When I got Married and we had a kid on the way, I decided that renting was not the way to go anymore. I bought a piece of land on the cheap [from an estate sale] 4 acres for 17,000, paid off the land quickly , Bought a set of house plans that my wife picked out and used the property as escrow to get a building loan for 70,000. All during the time I was paying off the land I was also visiting construction sites , and new home construction talking with contractors and educating myself as to what needed to done while building a house.I became the General contractor and Hired out for the hard work [concrete and framing] had friends and family help out while I did most of the interior , walls, trim, boiler, well etc. In 9 months it was finished 2400 Sq Ft 2 story colonial farmhouse now worth according to zillow $345,000. Mortgage free! If I had been imbued with the “manly attributes” espoused by this article my wife and I would still be renting or even worse paying a mortgage for 20 more years!
Fantastic—my dream!