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Networth and Chill with Your Rich BFF

How YOU Can Afford a House in 2026!

Networth and Chill with Your Rich BFF

Vivian Tu

Business, News, Careers, Entrepreneurship, Business News

4.81.8K Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2026

⏱️ 57 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Vivian sat down with Elizabeth and Ethan Finkelstein, founders of "Cheap Old Houses," and hosts of HGTV's Who's Afraid of a Cheap Old House, for a conversation about home ownership in the modern era. 1. How Ethan and Elizabeth turned a passion for affordable homes into a 2.9 million follower movement, and why they believe a cheap old house is actually a smarter financial move than a brand-new build. 2. The green flags and red flags to look for when buying a fixer-upper, how much money and time to realistically budget for a renovation, and which projects you can DIY versus when to call a pro. 3. How to find deals that never show up on Zillow, what resources exist to save money during renovation, and the secrets behind buying a house for $27K at auction. Keep up with the Finkelsteins' on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cheapoldhouses/, watch their HGTV show Who's Afraid of a Cheap Old House, and grab a copy of their book at https://www.cheapoldhouses.com/book/. Follow the podcast on Instagram and TikTok! Host: Vivian Tu  Producer: Grace Rittenhouse Editor: Fringe PodcastsGot a financial question you want answered in a future episode? Email us at podcast@yourrichbff.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

We bought this $27,000 house and it needed a lot of love.

0:03.0

There was a lot of foundation stuff, re-poisting up the house, new floor joists everywhere, basically, in the house.

0:10.0

There was a lot of big problems in the house that spent easily $50,000 of our budget.

0:15.0

And I think the biggest concern that we had was any back taxes, any prior liens, anything that we needed to clean up. That's a little bit

0:21.6

of a scary piece of purchasing one of these houses that you can get into someone else's

0:26.2

trouble.

0:34.6

What's up, Rich Friends? Welcome back to another episode of Net Worth and Chill. I'm your host, Vivian 2, your rich BFF, and your favorite Wall Street girly. There are two things I always heard about when it came to my generation and money. Millennials ate too much avocado toast and ruined the economy. And there's no chance in hell that any of us would actually ever be able to afford a house.

0:58.8

And both of those things are, you guessed it, wrong.

1:02.5

The number of first-time homebuyers is half the historic norm, but it doesn't mean you should just count yourself out of the race.

1:10.3

Even if the housing

1:11.1

market seems to be grinding to a standstill, there are still ways to sign your dream home.

1:15.9

I should know because I did it. It just means you might have to get a little bit more creative.

1:22.1

Luckily, the guests on today's episode of Network Worth and Chill know all about getting

1:27.1

creative about home buying.

1:28.8

Ethan and Elizabeth Finkelstein are the hands and brains behind who's afraid of a cheap old house.

1:34.8

The HGTV show on HBO Max and Discovery Plus that follows the couple as they tour and restore houses all under $150,000.

1:44.1

Their Instagram at Cheap Old Houses has over 2.9 million followers. houses all under $150,000.

1:49.2

Their Instagram at Cheap Old Houses has over 2.9 million followers, and they are stopping by today to share all their best kept affordable house buying and renovation secrets with us.

1:54.3

Ethan, Elizabeth, welcome to Networth and Chill.

1:56.5

Oh, thank you.

1:57.5

We're so excited to be here.

1:58.7

Hey, Viv.

...

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