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

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, ever, under any circumstances, think that you’ve finally done everything that needs doing.

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.

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.

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

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 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.

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.

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.

Bought cheap and underestimated the effort needed to make it your ideal. At least that’s my experience. It can get overwhelming at times but I find a certain peace I’m taking it as the demon you know. I get a lot of bugs in the spring when the weather starts to warm and it’s damn annoying, but know that when the weather gets more stable they’ll leave and I can get back to normal. It’s sort of a zen thing to recognize that it’s almost 100 years old, so yeah, there are going to be some annoyances, can’t call it unexpected.

Basically just make it your own, and do what you can when you can. Unless you’re rich and have all the resources/time in the world there’s no point in getting in a panic that it can’t all be done at once.

Drop of water depends on where the water is. Watch online videos to diagnose problems, it’s the opposite of doing this for personal health. People have some crazy cheap ways to address issues.

Crack, draw a line parallel to the crack on each side. Measure it and it on the wall. Check back and see if the measurement is changing. Patch it if it’s stable. If it’s not stable, probably not good news, start with videos of what others have done.

Ants are the easiest. There are barrier sprays that will keep out any insects. Fall instructions on the product but typically just spray it on the outside of the foundation once a year.

Houses are over engineers to stay standing up so don’t worry too much. The expensive stuff will come around ever couple decades like roof replacement so plan for that but most everything can be remediated with little effort, especially if you don’t care how it looks. You said it’s a fixer up, each patch is just another layer to its character.

You mention ant - if I may recommend, it’s worth getting a bug guy to look over your house. I would make sure to get the ones where they have entomologists on staff instead of cheap Joe’s Bug Service. Especially if you live in a place where there are termites, you want to get ahead of that.

Learn how to fix things in your house and it will give you the confidence to stop worrying about every little thing or sound.