I bought a vacant, fix-me-up house and have so far gotten the plumbing working, fixed some electrical issues, installed phone lines to the upstairs, replaced almost every light fixture, re-built the entryway wall - down to the foundation, through the entryway sub-floor, up to the ceiling, drywalled it, installed a new front door, stone tiled the entryway, put up some new brick siding outside, and various other "aesthetic" updates indoors (paint, new sinks, bathroom mirrors, etc). All basically because I've worked in scene shops since I was around 13, so know how to handle power tools. Now, I could never make it full-time in the construction business, but I got a great deal on the house because I could do a lot of the work myself.
-Centaura