Sweat Equity: What You Need to Know

Q. SWEAT EQUITY - What does it mean?

A. If your home was ever considered a place to just hang your hat, reconsider the thought carefully. It is the greatest asset you can have as few things in life acquire equity. So you have to think of how to improve it's value, what to do, when to do it and when not to.

First off, when you hire someone, lets say at $40 per hour and you have a job that pays $30 an hour; it does not make sense to do the work yourself. Now if this statement sounds strange, think about this. The guy or gal that is performing the work is paying for insurances that you would not. Do not carry the types of insurances that they do is asking for trouble.
The worse part is that they more likely know more than you. To top it off, they have the tools. No offense to the experienced homeowner but there are just some tools that you cannot afford to buy for a one time use and call it a "good investment". Renting tools is always the best option but when it gets right down to it, can you afford the time to do this, get the materials and still do as good as they can for under $40 per hour? Didn't think so.

Secondly, are you really honest with yourself? Have you ever said I can do that in x amount of time only to find out it took many more hours to get it done and maybe it was not done right? It is the good old theory of "I can do that, for less money and it will be the best." Ok, so who is going to repair the bad parts if it needs to get done right? It makes that $40 per hour look pretty good.,
You have a girlfriend, boyfriend, wife, husband, and family; do they enjoy spending time with you, and you with them? Do you plan weekend outings, trips, quality time together, and school night activities? Well it is time to say goodbye to it all if the project is over your head to begin with. You better get a large calendar as the evenings and weekends may be gone for quite some time. It will drain you of spare time, that golfing you enjoy, that TV show you are addicted to or just make you so tired that you cannot perform well at your normal job. This is what I call Imagination Gone Wild.

I have always gotten a laugh out of the "sweat equity" statements. When this first came about, it was the best marketing tool around to get more potential homeowners to build their new home, maybe that nice addition or some interior improvements that required a professional to start it off and then you finish it. You probably heard the stories, "we will build the foundation and rough frame it, and you can do the rest, trust me." Yeah, right! The words echoed in your head at night, the next day you go buy that dream package and then it hits you, "what I thought I was saving is not saving anymore" unless you were absolutely honest with yourself. This seems to be the one major flaw with everyone, lack of honesty within us.
Maybe you should have asked some more questions to yourself? You know that Imagination Gone Wild stuff. The questions should have been:

Do I have the tools and know how to use them?
Do I know how things went together so I can take it apart?,
Can I totally envision what I want for an end product?
Do I really have the time to do this and sustain my 40-hour a week job?
Do I really know my own limitations?
For those that are so lucky, they can save money-doing things themselves. It is a heavy commitment and burden on the entire family. The sweat equity game is in the mind of the beholder. If you can believe it and are honest with yourself, do it. If not, reconsider your options.

To make sweat equity really work for you and not against you, you really need to understand the scope of the project. This means reading blueprints, if applicable, how to schedule the job, knowing what goes first, why and when to order things and when to install them and avoid the one step forward and two step back routine. What you do as a game plan should be followed. Once you start a project, you cannot go back and start over or you will be losing money! If you need to hire someone professional to do part if not all of it, then do not hesitate. It is going to be money well spent as we are talking about an investment that should have return at time of sale.

Advice: A good Do-it-Yourself project is one that you "honestly" can do it all yourself. Simple answer but hard for most to accept.