I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned it, but we got our house cheap — like, really cheap. $32,500 with 5% down and a 2.65% 30-year mortgage cheap. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a sizeable backyard with no neighbors behind us… listen, you can pry this house from my cold dead hands.
The downside to a cheap house? It was outdated. Built in 1957 with odd updates here and there throughout, though mostly everything was still original — and not in good shape. Still, it was livable, and with us just starting out in our new careers the mortgage payment was more than feasible.
We did updates when we could, taking on quite a bit of debt thanks to a HELOC to do so. While we haven’t gotten around to updating our upstairs bathroom which is literally falling apart, we did update the first floor bathroom… and then a storm hit in late June 2024 which flooded the bathroom and kitchen, and so we had to tear it all out and start over again. It’s 2026 and that bathroom has literally been half-gutted this entire time, since we haven’t had the time to think about a bathroom remodel let alone the money. Well, technically we had the money, but I’ve been really focused on buying more assets (i.e. stocks, rentals) so I’ve been more or less fine with really only having our upstairs falling-apart-piece-by-piece bathroom.
Anyway, coming up on the two year anniversary of that storm, I’ve finally decided to put off investing for 2-3 months in order to get the downstairs bathroom done. Usually I’d have my regular contractor do the work since I know I could get it done for half the labor price, but (1) we want it done ASAP, (2) we want someone who is good with details and tile, and (3) I want to keep my guy working on whatever project I’ve got him on. So, we’ll be paying a bit more, but that’s okay.
Here’s what the bathroom looks like currently, untouched since it was half-gutted from the June 2024 storm:
Yeah… the prison jumpsuit orange was a mistake, okay?
Anyway, here’s what we’re kind of trying to go for with the newly-remodeled version:
Obviously it’s not going to come out exactly like this, but it’s a blueprint of sorts.
The remodel is set to start this upcoming week, so I’ll be sure to make another post with photos and details once all is said done… and then I’ll make an end-of-the-first-half-of-2026 update post to fill everyone in on what’s new finance-wise. Boy, is there a lot to talk about… and not all of it is good news.
Talk soon!
– Alex
Neurotic Finance 