we've converted this home to a residence of our own taste. But considering the present value, and in looking back at the possibility of finding a home that needed nothing, we aren't sure that we will make out like "bandits" if we ever sell. We knew from the start that an older home will require money and sweat.

So, my question is this. What would your guidelines be as for what you were prepared to do yourself (or farm out) for what the costs might be, compared to the costs of a home needing nothing?
.

As far as I can tell, there is no such thing as a home that needs nothing, at least for very long...

With an older home, you get an established neighborhood, established vegitation, you have a pretty good idea if the neighborhood is going up or down in value etc...

The value of adding your own time, blood, sweat and tears, while meaning nothing in the market, are certainly worth a great deal in the pride of ownership. YOU can proudly say, you see this fence? Yeah the nicest one on the block, I built it myself. That crown molding no one else in the neighborhood has? I did that etc...

Anyway, it's the personal touches that turn a house, into a home....

[FL Buckeye]

Umm..Yea, what everyone else has said. The housing market has affected newer homes too, so you would be in the same position if you had just bought it already done.

I have done a lot of DIY projects over the years, and enjoyed most of them, but my body now says I have to delegate some projects to others. In 1999 I shingled the roof on a new 24x28 garage addtion to my "barn", also self built, 30 days after heart bypass surgery. Just took my time. My heart is fine now but wouldn't tackle such a project as the rest of my body would object! I would still consider doing some tuckpointing, but pouring driiveways and such..no way. Even sold the bullfloat, etc. As my friends, relatives and I get older its harder to do the bigger projects. This last summer I discovered how helpful my wood clamps can be in framing, taking the place of a phantom worker. Next summer I would like to build a workshop and am trying to decide if I can tackle it. Problem is it would probably take me all summer to do it and I could be enjoying it if I let someone else do it. I used to say I had more time than money, but now it could be a close race. But it still sucks to think about paying someone about $9K to re-shingle a roof that you could do for less than $3K. Do enjoy the DIY projects while you can. I still want to learn welding and block laying, LOL.

So I don't think you should have regrets about the fixer upper projects. The projects have made it what you wanted, and with a new home many owners wish thay had done it differently. You were able to make such decisions after you moved in and do it right the first time.

[430752]

I'm on my second fixer upper, but now with 2 kids and a promotion I'm finding even less time to do DIY. So I'm hiring out more. I used to compare my DIY to hiring someone in terms of cost. But I gave that up long ago since the out of pocket costs were so much cheaper (my time is free), and it wasn't a fair comparison. Instead, on the few occassions I did hire out, I found out that there wasn't a single job someone else could do better (excepting out certain things like a new roof incl. tearing off three layers of shingles, or running a new 200 amp line from the pole and a new circuit box, etc.) This doesn't mean I don't hire out stuff, but only where I have to. Otherwise, my work is better, it is done how I like, I fix the hidden stuff in the process that others would patch over if at all, and I learn intimate details of the house.

DIY ain't for everyone, well real DIY anyway. Most people can't take a sawzall to their house. People ask me my hobby, I tell them fixing up my home, which leads to the woodworking aspects. Some like to fix old cars, some like to sail, I research crap for my home, buy it, get new tools, and have at it. If it ain't for you, buy new. Otherwise, respect that you wouldn't be happy any other way and thus are fated to a life of "suffering".

[os1kne]

Financially, I don't know if DIY projects pay off by much. But, I get satisfaction out of doing things myself so I'll continue to do so (unless something is way over my head or requires specialized equipment, etc.) It is nice to be able to modify things to your taste, and DIY projects tend to hone problem-solving skills.

DIY is definitely much less expensive than hiring out every little improvement, but I think that most people that don't DIY tend to DWO (do w/o) most improvements and just "live with" issues that should be repaired. You may have 2 identical homes next to each other - with home A owned by a DIYer and home B owned by a non-DIYer. The DIYer spends a bunch of time and money improving and modifying his home, and the non-DIYer doesn't do much of anything outside of basic maintenance. If both homes were sold after 10 years, I would bet that most of the time, home A would only sell for 5-10% more than home B, which probably doesn't offset the cost of the materials for the improvements - so the DIYer may feel that he wasted his time and money making improvements. Usually the DIYer had the satisfaction of living in a comfortable, functional home - while the non-DIYer is likely to be frustrated with little issues that they didn't know how to fix and didn't want to pay for someone else to.

I think that being decent/good at DIY projects is a blessing and a curse - it feels good to look at something and feel proud of your accomplishment, but at the same time there are projects that you'd do differently if you were to do it again (and you only know that you'd do things differently from the experience gained from the first time). It does feel good to know how to resolve problems as they arise, rather than just live with the problems.

[rnelson0]

If it is not too late to wake the thread...

I definitely have more time than money. I do a lot of DIY. Honestly, it "pays" for itself about as well as making furniture on the saw does - when you add the cost of the tools, clamps, etc., something like a workbench comes out to a lot more than $50 in materials

[messmaker]

It seems like every time I hire a "pro", I end up doing part of it over, anyway because they rushed through and skipped something or 1/2 a$$ed just to get my money. I do anything I can do myself. It ends up better in the long run.