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My first place was a condo. Of course nobody helped me. The neighborhood was on the cusp of being nice, and I worked hard on the community association to turn it into the gem it is today. The building was also unkempt with dead plants and burned out lights. I took care of all of that, too. It was hard work I wouldn't do again on purpose.
I loved decorating my apartment, and it I remember it took me years to save up for a nice rug and curtains. I rented the place out for years after I moved and sold it recently. The price had gone up of course, but I sold it for below market to a cash buyer. Sadly, I couldn't afford to keep it and renting it out had become a pain.
While I was living there, my mortgage was about $400 per month. I'm not sure if it changed me. I did get to save a lot of money, I guess. Rents went through the roof in that area as time went on. My apartment was in an area with a lot of fun things within walking distance, so I did have fun and a very active social life.
I felt amazing. It was in 1984 and we paid $99k for a 3/1 1100 sq ft post WWII tract home in the area I had grown up in. Our interest rate was a whopping 14.25% and I can remember sitting in the realtors office before signing the papers and my husband said "my gut feeling is we can't afford this" and I said "they wouldn't lend us the money if we couldn't afford this"...hahaha. I was 25 and he was 28 and I had told him not kids or pets until we had a house. It was my rule. We sold it 8 years later for nearly double the price and moved to the house I live in now.
I could NEVER go back to sharing walls again after being in a sfh. At least not with the construction standards they have used on most multi-family dwelling. I think that's the biggest change in me, and it's still true.
For one home owner condo living has been a stomping nightmare. Boom, BOOM..BOOM.. BOOM at all times of day or night neighbors are home. Place needs to be refurbished from the beams up for 2nd /3rd floor. Parts of floor even sounds like they are going to go thru the floor... IMPACT...INDOOR NOISE THE WORST.
It was the early 2000s, I was 23, the house was brand-new from a builder that was infamous for building as fast and cheap as possible. We used to go to the building site almost every evening and watch it grow, so yea, we were excited... but the excitement wore off after we started having to pay for it.
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