SWEAT EQUITY

I am the banker. I will pay the bills for the project as they arise and account for every dollar.
I am the contractor. I will have the power of the purse and I am the one in the drivers seat. I will make the deals and have the oversight on the project. The buck stops with me.
I am the laborer. I will do the demolition work and the clean up work. I will manage the job sight keeping it orderly and secure.
I am the painter. I will hang and finish the wall board and apply all the finishes.
These cost savings will translate directly into the check we will receive upon closing the sale of this house when we decide to sell.
Through the years of my trade work I consciously developed these skills for this project. However, when I would tell myself when I was mixing mortar under the hot Florida sun that I was doing that so that some day I could mix mud to build a house of my own, I did not believe that the day would really come when I would really do it.
My mother bought a house to fix up and sell for her retirement, but she died before getting it done. That put the idea in my heart. I thought it was a good idea then and an even better one now. Fixing the deficiencies of a good house adds to its value. A fixed up house adds to the value of the neighborhood. I believed in what my mother was trying to do.
These things constitute the “sweat equity” portion of the project. An inventory of my abilities in this regard reveals that I have a large treasure to contribute to our sweat equity. Sweat equity can save money on labor costs. The savings can be realized by getting more and better work done within the budget, which results in a higher profit margin on the sale. But sweat equity is an element that can only come into play when there is sufficient cash to cover the whole project beginning to end.