I settled on my first house this Friday. Lots of drama around it thanks to the seller trying to not live up to his end of the bargain, but it feels good to actually own a place instead of rent one. Great 1950's town home in Baltimore County, less than a mile from the city line.

Now I get to spend all of my money fixing things around this place! Are there any DIYer's here who know some good sites for home improvement tips/videos/etc?

Nice!

I got a book from the library I ended up buying from them because I found it so helpful.

"Handymans 100 Things Every Homeowner Must Know" or something like that.

That thing is like my bible. It even has pictures.

Congrats bud.

(04-03-2017, 11:08 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: I settled on my first house this Friday. Lots of drama around it thanks to the seller trying to not live up to his end of the bargain, but it feels good to actually own a place instead of rent one. Great 1950's town home in Baltimore County, less than a mile from the city line.

Now I get to spend all of my money fixing things around this place! Are there any DIYer's here who know some good sites for home improvement tips/videos/etc?

Youtube, lot's of Youtube.

congrats that's my next life goal is a house with a yard for the doggy

(04-03-2017, 11:44 AM)Au165 Wrote: Youtube, lot's of Youtube.

This. 100 times, this. Thanks to Youtube I've fixed everything from the furnace to the dishwasher.

(04-03-2017, 11:44 AM)Au165 Wrote: Youtube, lot's of Youtube.

Yup.

Car stuff, house stuff. Youtube is great.

Shows you how to do it, and often by a professional. And unlike something that's written, you can usually tell by the way the presenter talks if he knows what he's doing. You can pause the video, skip parts you know how to do, etc.


My grandparents had rental property and the grandkids were cheap labor, so I've done small jobs since I could walk. Setting toilets, tile, laying carpet, painting, etc. You can do most of it yourself, but I don't do electricity. If you screw up your plumbing, you get a leak and maybe have to call a professional; you screw up running new wires and your house burns down. That said, changing out light fixtures/ceiling fans is a pretty easy job.

Before you get into a project, though, check what tools you'll have to have. If you don't have many, factor that cost into the project. Like tiling. It's kind of fun, but plan on spending a couple hundred dollars on a tile saw. even with small stuff, like changing out a light fixture. You might get by with just a screw driver, but you might end up having to buy wire strippers or caps, which adds up. I'm trying to do some quick fixes so we can put our house on the market and my $1,500 budget (with $250 built in for overage) is already over $500.

And it may just be me, but hire an electrician for electrical work - NOT something you want to get wrong trying to follow youtube.

Congrats man!

We moved into a NEW home in 1999 and we are STILL doing DIY stuff.  "The Joy of Home Ownership!"  

I'm lucky my dad is a jack of all trades, my father in law worked in construction and my brother in law is an electrician...but getting them here to do anything was the hard part!

Congrats. I shutter to think all I have done to my house in the last 20 years but it has all been worth it.
They do need constant work. Very first thing I did was replace windows, of which I don't know how yours are, but that is one of the best investments you can make.

Congrats

(04-03-2017, 03:25 PM)GMDino Wrote: Congrats man!

We moved into a NEW home in 1999 and we are STILL doing DIY stuff.  "The Joy of Home Ownership!"  

I'm lucky my dad is a jack of all trades, my father in law worked in construction and my brother in law is an electrician...but getting them here to do anything was the hard part!

I resemble that remark.  I did tile, decorative stone, wood flooring and staircases for about 20 years.  Every time my folks would have a new home built, or any of my siblings moved into a new place, they always wanted me to come do the work.  Naturally, I did not charge them, so they always were forced to wait until I had a break in the schedule.


Oh, and congratulations Pat, on your new home! Feel free to ask any advice on any of the trades I'm familiar with.

Congrats.

Congratulations. Hope to see pics.

Pinterest has a lot of ideas.

(04-03-2017, 11:44 AM)Au165 Wrote: Youtube, lot's of Youtube.

I learned how to drain my hot tub in 4 minutes thanks to good ol' YouTube.

That crap used to take hours!

Congrats !, a major accomplishment.
This Old House, Danny Lipford, and Ron Hazelton have very good videos.
Buy quality tools that will last, if they will be used more than once.
Be selective in what you attempt to repair( Insurance may not cover " non professional repairs " if something goes way wrong).

PS, you don't have a house, the house has you. ( always something to be done )

Don't mean to crash the party, but I hope you are locked into a long term job. It used to be that a hone was a 100% safe investment, but that is not true anymore. If you own a home and have to move for a new job or personal relationship then you may be forced to take a loss on the purchase. Paying rent is not always a bad thing.

(04-04-2017, 09:07 AM)fredtoast Wrote: Don't mean to crash the party, but I hope you are locked into a long term job.  It used to be that a hone was a 100% safe investment, but that is not true anymore.  If you own a home and have to move for a new job or personal relationship then you may be forced to take a loss on the purchase.  Paying rent is not always a bad thing.

I'm a teacher with tenure in arguably best county for education in arguably the best state for education. I appreciate the concern but, don't worry, I am pretty secure when it comes to employment. I'd have to do a lot to not be able to keep my job until I drop dead.

Thank you, everyone. I'll have to take some photos to share once I get everything in place. I have spring break next week, so I'll be doing a lot of work around the place. Besides things like painting and hanging stuff, the first projects are figuring out why the gas dryer isn't producing heat and why the basement shower won't heat up.

(04-04-2017, 10:36 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: I'm a teacher with tenure in arguably best county for education in arguably the best state for education. I appreciate the concern but, don't worry, I am pretty secure when it comes to employment. I'd have to do a lot to not be able to keep my job until I drop dead.

I wasn't so much talking about you specifically.  I was just poiunting out that buying a home is not always better than paying rent.