When I first started buying real estate, I couldn’t afford the house I wanted so I bought the condo I could live with for a few years. It was 1700sq ft and it worked for 8 years. We had three kids when we sold for a huge profit. Buy and Hold is the holy grail of smart and low risk investments—including real estate.

We weren’t about to be landlords but we were also hating the last three we had so we were willing to get a condo we owned instead of the one we were renting. We bought it and over time made affordable changes of our own. I learned a lot of DIy skills and also the magic of paint and decor. Switching out colors, fixtures, and adding a little decor made the place so much better and it was enough. It was meant to be our five year plan until we built enough equity to sell and trade up. It ended up being our 8 year plan but it gave us a substantial cash out when we sold. We made every penny back we put into it and much more. It had doubled in value and we put that down into our next house, also a light fixer, and we had barely a mortgage payment yet over 6,000 square feet now with almost 5 acres of a back yard. We barely had a yard beforehand in the condo. We also bought in a different state because it was worth it to give our kids an amazing life. Happiness isn’t state specific to us, it’s situational and we were willing to do what was best. Good jobs are everywhere so don’t let that hold you back and bad jobs even more so.

Our current home currently has equity but if we hold a couple of years and make simple improvements like paint, refinishing the floors, and giving the kitchen and bathrooms affordable makeovers, it will double soon. You don’t need to gut renovate to make your home a buyer’s delight and in some markets, like our current one, it isn’t even lucrative. We did laminate in our last house and we’re refinishing the hardwood in this house ourselves. It’s easier than you think, and we paint ourselves too. It makes a massive difference to buyers and what offers you’d get, and time, builds equity in the meanwhile so don’t rush at all. Take your time and make the changes slowly. When we got the deposit from our first home sale, it was nearly $300k in our bank after closing! That was our down payment in our new home and we avoided PMI so we got a lot of home for little money. What a way to live rich when you’re not!!

But how? Don’t buy the house you dream of yet. Buy a two or three bedroom (we actually converted our condo den into a third bedroom just by making the wall a little longer and putting in a closet and door. It was cheap and easy with instant equity added. We knew our kids could share a room and we knew short term goals made long term goals a reality. It was better than an apartment and we could make it our own without any more bad landlords not fixing things and showing up at 6am unannounced. It’s like flipping property but living in them and making lemonade with lemons to get you to your dream home. You don’t have to live in a reno zone either.

If that’s not possible in your area, consider moving somewhere cheap for a couple of years or buying a rental to make some cash flow while that house holds equity over time. Then sell and take the money for a down payment on a house you can afford thanks to the investment you made in a home you want.

Buy a house in the south or Midwest to live or rent for 3-5 years while you keep working and when you sell, you’ll have plenty down to qualify for what you couldn’t before. You can also rent out a room and save that in an HYSA for a down payment. There are more ways too and places that are affordable and bring equity growth. It takes just a little research.

I help clients achieve the impossible so email me your situation and I can help if you’re open to suggestions and open minded to long term solutions. 📧 jenniferlarsonent@yahoo.com