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The house is yours, really yours. The decisions are yours, the equity is yours, and so is every creak, every leak, and every thing you don't quite know how to handle.


Here come those feelings: Excitement. And terror.


You tell yourself you'll figure it out. If something pops up, you’ll use AI, search Google, or call a friend. But most of the time, it’s:


"I'll deal with that later."


Then the furnace starts making a clicking noise you've never heard before. You’re slammed at work, your youngest needs help with a school science project, and you can feel a sore throat coming on. You tell yourself the furnace is probably fine. You'll deal with it later.

However...

Later has an awful, awful way of becoming expensive.


That clicking? It was the blower fan. A $400 fix if you'd caught it early. But ignoring it caused the heat exchanger to warp, and that’s a new furnace. $8,000. Gulp.


You're not the only one trying to figure out this solo homeownership thing, and you don't have to figure it out alone.

This didn’t happen because you don't care about your house. Or that you’re incapable. Or not ready for this. Or any of the other reasons the unsupportive people in your life are telling you. Forget them.

It’s just that nobody ever taught you what to look for when it comes to home maintenance. (And to be honest, those other unsupportive people don’t know this stuff either.)

So you stay in react mode, handling things when they break, calling someone when you’re already in crisis, and never quite sure if the advice you’re getting is actually in your best interest. When the HVAC tech says you need a new furnace, you can’t help but think:


"Is this tech being straight with me, or am I about to spend $8,000 I don't need to spend?"


This isn’t a character flaw, it’s a knowledge gap.


But, it costs more than it should — in money, in stress, and in the slow erosion of your confidence as a good homeowner.


Let’s close that knowledge gap.

What you’ll get

A weekly newsletter with info that will help you:

➡️ Know your house
Learn how the parts and systems of your house work, what they do, and what to keep an eye on.

➡️ Know what matters
Figure out what needs attention now, what can wait, and what could become expensive if you don’t deal with it.

➡️ Know when to call a pro
Understand when something is a reasonable DIY fix, when it’s time to bring in an expert, and how to have a more informed conversation when you do.


What to check this month. What to look out for. What actually matters and what can wait.

My Story

Solo comes in many colors. You could be solo from a divorce, death or prolonged absence of a spouse/partner, or simply because you chose it.

That’s me, Laura Babcock, trying to figure out how to fix my bathtub

For me, solo homeownership came after a divorce. At first, I thought I knew what to expect; I’d been a homeowner when married. I mean, c’mon I knew how to paint a room and spruce up an outdated kitchen.

But reality quickly showed me that there’s more to homeownership than making a house look and feel like a home. Reality also showed me that when you’re the only one juggling everything, it’s overwhelming. Then, throw in the pressure of really wanting to prove I could do this, and well, it wasn’t easy.

I was humbled more than once and shed some tears a few times. But giving up wasn’t an option.

YouTube tutorials helped with some fixes, but I never knew which advice to trust. So I searched for credible resources and gradually learned how to care for the house, not just the home.

Eventually, things started to click and make sense. I was making better decisions about my house and gaining confidence. 

Then I wondered: there must be other solo homeowners in this situation —  juggling so many things, feeling overwhelmed, and not knowing which advice to trust. That’s when it hit me:

I want to help others like me.


So I dove head-first into learning about home maintenance, how a house is built, and how the various systems of a house work together. I took online courses, I read books by building scientists (yes, there’s a whole field dedicated to the science of building), I talked to people in the trades, and I went through home inspector training, all to learn more. All to help other single homeowners like me.

My goal is to help solo homeowners figure out how to care for their house — and home. To learn enough to be better, smarter, and more confident homeowners. That’s what this newsletter is for.



Side note: I need to say a word about home maintenance checklists. Personally, I hate ‘em. Sure, “hate” may seem a bit strong for a paper document with a bunch of boxes next to a list of to-dos, but most are too generic, and does checking a box really help me make better decisions about my house? No. It’s a false sense of accomplishment and can make you feel like you “did what’s needed” to take care of your house while bigger issues fester behind the check. To me, it’s like putting a Band-Aid on a leaky pipe. It may work for a while, but eventually it’s gonna bite you in the a**.

The Solo Homeowner’s Manual is the resource nobody gave you on day one. But here it is now.

Think of it as the owner's manual your house never came with, delivered as a newsletter, one manageable piece at a time. What to check this month. What to look out for. What actually matters and what can wait. Written so you can understand it, not just so you can check a box on a checklist.

So go ahead. Grab the newsletter. (It's free.)


And always remember:
Being a solo homeowner does not mean doing this alone