So I decided to turn that into a new one bedroom apartment.
Man, did I ever need to get creative about my finances and in a hurry. Buying this house was more than just a bit of a stretch for me. Not only did I sink just about all my savings into the house, now the cost of owning the house was steep. I had to replace the entire heating and cooling system along with redoing the home office completely. Those weren’t cheap projects. And the mortgage was steep. While I had it covered, I didn’t have it covered by miles. So when I lost one of my jobs while in the pandemic, I lost half my income. Things got real in a hurry. I reduced everything non-essentials from my spending. Working from my condo that summer time came with a lot less Heating and Air Conditioning cooling as I targeted Heating and Air Conditioning utility costs for savings as well. Still, I just wasn’t quite making it. Then it sort of hit me at the same time. I realized that I had a money maker right underneath my feet. The house came with an almost finished basement. There was a shower and toilet down there along with a separate entrance. So I decided to turn that into a new one bedroom apartment. Most of the work like putting in a vanity and the interior walls was stuff that I could do. But when it came to the heating and cooling, I contacted the Heating and Air Conditioning professionals for help. They put in more than one smaller ductless heat pump at either end of the home to supply even heating and cooling to the whole space. So now, even with one job, I’ve got 70 percent of my mortgage covered with the small apartment.