Look who's handy now: female homebuyers
Jeryldine Tully never expected to join the ranks of single women homeowners. But five years ago, after a series of what she calls rental "disasters," she bought a small brick ranch in St. Louis. There was just one catch: Although the two-bedroom house was structurally sound, the interior needed work.
Ms. Tully's list included ripping up shag carpeting, removing wood paneling, replacing metal kitchen cabinets, plastering a ceiling, and stripping garish floral wallpaper in the bathroom.
"I didn't know what I was getting into," says Tully, public relations director for St. Louis College of Pharmacy.
She has plenty of company. Single women now purchase 1 of every 5 homes, while single men buy just 1 in 10, according to the National Association of Realtors. By 2010, single women - unmarried, divorced, widowed - will own 28 percent of all homes, Fannie Mae estimates.
As they assume mortgages and settle in, many of these women find themselves tackling repairs and renovations once considered the province of men. Already two-thirds of women say they do minor home repairs themselves, while one-quarter do major projects, according to a Home Depot survey.
"It's really important for women to understand how to do small things," says Sarit Catz, who writes a how-to column called "Hammer Glamour" for Dish Magazine. "You can save a lot of money by putting sweat equity in your home. With a little bit of knowledge and the right tools, you'll be surprised how many things you can do around your own house."
Some women handle routine maintenance themselves, such as changing filters or caulking bathtubs, but hire professionals for bigger jobs. Others learn how to deal with emergencies - a clogged sink the night before Thanksgiving or a balky furnace in January. Still others, like Tully, take on long-term renovations.
In the process, these homeowners are creating a growing market for workshops, books, websites, and even tools designed to increase women's skill and confidence. Home-improvement programs on television that once showed women simply handing tools to male experts now feature women doing repairs. In addition, Home Depot's "do-it-herself" workshops have attracted 240,000 women in three years.
For many single women, who may have less disposable income than men, a do-it-yourself approach is a necessity. "When it comes to home repair, we need to be smarter about money," says Lynda Lyday, host of a home-improvement show on the DIY Network. "We need to figure out what we can do ourselves."
For Tully, the need to save money kept her working from 6:30 p.m. to midnight for nearly two years. When she needed advice, she often drew on the expertise of the retired men working at Home Depot.
Eager to maintain her femininity as she wielded power tools, Tully wore earrings, Chanel perfume, and lipstick. She even drew red lips on the white breathing masks she wore while power-sanding. "It made me laugh every time I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror," she says.
Many women need all the humorous moments they can find. Recalling the time and effort involved in creating her "hip and modern" interior, Tully says, "There's definitely satisfaction, but the work got pretty old."
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