But I had nobody to tell me how to do it, what to do after I bought it, much less how to remodel it, sell at a whopping profit and do it over and over. I had to learn the hard way. But you don't. You can buy this book, follow her advice and be way ahead of the game!
Who Should Read This Book?
When I bought my first home, all 600 square feet of her, my bedroom was so small that my bed barely fit between the walls and my dresser had to go in another room. I slept on a mattress on the floor in my living room while I waited for my furniture to arrive. That's when my imagination went wild, and I began to worry about what would happen if I turned on a light switch and the light didn't come on. What would I do? How would I fix it? If you've ever been in this spot or experienced similar anxieties, then this book is for you.
The book is directed primarily toward women. That's not to say that men won't benefit from this information, but let's just acknowledge that over the years, women have not been particularly encouraged to participate in home construction. Speaking as a woman, I believe that buying your own home and fixing it up yourself is empowering. It builds self esteem. It's rewarding. And anybody can do it.
Three main topics
Barbara K offers up her own life experiences and explains each topic she tackles by breaking down for the reader in simple terms who the support players are, where one finds them, what they do and what they charge. She divides the book into three areas:
- Buying and selling real estate.
Cleaning up credit, finding a real estate agent, getting a mortgage, making an offer, and then how to negotiate when it's time to sell. Knowing when to sell and how to do it is important if you have plans to trade up your equity. Over the course of nine years in the 1990s, I personally bought, fixed up and sold five houses. Each time I sold, I moved my equity into a more expensive home. By the time I met my husband, I had moved up to a roomy four bedroom, split-level on a lake, which I shared with my two cats. - Basic home construction and its components.
Easy-to-understand explanation of heating, plumbing and electrical systems, including construction of floors, walls, windows and doors. It's enough information to give you a basic understanding of how a home is put together without being overwhelming or boring. - Do It Yourself projects, room by room.
The fun stuff: remodeling. Barbara K covers how to change out flooring, put in a new kitchen, update a bathroom vanity, install new light fixtures, one project at a time. Even if you don't plan to do any of these projects yourself, the information will help you to hire and oversee the work of contractors. Each project explains:- How long it will take
- How much it will cost
- List of materials
- How to do it.
For example, on tiling a backsplash, there are 19 steps that begin by examining the condition of the wall and end with sipping a cup of tea and admiring the handiwork. It's refreshing to find tips that go beyond the basics, which are often overlooked by inexperienced remodelers. For instance, Barbara notes that longer screws are needed to attach switch-plate covers after tiling, because the thickness of the tile moves them farther away from the receptacle box.
The Exterior of the Home
The author devotes all of Chapter 8 to landscaping, improving the exterior, driveways and curb appeal -- items that many home remodelers seem to neglect. I was a little disappointed that she didn't cover two of my favorite topics: building decks and building a garage, both of which I have done by myself. OK, I made my reluctant husband help. And neighbors helped lift the garage walls we constructed and hoisted the microbeam into place.
But if I can do it, so can you, and that's the entire point of Barbara K's book. I hope you find it inspiring. I did. It rates a 10.
Invest in Your Nest, ©2006 Barbara Kavovit, 219 pages. Rodale.
