Harvesting Profits From YouTube And Scraps: This Couple Built A 2,500-Sq-Ft Home For $40,000, Sold It For $290,000 | Today’s news
A New York couple built their own 2,500-square-foot home for about $40,000 using online tutorials and materials salvaged from local dumps. After selling the property for $290,000, they unexpectedly moved to Florida without a job or permanent place to live, according to an interview with Realtor.com.
Jessica Patrzyk, 34, and her husband left their lives in rural Worth, New York, where they ran several businesses, including a coffee shop, retail stores and a tarot reading service. The couple decided to move south to be closer to the ocean and sold their home and businesses before making the trip.
The move marked a big change for a family that had spent years building a life in upstate New York.
A couple built a house with online instructions
Patrzyk and her husband had no professional construction experience when they decided to build their four-bedroom, three-bathroom home.
The two-acre lot on which the house was built was given to Patrzyk by her grandfather in exchange for a 55-inch television.
The couple relied heavily on YouTube videos to learn construction techniques and completed most of the work themselves. They also installed a water well and septic tank to keep expenses under control.
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Patrzyk sourced several items for the interior from local landfills, including used doors, windows and kitchen cabinets. The completed property featured lofts in every room and a 17-foot climbing wall stretching between the ground floor and upper floors.
Despite its remote location, the unusual house found a buyer within 90 days of being put on the market.
‘Getting in the Car’: A Sudden Move to Florida
Selling the property gave the family the money they needed to move, but the decision to leave New York was made fairly quickly.
“My husband was so scared. We had lived in one place for so long. He thought the idea was crazy — I said, ‘Get in the car,'” Patrzyk told Realtor.com.
“We talked about it for a while, but it ended up being a last-minute decision. I told my family about the move shortly before we started driving to Florida.”
The family packed their belongings into a rented $5,000 moving truck and headed south. At first they stayed in a hotel near Tampa and were looking for a place to live.
65 houses, a yacht and an 18-month lease
Over the course of two weeks, the family viewed more than 65 rental properties in coastal and inland Florida.
At one point they considered buying a three-story motor yacht in Stuart for $275,000 and living on the water. However, the cost of the port and concerns raised by their daughter in front of the minor led them to abandon the plan.
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Their search eventually led them to San Antonio, Florida, where they met a landlord with properties near the Mirada Lagoon development. They ended up signing an 18-month lease on a newly built, six-bedroom home for $3,200 a month.
From business owners to diving instructors
Neither Patrzyk nor her husband had a job lined up before leaving New York.
Patrzyk passed the Florida real estate exam and began working as an agent with 54 Realty. Her husband originally planned to attend fire academy training using veterans benefits, but the program was full, prompting him to explore business courses instead.
The couple later enrolled in the Zero-to-Hero program at Calypso Divers in Tampa Bay. Funded through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Education Benefits, the program trains beginners to become certified PADI dive instructors.
Both now work as professional diving instructors, while Patrzyk continues his career in real estate.
“In New York we had fields – and cows”
Patrzyk said their lifestyle in Florida is vastly different from their previous routine in rural New York.
“In New York, we had fields — and cows,” Patrzyk told Realtor.com.
“In Florida we have skydiving, scuba diving, hot air ballooning, hang gliding, golf, bowling, kayaking, indoor skydiving, swimming with manatees and visiting aquariums.”
The couple’s interest in diving began during a trip to Mexico prior to their move. This experience later helped them turn this hobby into a new career.
Florida Building Code Compliance
While Patrzyk enjoys the greater variety of activities available in Florida, she said adjusting to state building codes has been challenging.
“My husband used to do electrical work there, but there are so many restrictions and permit requirements here that it’s hard to get anything done.”
Still, the family settled into their new life in San Antonio, combining real estate and professional diving work.
During the transition, Patrzyk also turned to the local Buy Nothing Facebook group, through which she found a bed for her daughter and other furniture within a week.
