How has the pandemic been treating you, Bingers? I am pretty sure many of our plans were put on hold because of the global crisis that practically put the world on hold. Be it travels or new career moves, things were affected. As for me, I have been planning to get my own house and move out of my parents’. But things did not go to plan, instead I made it my project to renovate our house and make it a more exciting workplace while I am on Work from Home setup. Here’s my story.
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Every Young Millennial’s Dream of Owning A House
Since I graduated in 2014, it has been a part of my long-term plans to buy my own house before I reach my mid-30s. To many, this seems like a far-fetched idea given the steep price of real estate properties in the country. In Metro Manila alone, a 30sqm studio unit at a prime location starts at P3 Million! And that’s just the bare unit. Before March 2020 when we were still reporting in the office in BGC, I used to rent a TINY room for P5,000 a month. And that was the best deal I found yet. Still, I felt bad about my living condition then, not gonna lie.
So, one night while I was lying in bed in the tiny room I was renting, the thought of buying a condo unit in Manila popped in my mind. But the cons outnumbered the pros, with the cost of it leading the list. I mean, I asked around with real estate agents and looked online for mortgage calculators such as this one on Mortgage Calculator UK, and damn, the cost overwhelmed me! lol
Why Buy A New House When You Can Renovate?
And then the pandemic happened. Our company required us to work from home and as for me, I let go of the unit I was renting and headed back to our house in the province. A year into it and I am now so accustomed to it. My initial plan of buying out a house of my own evolved into renovating our house and making it a great workspace.
Since I wanted to limit the outside interaction as much as possible, I did most of the renovating by myself.
- Find a spot to renovate.
- Look for pegs online (Pinterest, blogs, YouTube, etc…)
- Allot a budget for the project.
- Buy the materials needed for the renovation.
As for me, I found a WFH spot in our living room. Initially, I just wanted to place a desk in there for my laptop but then it grew. I got the desk that I wanted, bought an office chair. Just when I thought that was enough, I also added two tanks of aquarium: a 15 gal for my kois and a 5 gal for my betta. Also, I bought a Coocaa 42″ Android TV to upgrade our 32″ Smart TV. I mean, one of the perks of working at home is I get to stream Netflix while working.
So, there you have it, Bingers! Hope this story inspires you to renovate your homes during the pandemic. Or if you want to pursue investing on real estate, you can see an estimate of your computations monthly.
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