How I Got Into
Remodeling Houses 

fixer-upper house

I started remodeling houses by accident by fixing up my first home.

Now I call it my Creative Profession.

No Boss, No Employees, and No Customers. 

Work freely, on your own time schedule, how and as anyway you please.

That's all there is to it, but here's my background story to see how I did it.

I'm sharing my story with you to show you what it takes so you can continuously do home improvements or take it to the next level to become a beginner investor and get into real estate investing.

I learned my core discipline from an early age. You have a discipline too, when you think about it.

The lesson I learned from my Mother at a very young age, about 7 years old I was like any child asking and wanting everything I seen. 

Raised in a large family of 8, my parents were quite comfortable with saying, "NO" to the daily wants and begging of 6 children.

Just like the banks today rejecting us for frivolous loans.

My Mother Said It Over and Over...

"You can have Anything you Work For!"

Cutting grass and shoveling snow for .50 cents per house was my income starting about age 6 or 7.

Saving that money all year was money I used to buy Christmas gifts for my family.

I worked pulling a lunch bag full of weeds for .10 cents to run to the store to buy a bottle of soda. Got what I wanted!

front wall remodel

Remodeling Houses is not much different. We can have anything we work for!

The discipline to work, for what ever I wanted, at a young age, carries on in my life to work at remodeling houses.

Either for a nicely remodeled home or for remodeling houses for income.

My first house needed home improvements. Here's how I went about that.

From High School to the Factory I started earning union scale wages at 18 years old. (That only lasted 2 years), however... 

I was spending my money on dating, buying things for myself, and eating in restaurants everyday... No savings!

Words of Wisdom

My Father only said it once, in very few words.

In a matter of fact way, he took me to the side and said,

"Son, many new workers buy fancy new cars, a smart person would buy a home".

He never repeated himself. Lesson learned!

I understood the lesson and started saving money immediately to buy a home.

Buying a home was a tough goal with only 6 months on the job.

Getting a mortgage in 1977 had strict guidelines, I needed 20% down.

I stopped wasting my money and saved up $2,000 in 3 months.

I needed $6,000 for a down payment on an older house and quickly found a house to I wanted to buy.

My First Private Investor

I had proven discipline and a track record for working for what I wanted! That's what it takes for a private investor to consider us and back us to buy a house.

A bank or a hard money lender wants collateral!

A private lender is more lenient to loan us money when

  • They know us personally,
  • Noticed our work ethics,
  • And see our disciplines!

My Father took out a $5,000 loan at the Credit Union to help me buy my first house.

I had my $2,000 to invest and a good track record of discipline for work and saving money to get what I set out to get, a home. He considered me as a safe risk.

My promise was to pay my mortgage, and pay the Credit Union loan before spending money on things and restaurant food. I kept my promise. That was very important!

I paid off the loan from my Father in 8 months, I'm very proud of that!

More importantly he was proud of me which shows the importance of motivation, and to finish what I start with any project.

Completed front wall remodel

Remodeling houses takes money to buy materials.

If you do-it-yourself like me you could save up to three times the amount and more on home improvements.

I say, "Triple Your Profit" with do-it-yourself remodeling", that's for the investor.

If your renovating your home, you can "Triple Your Savings" with do-it-yourself home improvement remodeling repair. Construction and Contractors' labor is the highest cost of remodeling houses.

You'll be quite proud of yourself remodeling houses for yourself and showing off to your projects to your friends and family.

Don't worry about making mistakes, you'll get better with practice! Besides, most of the time little mistakes are not noticeable. Start with small projects and work your way up.

You'll find the "How-To" projects through out this Ask-The-Rehabber® website.

You can see rehabber answers to questions if you would like to ask me and the experts a question.

The best instructions are the manufacturers instructions found in the building material packaging.

Many of the sales people selling those products may offer wonderful suggestions to help you.


Where would you like to go from here...

Top of this page: Remodeling Houses

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