Don’t tell me… I’m 36 years old. Five years ago, I bought my house—an old one in a small town here in Spain that needed a complete renovation, including the roof. After four years of very, very hard work, mostly done by myself, I managed to restructure the house. I redid everything except the exterior walls. I moved in six months ago. So, here’s what happened: last month, some workers were installing new fiber optic cables for the whole street. They climbed onto my roof without asking and drilled a hole in it to run the cables—without my consent. For the past two weeks, I’ve been battling the fiber company and insurance to get this fixed. Meanwhile, I’ve had a bucket in one of my rooms for two weeks, and the room is now full of humidity and mold. The entire ceiling, which is made of drywall, needs to be completely redone. My hair is falling out nonstop—I’ll be bald like a light bulb in a couple of months if this keeps up.

NEVER start a plumbing project when the hardware or big box stores are closed.

Learn to fix these things.

I get ants turn up maybe once a year during summer. putting some ant killer powder down when they show up usually sorts them out.

DIY isn’t too hard, plenty of vids on youtube about how to do more or less everything.

I did all the laminate flooring in the top floor of my sisters house using nothing but youtube, a dremmel and a mitre saw.

I probably should have invested in a laminate cutter in hindsight but i got it done

Never, ever, under any circumstances, think that you’ve finally done everything that needs doing.

Maybe take a moment to appreciate the incredible privilege you have to own your home. Nearly everyone reading this will never get to own a home.

Depends on the condition of the home. Make sure you get a good inspection before buying and understand the ramifications of anything they find if you go ahead with a purchase. Things that eventually need to be replaced, likely in the lifetime you’ll own it, are the water heater, refrigerator (assuming it is cheaper than replacing the compressor), HVAC and roof. Not terrible but you have to budget for it. Since you say you live in a “fixer upper” I’d say just keep it so it doesn’t leak. Don’t worry about ants as long as you keep all of your food sealed up and they aren’t carpenter ants. If they are then you need an exterminator.

You WILL find the occasional bug, odd noise, scheduled repairs and replacements, etc. These aren’t causes for panic. I can do most basic repairs but I leave plumbing and bigger electrical jobs to pros because they require specific skills, familiarity with the issues and lots of tools I wouldn’t need again. Yard maintenance is just work. I call it my “gym” lol.

My mortgage payments will go down over time unlike rent that just goes up. On the downside my property taxes and insurance costs have gone up as the value of my home has gone up. I have great neighbors also.

I know it is cheesy, but look at every maintenance project as an opportunity for learning a new DIY skill.

Start going to garage sales and flea markets to collect tools.

It helps if you can chitchat with someone IRL about mutual homeowner issues.

Homeownership is man’s continuous battle against water.

So many people who are mentally and cognitively bankrupt own houses. They never do any maintenance on them, or if they do, they never do it right. And yet, their houses aren’t (always) falling apart.

Houses are more sturdy than our anxieties convince us. Fix things little by little as they come, prioritize what comes first. Your house won’t fall apart or blow up. This is what I tell my wife when she gets nervous about something creaking.

Not really much advice other than being proactive about issues, but it is funny how concerned you quickly become with all types of water once you own a home. Rain intrusion, drainage in the yard, leaky pipes, dripping noises, frozen pipes, gutters, humidity, water heater, storms, etc, etc. It’s a real menace and so are squirrels (as I also found out after purchasing a home).

I don’t have a fixer-upper per se, but the dude who flipped my place to sell it really cut corners. I do as many repairs myself as I can. I consult the Internet, local hardware shops, and people I know who have done home repairs. I’m currently dealing with a toilet that won’t stop running unless I cut the water supply to it. I know that I need to replace all the parts in the tank, but I haven’t been able to make it to the hardware store to get the parts.

Also redneck engineering temporary fixes is totally a valid strategy. My parents put flex seal on a fucked up part of their roof and it kept the leaks at bay for 4 years. It could have lasted longer, but they got the whole thing replaced.

My screen door is broken, and I haven’t been able to replace it, so I have it tied open and held in place against my porch railing with some yarn. In bad storms, before it broke really bad, I used duck tape to keep it shut so it wouldn’t go flapping around.

Parts of my porch siding (plastic lattice) would also start blowing around in bad storms, so I used spare boards to prop everything in place until I was able to cut all the lattice down.

You get used to being house poor. You learn how to budget how much it really costs you to live.

It beats paying someone else’s bills. That’s for sure

When you think things are bleak as far as repairs/maintenance, look to local lenders in your community. Unless you made a significant down payment they probably sold your mortgage to Freddie but they still can give you loans on your home equity especially if going to pay for things that are going to put more equity in your home.

Remember this is a marathon and not a sprint. So think in long terms for fixing things. Even if you sell the house having something done correctly will increase the value. Fix something and maintain as best as possible to keep it working or as high value. This feels best if you do it room by room so you can enjoy the things you fixed.

I remember going from being super excited that I owned the walls and fixtures around me to then realising I owned the walls and fixtures and no-one else was going to fix them. Not everything needs doing now though, so separate the issues into things you can live with, mid-term renovations and now things.

Oh, and always remember you’re not paying off someone else’s mortgage anymore!

Learn/Improve your DIY skills, most things that need fixing around the house are actually pretty simple to do yourself

I learned to fix it. Before YouTube, that usually means not so great. But now, I usually do at least as good as a job as the people I’d hire.

Fixing stuff is easy, and you have to accept that there’s no perfect fix.

Ants, set out ant bait traps. Look outside and see if there’s a trail, follow it to the source, and spray it with ant poison.

Cracks, YouTube that. They may be nothing.

Leaks, if it’s plumbing, you can buy pipes at home Depot and replace them.

Granted, it will take a while. Maybe all day. But you’ll get an endorphin rush when it’s done and eventually you’ll come to know all the ins and outs of your house.

But it’s you look at it and it’s too big, Google a company to do it. Even if you’re halfway, and find you’re stuck. No shame in getting help. This shines you don’t have a family member or friend who’s already handy.

But really, if you can’t fix it, can’t afford to have it fixed, just do what you can to keep the house clean and work on it a little bit or put aside money till you can. That’s hard, but that’s owning a house. Like anything in life, it’s difficult. But it doesn’t have to stay that way, with enough time and practice.

You’re already smarter than many, asking for other’s opinions. Don’t suffer in silence. I believe in you!