How’d You Get That House? speaks to people across the country who are navigating a complicated housing market. Here, a family of five in rural Maine who considered homes in multiple states before landing on a farmhouse fixer-upper that left them mortgage-free.

Erica Craig (interviewed here), a human resource executive at a health care center who also writes fiction on the side
Annual salary: $228,000

Adam Craig, a stay-at-home dad who homeschools the family's three children and renovates their home
Annual salary: $0

A four-bedroom, two-bath, 6,000-square-foot, early-1800s farmhouse with two barns—and lots of potential—in rural Maine

Initial budget: $100,000

Actual amount spent: $76,600

Monthly mortgage: $0 (paid all cash)

The couple, along with their three children, moved from a three-bedroom, two-bath rental with 21 acres in New Jersey.

We had been renting for about five years while we saved up enough money to buy a house with cash. At that point, we were sick of renting and ready to make our move.

We began seriously looking in the spring of 2017. We bought our home a little over one year later in May of 2018. We were looking for something cheap; my husband is a talented carpenter and taught himself how to do electrical work and plumbing, so were up for renovating.

We looked in Maine and Vermont because we had family ties to those states and spent our summers there, and we also looked in Virginia and North Carolina. We had previously lived in Virginia and loved it, and there were some good prices in those states, as well.

We looked at hundreds of places online and visited about six homes in person—that was mainly due to the travel from New Jersey each time we wanted to see something.

We really enjoyed looking. I loved envisioning ourselves in the home, planning out the things we could do to the place and how we would reimagine it if it was ours. The process was a bit cumbersome, because looking for a home in a different state than you currently live is tough, but we mostly didn't mind. I think my husband was less patient and just wanted to pick something, but our price range was so low and the places we saw were in such disrepair that we really had to be critical.

We had a few musts: Most importantly, the home had to be in a place with high-speed internet for my work options. We wanted an old farmhouse style; we'd lived in 200-year-old homes before and really liked the charm of something with history. We also wanted a safe neighborhood or town.

Prior to buying this place we signed a contract on another place, then got spooked by the home and the work needed (bad vibes!) and backed out. Our real estate agent helped tremendously in that process and was able to get our deposit back and smooth it over so we had no loss there.

We picked our current home because of the location. We liked that it was less than an hour from my grandmother's home in Maine and our family summer home on Chebeague Island. It was one of the places that we saw with quality high-speed internet, which in rural Maine, Vermont, Virginia, and North Carolina is actually difficult to find. Many of the places we considered had to be ruled out because they only offered satellite internet.

We liked that the home was large and had some unusual features for the time it was built, like high ceilings and tons of exposed beams, two original mantels, tin ceilings in one room, and original floors in a few rooms.

We compromised on land, this home only having about one acre; we wanted more space and were used to expansive properties, but were unable to get that here. But it is in the heart of an adorable Maine village, and I was not expecting how much I would love walking to restaurants or the coffee shop, or even just having sidewalks and crosswalks and a community that I have grown to know and like.

I bought my first home alone when I was 20—a condo in New Jersey that sold it three years later very easily; I had multiple offers over asking price in the first week. My husband and I bought our second home, also in New Jersey, in 2006 before we were married. In 2008 we were severely underwater in that home, were in a bad financial situation, and completely stuck. We waited it out, but nine years later were still not above water. We had two bad mortgages and had to file bankruptcy. We lost that home after nearly a decade of never making a late payment.

That changed everything for me and we decided we never wanted to borrow money again, ever, for anything, even a house. We primarily used Dave Ramsey's program as a guide and spent the next four years paying off all our debt and saving cash for a home.

We rented at that time. We had three children by then and rented nice homes in suburban neighborhoods in Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey, as I moved around for work often at that time. My income grew at that time with all the moves and we repurposed relocation bonuses that I received to pay down debt, opting to do all the moves on our own and bank the cash. We also sold things on Ebay and scraped money from all sorts of places to accelerate the process.

Being debt free and buying this house in cash was the singular best move of my financial life. The peace and freedom that I have knowing I own my home outright is immeasurable.

I will say, we grossly underestimated the time and expense of renovating. My husband, even with his vast knowledge, really missed the mark on how long it would take to renovate, so that has been slower than anticipated and something I wish I'd have known. We've been renovating for nearly six years and have a few more years to go, so there is ongoing cost to that, but it is completely in our control as to how and when we spend money. That has slowed other investing goals that we have, like buying rental property and a summer home.

When we bought the home, it was a complete mess—no kitchen, no mudroom, no working bathrooms, no finished spaces, more than half the house had no electrical wiring, no furnace, no fireplaces, no insulation or walls in most places. We have tackled some of the major renovations, including the kitchen, two bathrooms, four bedrooms, library, and den. When we are complete it will be close to 6,000 square feet, six bedrooms, four full bathrooms, and some extra rooms like a library. Anytime I get slogged down with renovations, or annoyed that a section is not complete, I think, well, at least I have no mortgage. That helps me feel comforted.

The road is a little busier than I might have wanted—the speed limit is 25; people go faster—but we have managed that too.

We don't have any immediate plans to move, but I also know that we won't retire here, the home is too large for just two people and there is a lot of maintenance involved in a 200-year-old home in Maine with weather and upkeep, plus the barns! But the good news is that we have options and a huge financial investment on our hands. We bought for $76,600 and believe that we could sell, even now, for over $500,000, and when our renovations are done, for even more.

This was a great move for us, even in its imperfect ways. This home has helped set my family up for larger savings and investing for retirement and the growth of assets that will take us in a very short time from bankruptcy to a million dollar net worth and I need to thank our old house for being a huge part of that. What's fun about perfection anyway.

How’d You Get That House? speaks to people across the country who are navigating a complicated housing market. Here, a woman in her late 30s who left New York City for Gainesville, Florida and stuck to her budget.

Erin Leigh Patterson, 39, vice president of marketing
Annual salary: between $150,000 to $200,000

A two-bedroom, two-bath, 1,200-square-foot cottage in Gainesville, Florida with an attached garage

Initial budget: $300,000

Actual amount spent: $257,000

Down payment: $12,850

Monthly mortgage: $1,800

Erin Leigh moved from a one-bedroom apartment in New York City's Upper West Side to her hometown of Gainesville, Florida.

"I never planned on leaving New York, but after the pandemic it was really different for me. I had the chance to keep my job and be near family so I decided to move back to my hometown. 

I was single at the time—it was just me and my dog Poptart—and I wanted to take advantage of the market if I could. The interest rates were still low (it was February 2022), and since I had a chance to save money during COVID while I was living with my parents, I didn't want to "wait" until I had a partner.

I was totally okay with it if buying didn't work out, which I think helped me have patience for the process. I was ready to rent if that was going to be the best option."

"I wanted a two-bedroom, two-bath place that was move-in ready, low maintenance—assurance I wouldn't need to be fixing a lot of things right away—and a space to work since I work from home.

I didn't want to go from a small NYC apartment to some sprawling suburban estate I would have to care for—I don't want to own a lawnmower! I started looking for condos and my realtor convinced me to look in the neighborhood where I ended up buying. The neighborhood had an HOA for a lot of the maintenance, and the lots are small so I'm close to neighbors' houses; I don't feel so isolated, which was a fear of mine.

I only spent one real day looking—though I had been driving around and planning finances for weeks. Also, at that time you had to make an offer basically immediately before the house was off market, so I had to decide quickly which was a good thing for me since I tend to stew on decisions if I'm given too much time. 

I had a great realtor (a family friend) who told me about a house in my now-neighborhood going on the market. We went and looked at it and it was definitely my style and the size I wanted. I saw another one on Zillow in the same neighborhood having an open house which I also saw."

"I put in an offer on both of the homes I saw—and both offers were actually accepted. That felt wild to me because each house had gotten multiple offers. I ended up choosing the house I found on Zillow because I knew I liked the neighborhood, the list price was a little lower, and it had some updates which I appreciated—a newer roof, new A/C, and a new deck. But it also could use some updates, like new kitchen cabinets and countertops, which meant it cost less."

"Before I even started looking, I got approved for a mortgage. I let the lender know how much I wanted my monthly payment to be, including HOA fees, property tax, and mortgage insurance. That let me know my budget was about $300,000. I told my realtor I did not want to look at houses over that amount so I wouldn't be tempted to spend more. I was lucky to be buying in an area and at a time when that was realistic.

Where I bought, you really only need to put five percent down. If you can do 20 percent it's a little better because you can avoid mortgage insurance. However for me, it made more sense to put five percent down and pay the mortgage insurance because the equivalent amount in an investment account can make more money than I would save.

I had money for the down payment because (again!) I am very lucky—I want that to be very clear. Yes, I have worked hard with what I've been given, but I know many people aren't given as much as I was. When the pandemic hit I went to my parents' house to isolate with my family. This was the better option for me than working from home alone in NYC. I acknowledge that my parents are safe people and we get along well, and they had space for me to be comfortable and not everyone has this. I didn't pay rent for an entire year. I was able to save that money which gave me cash to use for the down payment."

"I did have a situation with the plumbing after I moved in and had to pay $700. If I had been paying a higher mortgage payment, or needed to pay a bigger down payment, I would have been in much worse financial situation when that came up. I also had to buy a new washer and dryer, and a good bit of furniture due to gaining a lot more space than I'd had previously. While I could have afforded a little "more" house, I am glad I stuck with what I really wanted—a smaller mortgage payment.

I love owning my own home. It's fun to know that what I do to it is what I will enjoy—or profit from. I started to do renovations at first and got overwhelmed so decided to revisit that in the future. I also enjoy the fact that I'm not relying on a landlord to possibly change rent year over year. That said, I think renting is a great option for a lot of people and it was for me for many years—I only bought in my late 30s. If I couldn't have comfortably afforded what I have, I would have not bought and would advise the same for anyone thinking about it. Yes, rent can be "sunk cost" but so is property tax. I would always advise to prioritize the type of life you want to live versus "homeownership no matter what."

How’d You Get That House? speaks to people across the country who are navigating a complicated housing market. Here, a couple in their late 30s from Queens who recently came into money, but still felt squeamish about the nearly $1 million price tag for a historic fixer upper. 

Larisa Courtien (interviewed here), a director of marketing at a reproduction tech start-up
Annual salary: about $185,000

Michael Courtien, a director of systems and sports financing at a sports and entertainment venue
Annual salary: roughly $150,000

A three-bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2,000-square-foot 1930s detached, single-family home with a fully-finished basement in Forest Hills, Queens, a suburb outside of New York City.

Initial budget: $800,000

Actual amount spent: $900,000

Down payment: $80,000

Monthly mortgage: $6,000

The couple moved from a three-bedroom, 1.5 bath, 1,500-square-foot rental home in Forest Hills, Queens, a suburb outside of New York City. 

“We were outgrowing our space. It was our pandemic home and served us well—it felt gigantic when we moved in; one friend even called it ‘cavernous’ when he visited. But after having our second child, we needed more room. My two-year-old had a significantly-smaller bedroom and the house only had one full bath, which made it hard to host my family who often visits from out of state. Also, I work from home, but only had a tiny corner in my bedroom. I needed an official office space.”

“We've lived in Forest Hills for four years and can’t imagine being anywhere else. The school system is one of the best in New York and we have made so many strong friendships here.   

Skyrocketing prices in the area led us to believe that home ownership was just not going to be in the cards for us. But after seeing some of our peers buy around here, and knowing their salaries and their general monthly income and expenses, my husband and I revisited the idea. 

I was also given the “I AM” manifestation journal, which introduced me to the law of attraction, and the “I Am a Mom Boss“ book that talks about mindset and how you need to be open to possibilities and not set in your ‘predetermined story.’ Once I realized I needed to be more open about home ownership, I started writing, We own a beautiful home in Forest Hills. A big part of manifesting is writing something as if it has already happened. Suddenly things started moving.

I looked for money in places I didn’t realize I could look, like retirement accounts with minimal penalty for taking out funds, and because we were more open, my husband's family shared they would contribute financially. 

After three months of looking at online listings, we toured three houses. In November, we saw a home on a Monday and had an accepted offer by Friday. The inspection showed that unfortunately it needed more work than we could handle. There was evidence of brown mold.

A week later we saw two more homes. We put in an offer for both—I actually used ChatGPT to write the offer letter—and got one accepted offer.”

“I married someone who luckily has generational wealth. We pulled 50 percent of our down payment from our retirement accounts and savings, and the other 50 percent came generously as a combination of an inheritance and a cash gift from his family. I felt a little guilty, but overall so grateful. Without that generosity, owning a home in this neighborhood of New York City, where my in-laws have lived for years, would not be possible. There is a ton of privilege in our story, but I think that is how home ownership is—family is always helping. Not that many people acknowledge it. But receiving the money was definitely eye-opening about how difficult it is to buy a home without help.”

“We were not madly in love with the home because it needed a ton of updating. I wanted a house that was move-in ready. We also wanted to live within a very specific section of Forest Hills, and the home was one block outside of it and further from the train than we originally wanted.

But we looked at it as an opportunity to stay in the community and make the dated home our own. That ended up working in our favor. The home was listed at $930,000, but needed a decent amount of work, so we saved almost $30,000 off the asking price.

It wasn’t all compromises. We knew we wanted a basement and two full baths—and the house had both.

Most importantly, it's a chance to build equity and generational wealth for our children. As the child of immigrants, I'm always worried about the amount of money we’ll be able to leave behind.”

“Our mortgage is high and the biggest monthly expense we’ve ever had as a couple. Our goal right now is to build up our savings account to prepare for emergencies, so I’m back on my buy-nothing craze. Putting down the $3 bread for the $2.49 bread kind of craze. 

We’re also saving for repairs. We’d like to update our kitchen in a year and the bathrooms in two years. Eventually we’d love to add an outdoor deck and pool, as well as redo the basement and finish the attic. Lots of big dreams here, but one step at a time.”