I bought my first home at 36 — a one-bedroom apartment in NYC — and learned the hard way that renovations punish first-time homeowners for not knowing what they don't know.
Fixers Club lets homeowners pay skilled tradespeople ("Fixers") for unbiased, remote guidance before decisions get expensive.
The apartment I thought I could "just renovate"
The building had great bones. The unit… didn't. It looked like it hadn't been meaningfully updated in 40–60 years. But it was easy to see how beautiful it could be and I had a vision for it.
So I did what most people would do: found contractors, agreed to their various scopes, and got to work.
Where it went wrong (and why it keeps happening)
As a first-time homeowner attempting something close to a gut renovation, I didn't have a reliable way to sanity-check decisions in real time.
That mattered because small misunderstandings in construction aren't small. They compound.
In my case, the most painful moment was going with a recommendation for an electrician who, it turned out, wasn't wiring the apartment up to code. But how would I have known? I wasn't even aware that they hadn't submitted for a permit and this and the need to address their poor decisions wouldn't come to light for more than 6 years. The result was tens of thousands in rework months of stress and my own time, not to mention real compromises to the vision.
The real problem wasn't "bad people" — it was incentives and scarcity
I kept asking myself: why did this happen if I was doing my homework and trying to be thoughtful? And the answer is painfully simple: there's no default place to get high-quality, unbiased advice on home improvement work at the moment you need it.
Maybe you have a handy person in your family or friend group, but unless they are truly experienced, you probably shouldn't be relying on them.
You can ask contractors, but they're often incentivized toward the work they want to do (or the best interpretation for them), not necessarily the best decision for you.
And even when an expert would give you great guidance, their time is how they earn. If you're not hiring them, they usually can't afford to spend an hour walking you through your options.
Side note: I did meet some incredible tradespeople who helped me along the way. They exist. But the system doesn't make it easy for them to give advice, and it doesn't make it easy for homeowners to access it.
The insight: I'd happily pay for judgment — and they should be paid for it
At some point it clicked: If I could pay a great electrician, plumber, or carpenter for their experience without worrying they have other intentions (to 'win' the work), I'd do it immediately.
And for Fixers, remote advisory can be a better way to earn:
- no time lost in traffic
- no surprise hardware runs
- no crawling into cramped spaces
- no new customer acquisition slog
- more upside on days when you're unexpectedly free or underutilized in person
How Fixers Club works
Here's the model we're building:
- Describe the situation with context: What you're doing, what's at stake, constraints, and context in the form of photos, quotes, plans, reports, etc.
- Match with a Fixer: Based on relevance to your question
- Get a decision framework: Options, risks, sequencing, or what to ask your GC/trades.
- Leave with progress: Next steps, questions for your GC, expectations as a benchmark.
Construction is one of the oldest professions — and it's only getting more complex. The homeowner experience shouldn't be "guess, hope, and pay up."
Fixers Club exists to make the process lower stress, more reliable, and less expensive by catching mistakes before they become rework.
If you feel this uncertainty and are seeking guidance, I'd love your help
If you're:
- a first-time homeowner
- planning a renovation (or already mid-stream)
- reviewing quotes, change orders, or a big "what should we do?" decision
…reach out. If you want to try the beta, reply/message me at zach@fixersclub.com and I'll send details. And if you're a Fixer who's interested in offering paid remote guidance, we'd love to talk.