To think where the hell do they get the money (and time)

[BetteDavisWeLuvU]

Just sat browsing through Instagram. I follow a lot of house reno accounts because up until having DC we were renovating ours, so as well people I follow I also get targeted by other home accs.

Obviously in lockdown I’ve had more time to browse, and am just astounded with the sheer amount of these accounts and how amazing most of them are and I’m just constantly thinking how the f do they afford it, and have time.

I’m pt (only 20hrs) but have a senior role and DH runs his own professional services businesses and is in the high earner tax bracket, we also have a relatively small mortgage living in the north. These seem like normal folks with normal jobs, like us, but there is no way we could afford the scales of these renovations and in the timescales, whole 4/5 bed houses with extensions in 2/3 years.

And before anyone starts it’s not jealousy per se, but more where the f are we going wrong?!? And the time, some of these people have multiple kids, I just don’t understand how you could hold down a job which would pay you the sort of salary you would need to pay for these renos and the quality of fittings (DH works 14 hr days, I worked 11 hr days before DC) along with planning and project managing it all and looking after young children. What are we missing?!?

Nb. Yes know it could be family money etc. in some cases but this unusual, the sheer volume of these accs means it can’t be that. And also yes I know I should spend less time on Instagram!!

We saved for a few years and lived in a mess until then. Full refurb and extension with walls / ceilings ripped down. The works. Both worked full time. Moved out for 6 months while the project took place and rented nearby. Normal 25 year mortgage when we bought it. It was hard but can be done.

[quote BetteDavisWeLuvU]@RandomMess sorry should have also said that unless there’s some kind of youth conspiracy going on most of these couples are in their 20’s/early 30’s so having built up significant equity along the line won’t be the reason. It’s baffling. I need to know where I’m going wrong 😂[/quote]
Yes I have noticed this ( and yes this envy)

I have no idea. Remortgage, bank loans, cards, inheritance, well paid IT jobs..

The ones I’ve seen are big houses ( not ex council houses or newish builds) so not your typical first house. I’m convincing myself they are middle class with rich parents

Inherited wealth, drug dealers, Instagram models

@BrummyMum1 I know!!!

And another thing it’s not the just the capital it’s the time and the mental energy, I have two toddlers (which lots of these people do, babies in some cases) and me have demanding roles which are reflected in what we earn, I just can’t contemplate having that headspace after work and childcare to plan all that.....and then take and post pictures on Instagram?!?

I renovated a property by living in it and doing it up at the same time. Kitchen on interest free credit. Credit cards and overdraft maxed out. Lived in squalor with 2 young kids (single mum, full time shift worker).
Then re mortgaged the house when all the work was done, paid off all debt and took money out of that house for a deposit on the next house. Also took the kids to Florida. So people say as a single mum how do you have multiple houses and go on expensive holidays? Thats how. Borrow to make it possible, work incredibly hard and dont spend money on anything else. No new clothes, perfume, make up. Saw friends occasionally for cups of tea but didnt have the money to go out. Worked so hard at my day job, busy with kids, doing renovations that I thought I would have a break down. People say wow you are lucky how did you do that. By not stopping for years on end. Even now I cant even watch tv or read a book as i cant concente and always have to be doing something.

@Needallthesleep yes! Honestly, I wouldn’t live in that house if I was paid. It’s a semi, for a start, but she manages to take photos in such a way that it doesn’t look like it. And it’s got a north facing garden and kitchen which must be bloody freezing the whole time. I’ve never actually spoken to her, which I find really odd because when I see her out and about I feel like I know her really well, given that she blogs about everything except her periods and when they have sex. We have mutual friends......her actual life is a far cry from the one she blogs about.

@BrummyMum1 I couldn’t agree more.

As with most influencers, they will get items for free or with a substantial "press discount." There's no way they are paying full price for anything. Under advertising law, every influencer should declare these discounts on their grid and in stories, but so many of them do not do this. So they either don't pay anything, or they only pay a nominal amount. Then they receive commission for every purchase made through their links for the products they haven't even paid for. It's dishonest business practice, and it makes people feel inadequate because they cannot afford the same lifestyle. It's all smoke and mirrors.

Which accounts are you thinking of?

If they have reasonably big followings they will get quite a lot gifted or with press discounts. Many of them are quite clever about spacing out their photos so unless you follow them quite closely for a while you don't necessarily realise that they post the same room over and over from different angles. They are also almost never in London.

I really like @victorianadventure for lots of guidance on the details of managing a reno over several years around full-time jobs.

Family money. Fuck-off salaries. Your combined income is enormous (to me) but I suspect we're talking huuuge numbers, especially the ones where they just faff all day – hedge fund husbands. Not living in London so property and builders are cheaper. Lottery wins. Once you hit big on insta you get loads of stuff for free.

There's one woman I follow who has a beautiful house but everything is so expensive. Her daughter's nursery has £400 wallpaper, Farrow & Ball paint, a £50 a metre paper garland?! She posts all the live-long day, with 800 stories where she rearranged all her stuff or "does the garden" (buys stuff, plonks it in garden) but claims to be working, at what?! The husband is in the background, never really mentioned, presumably earning pots of cash.

The frugality is a good Instagram follow – she's quite transparent about the money and what bits are DIY, what bits are gifts, has a beautiful house and is doing a kitchen extension but can't afford a side return one, has loads of not-yet-done rooms she shows you, and a toddler. It's quite realistic. Though still a very "wow" house versus my "smeared in banana and toys" one.

I'm really pleased you posted this op because I think the same thing. I know loads of people like this...it's not necessarily boasting, sometimes you can just see the house in the background of their ordinary photos. Like you say, they have normal jobs...I can only concur that they are in a shit ton of debt

I have noticed lots of people with really amazing looking homes are not living in London

@Churchonsundays @Needallthesleep interesting interesting!! I love her house too! Her furniture/accessories style isn’t my taste but I love the house and the extension, mostly her beautiful garden though, I’ve heard her mention before it’s north facing, she does a bloody amazing job with it considering that! I always thought it was detached - canny. I know she’s super young. But he’s not that old either is he, how did he accumulate his portfolio?

The uber influencer I know is quite normal/ordinary/nice but has a flair for interior design. Has been gifted so much stuff for every single room in the house. They source stuff in charity shops, then transform it, it is interesting how they have achieved so much in so short a time. Say you want a new kitchen, well you get windows/bifolds/doors gifted, then flooring, then units, then worktops, taps, appliances, hey presto you have a new kitchen. It is time consuming but some people are just gifted and knock tv presenters into a cocked hat.

Take Mrs Hinch, you can take the mick about the zoflora thing, but she has 3.5m followers and a houseful of gifted items.

There’s hundreds of reasons why.

I was 30 when I bought my first house and it cost 800k. I paid the full amount, no mortgage, and then spent 200k renovating it over about 8 months. No loans etc.

People must have looked at me and thought how the hell is she affording it? They probably thought I was doing something dodgy! Single mum at the time with 5 kids! I was a sahm for 12 years.

Truth is I’d just divorced, my exh sold some of his shares in his company and gave me half as as a clean break.

NC for this.

I'm not an influencer (the idea!) but I do have a fairly popular house/garden insta and am also in my 20s. It's not THAT popular, I doubt you've seen it, but it's fairly popular. Nowhere near Hinch levels

I'm quite clear that everything is done on a budget, largely because it is, but this I do get lots of comments along the lines of "how on earth did you do this by yourself"

1. bought a house in a cheap area.. Seriously run down cottage. Awkward, awkward layout which I don't think other viewers could get past, but we just wanted four walls of our own. Slept on bare floors at first. Was on the market for years and we put in an offer so cheeky it still makes me cringe. We were so lucky it was accepted.
2. didn't have help from family members financially but did practically, we have relatives who know about the boilers
3. scoured YouTube and Pinterest for ideas, scoured salvage yards and charity shops, put ideas into practice
4. spent every spare minute working on house and garden for about 2 years. I really mean every spare minute 5)haven't been out of the uk since I was a child, no holidays. I have bought maybe 10 new items of clothing in 7 years. Everything is second hand. We worked 6 day weeks when we could 5)we don't go out much, when we do it's hiking, museums, picnics. Cheap and free 6)my style is rustic, so if it is a bit shit you stick a daisy on it and it looks good. 7)DH and I are boring as fuck. We have both had bad experiences as teenagers, which made us prioritise security and a quiet life at a younger age than most, and we're naturally just really dull and content with going for walks and cooking nice dinners at the weekend. We were both called "old souls" as children, which is shorthand for "why is this freaky child collecting stamps and watching Antiques Roadshow" we just aren't into holidays or cars. We also were happy with solid routine jobs rather than lots of retraining/taking career risks, so we've had a fairly dependable income, the downside being it'll only increase so much. I know it's a bit shameful to admit it these days, but I have never been interested in travelling and partying, ever. I tried, I really did, but now I can't even be bothered pretending to like it. I just can't be bothered

So we're the first of our group to buy, and people see us as young to be homeowners, but it's because we've not done much else. It suits us, and we are very happy, but it wouldn't suit everyone. Neither would our house, I doubt most mners would have so much as clicked it on Rightmove

Like I say though, I'm definitely not one of the shiny grey and chrome new build Hinch bunch, I have no idea how they afford it, when we were buying, that sort of house was so far out of our budget it was stratospheric

Being influencers they'll get a lot of stuff gifted to them. Also possibly having friends and family that are tradespeople doing the work for them for cheap. My neighbour opposite moved a builder/lodger in when he bought the house a couple of years ago. They seem to have done very few minor cosmetic changes (replaced carpets and painted everything grey) and have stuck it back on the market for £30k more than they paid for it. No doubt someone will pay close to asking and buy it before too long because it's staged really well.

Never hear of RVKLoves but had a quick glance on her insta. Yes looks to be a lovely house and garden and she clearly has an eye for design. The garden is nothing to complex or expensive to achieve in terms of design, juts cottage garden planting. I see peonies foxgloves and ox eye daisys...

People do absurd, unrealistic accounts on instagram.

However, you can also do things that make a big difference pretty cheaply, depending where you are I landscaped our garden when I was home looking after my DD. We live in an area with sandy soil and it was actually very easy and a good way of amusing DD, but if you lived somewhere with heavier soil, it would be a massive job requiring substantial help. Most of my plants are either grown from seed, swapped with other gardeners, or sourced cheaply from garden centres at the end of the season. My mum gave me 100 allium bulbs she was literally weeding out; they could have cost 250 commercially. I asked someone nearby if I could have the prunings from her hedge and got lovely cuttings of cornus that I wanted.

Similarly, when we moved in our house was a classic wreck, wallpaper falling off the walls, crumbling plaster, lots of mould and damp, and I blitzed through all of that quite fast, because it was mostly cosmetic (and what wasn't cosmetic we can't solve).

I follow a lot of these renovation instagram accounts, and often they make something look very difficult and fancy when it is actually an easy fix. Yes, you could pay someone masses to do the world, so it could cost a bomb ... but you could also do it yourself for pennies. It's definitely the case with interior DIY. You'd spend the same taking children to an amusement park or a soft play.

@teapothouse, you sound lovely. I don't think it's at all 'boring' to have gone through a rough time and to want to have your own house to nurture and make nice.

Lots of influencers get gifted products & paid to do adverts.

@Teapothouse what is your insta? Would live to have a look!

Some get a lot of handouts from
Family

Can I just chime in?
We actually had an influencer living in our street.
A big part of their brand was almost girl about London, her profile gave more than an idea that she was very, very wealthy and owned a house in London.
Except as I've said, she lived in our street. We live an hour + from London. The fancy car she says she drives is definitely not hers. She doesnt drive
Her husbands car isnt the one she has pictures of her in either
Infact, despite giving the idea of an ultra luxe lifestyle, their life is the complete opposite.

I would never judge people by how their lives look online by seeing how different she has made things look.

I also was contacted by an old friend recently and she said she never knew we were so rich, but because it looks like we have a lot of holidays that's what she assumed. We do a lot of very cheap breaks away, but that's the only splurge we really have. When I explained we do weekends away for about the same as a nice meal out we had a laugh about it.

We're in the process of trying to buy right now and due to circumstances don't have a great budget so definitely looking for a fixer upper property and even just doing something as simple as painting and flooring is going to take us months to put money aside to do etc. But on the other hand at least it'll be ours and something we've done off our own backs (wouldn't mind a gifted shark hoover tbf though )

We are coming to the end of an 18 month complete renovation of a large (8 bedroom) Victorian property.

We have both just turned 40.

We did it by:

• using a decent redundancy payment as a deposit on our first house (4 houses ago) so good equity.
• both high-ish earners (£200k+ salary combined)
• moved from an expensive area to a less expensive area (where we grew up, so near family so a good move for us)
• spending every possible waking hour we're not working doing everything we possibly CAN do ourselves in the house, more so in the first 12 months. Stripping walls, labouring, installing floors, painting, etc etc

Absolutely zero help from family or inheritance.