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Old 06-01-2020, 08:21 AM
 
779 posts, read 421,318 times
Reputation: 2140

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Mod cut: Orphaned (reference to off-topic posts which have been deleted).

Anyway, back on topic...

Pride of ownership is a big thing for me. It definitely took some time to get there. It doesn't make me love doing manual labor or tedious projects. There are times I absolutely dread having to do those things. But when the job is done and I see the result it's worth it. Even little things like mowing the lawn. Crack open a cold beer when I'm done and sit on the patio for 5-10min admiring how nice it looks. Seems kind of dumb, but it does mean something to me. If I didn't have those moments I don't think I'd continue owning a home.

Last edited by PJSaturn; 06-01-2020 at 09:47 AM..
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Old 06-01-2020, 01:21 PM
 
2,382 posts, read 3,484,087 times
Reputation: 4915
Quote:
Originally Posted by nep321 View Post
After 13 years of living in apartments and generally not liking apartment living, I decided to buy a house last year and moved into it in November. So I've been in my house for six months now. I love the neighborhood and it's a nice property overall. Very desirable neighborhood. I am a single 36 yo gay guy with no kids and will always be single with no kids. I bought a house because I wanted more space, more privacy and NO shared walls/ceilings. The house is 1700 sq ft with 3 bedrooms. I utilize all the bedrooms for myself (bedroom, office, exercise room).

I love the interior floor plan of the house and love living in a single story home. I have great neighbors. My parents (aged 59 and 61) are helping me with many improvements throughout the house. They spent 13 full days here so far and will spend another day or two until these projects are completed. 13 full days of free labor and more to come. I love being able to turn music loud whenever I want and not having to hear people's lives through the walls and ceilings. It's nice to have an inground pool to use on those hot summer days here in Florida.

But...

I can't STAND all the yard work and pool maintenance. It's insane and makes me kind of regret buying a house. I spend about 2 hours per week on cleaning the pool. The cost of chemicals is insane and it's very challenging to keep the pool chemically balanced. I spend about $100-150 a month on pool chemicals and changing the cartridge filter every few months. Ridiculous. There are trees near the pool, which adds to the stress.

Mowing the lawn sucks, too. I actually don't mind mowing, but after I'm done mowing (which takes about 40 min for the whole yard), my legs are covered in soot because there are many parts of my yard with exposed dirt and tons of mole hills everywhere. So I have to take a shower after mowing, which is absurd. I have a few huge live oak trees that drop all their leaves from Feb through Apr, followed by several weeks of catkins falling down like CRAZY. It lasts for weeks and I have to go outside weekly and spend at least 1.5 hours using the leaf vaccum to clean them all up. It's so strenuous, especially if it's a hot day.

The weeds just never end. I have a rock bed in my yard and a whole area of mulch and the weeds just keep coming. It's ridiculous. The hedges needs to be trimmed every couple of months. And there are constantly twigs falling down from the trees all over my driveway and front yard every day! I have to keep sweeping the driveway, sidewalk and pool deck at least once a week. It's insane. And the crab grass just keeps growing out from the edges of the driveway and sidewalk. Ugh.

Yard work is incredibly strenuous, time consuming and dirty. My socks get dirt inside them and the edges of my toes get dirt inside and my legs, arms and face get dirt or pollen on them and I have shower every time after I do major yard work. And occasionally I get blisters on my fingers and thumbs even if I wear gloves. I hate it!

I also feel less financially secure than ever, owning a home versus when I was renting. The vast majority of my wealth is tied up in the house, which is not liquid. So I have limited cash reserves and less purchasing power now. It's kind of depressing. I can't really take a major vacation for a long time now. I only have $10K in the bank now (but will have $15K on Friday because of my annual bonus). And I get a 9% raise at work effective in July, which helps. The house is still quite unfurnished and I need to buy a bunch of furniture and decor to fill it up more. I also already had my HVAC system fail on me and had to pay $6,600 for a new one. Horrible! I'm dreading that in 10 years from now I will probably have to pay another $15,000 for a new roof and another $15,000 to remarcite the pool! And God knows what else! Sigh...

So, I don't know what to do. I will certainly give it another 6 months and see how I feel. I knew that there would be maintenance, but in reality it's MUCH worse than I had imagined. Strenuous, time consuming and dirty. I am considering hiring a weekly pool service to help out though. Maybe even a lawn care service, too. But I'd hate to throw away $200+ a month on these things when I really want to save money.

I also hate unfinished projects. And I'm not a handy person at all, except for easy minor things. Even after my parents finish all of these improvements, there are still plenty of potential projects that can be done. I don't find home improvement projects fun, exciting or fulfilling at all.

Look, I hated apartment living because of all the noise through the walls and ceilings and having quiet hours and worrying about if neighbors can hear me. I also hated how compressed all the units are and with tons of cars in the parking lot. Just too many people cramped into a small area. Total turn off. And all of the obnoxious, pretentious young people who tend to live in the apartments, too. However, I did not mind all the rules and inability to customize.

After working 40 hours a week, exercising, shopping, cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, etc. the last thing I want to do is yard/pool work.

Should I maybe consider selling my house and buying a condo instead? Or go back to renting an apartment? Give it more time and try to find solutions? I just don't know what to do. I'm still not entirely sure if house living is superior to apartment living. Condo living is unknown. But the idea of NOT having to do any yard or pool work is suddenly appealing. But then again, condos/townhomes have shared walls, which I can't stand. Any suggestions??
Poor baby.
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Old 06-02-2020, 09:11 PM
 
Location: Florida
11,669 posts, read 17,888,296 times
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I just started researching and getting quotes for pool maintenance services. I'm making sure they are all CPO certified, licensed and insured. Hopefully I can make a decision by the end of the week.

I looked back at my spending on pool chemicals and filters over the past 8 months and it totals to $1,141! So I'm spending around $130 a month doing it myself on just chemicals and filters!
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Old 06-02-2020, 09:20 PM
 
Location: Brentwood, Tennessee
49,932 posts, read 59,740,903 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nep321 View Post

I looked back at my spending on pool chemicals and filters over the past 8 months and it totals to $1,141! So I'm spending around $130 a month doing it myself on just chemicals and filters!
It's good that you're tracking costs.

Don't forget to include the cost of your time and the stress from hating it so much
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Old 06-02-2020, 10:57 PM
 
11,025 posts, read 7,791,978 times
Reputation: 23702
Quote:
Originally Posted by BirdieBelle View Post
It's good that you're tracking costs.

Don't forget to include the cost of your time and the stress from hating it so much
But the OP indicates that he hates the lawn work more because he hates the dirt between his toes and needing to take a shower. At least the pool work is cleaner and has a shorter season.

I think he should be pricing out lawn service first, the pool second.
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Old 06-03-2020, 05:56 AM
 
Location: Florida
11,669 posts, read 17,888,296 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kokonutty View Post
But the OP indicates that he hates the lawn work more because he hates the dirt between his toes and needing to take a shower. At least the pool work is cleaner and has a shorter season.

I think he should be pricing out lawn service first, the pool second.
No, pool service is higher priority. I'm already spending around $100 a month on chemicals and the pool service will cost about the same. So might as well go for that first.
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Old 06-03-2020, 08:39 AM
 
Location: Raleigh
13,660 posts, read 12,331,288 times
Reputation: 20104
Quote:
Originally Posted by nep321 View Post
I just started researching and getting quotes for pool maintenance services. I'm making sure they are all CPO certified, licensed and insured. Hopefully I can make a decision by the end of the week.

I looked back at my spending on pool chemicals and filters over the past 8 months and it totals to $1,141! So I'm spending around $130 a month doing it myself on just chemicals and filters!
Look at getting it converted to a saltwater pool too. Not sure what's involved but I know a handful of people in North Carolina have gone that route and love it, much less chemical monitoring than the Chlorinated variety, less smelly, more relaxing.
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Old 06-03-2020, 04:19 PM
 
Location: Central Virginia
6,533 posts, read 8,336,432 times
Reputation: 18649
Quote:
Originally Posted by nep321 View Post
No, pool service is higher priority. I'm already spending around $100 a month on chemicals and the pool service will cost about the same. So might as well go for that first.
Just ensure the pool service includes the cost of the supplies and not just the labor.
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Old 06-03-2020, 05:22 PM
 
Location: In a George Strait Song
9,546 posts, read 7,037,556 times
Reputation: 14045
Quote:
Originally Posted by JONOV View Post
Look at getting it converted to a saltwater pool too. Not sure what's involved but I know a handful of people in North Carolina have gone that route and love it, much less chemical monitoring than the Chlorinated variety, less smelly, more relaxing.
Pools that have a chlorine smell actually have a shortage of free chlorine.
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Old 06-03-2020, 08:20 PM
 
Location: Florida
11,669 posts, read 17,888,296 times
Reputation: 8239
So I started shopping around today for pool service and I'm disappointed at how much higher it is than I thought. So far I got quotes from two different businesses. Each one quoted me $170 a month, mainly because my pool is not covered/screened and has a big tree right next to it. The quotes include all of the chemical treatment, which is good. Right now I spend about $90 a month on chemicals, doing it myself. So I have to figure out if spending an extra $80 a month is worth it to save over 8 hours worth of work per month (it takes me 2 hours per week to care for the pool on average). I'm leaning toward yes, it's worth it. But still shopping around.

For once, I can look forward to my Saturdays without having to spend up to 2 hours cleaning the pool, cartridge filter, skimmers and adding chemicals.
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