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I'm curious if anyone else has similar attitudes. It's puzzling to me why home ownership is so highly regarded. To me after the novelty wears off it becomes just another thing you have to deal with.
I have found ownership really lacking. I have always purchased a condo because I wanted them to take care of stuff but they never do.. they just take your money and don't do anything with it.
You can get on the board but the moment you are done someone will just get on and ruin it.
I don't like the idea of noise but even now... at my condo that I purchased next to conservation land.. there is some noise at night like a stereo -- all night long. I believe it is at a construction site on the other side. I have had to purchase a noise machine.
Even the equity of the home is lacking. I have had so may expenses since I moved in even with a turn key condo that I probably will just break even.
I purchased a 2100 square foot townhome but I probably spend 90% of my weekend cleaning it.
I will of course pay to be on the top floor and look for a concrete building. It might cost more but it will be worth it.
Originally my plan was to rent my entire life but there weren't any nice apartments when I wanted to rent so I purchased.
I don't EVER want to live in an apartment. Too many neighbors from hell who are far too close.
Something like that. Like living in a building of 8 or 16 units and wondering if ever someone would make a mistake and burn the building down. I didn't think of it too much then, perhaps should have, but with people doing meth, that is a very real concern. Or maybe someone would get careless, fire a round through the wall, and take me out (sort of an irony death wish, me being a very professional arms mistress, that one).
I lived about a quarter of a century in the same apartment complex and all things considered over those 25 years, I certainly don't want to do it again. For one thing, loading up a pick up truck for a camping trip from an apartment is just a massive exhausting hurdle of hours for all the corners one has to go around, all the doors that have to be locked, unlocked, rinse and repeat. At least with a garage, there is a secure area to stage all the equipment, a secure area to dump all the equipment if the truck can't be put in the garage.
25 years and people can't believe I did it; looking back, I certainly don't believe it. But at least now, as things are, I won't be the old person in the complex as people come and go.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Diana Holbrook
We have a 19 acre farm with a menagerie of rescue animals; chickens, goats, sheep, horses, and pig. Plus our dogs, and cats. Don't tell them, but we are already counting down the days until the last of our farm animals peacefully die of old age so we can sell this place and simplify.
.......
To each their own. Me, I love being a Steward, being the parent of 7 domestics (but 7 is quite enough) and who knows how many wild on the land. I am doing my part, as I can, by having an animal preserve.
There is no one size fits all for all homeowners. Different lifestyle decides what works best for you. Sometime the management company matters as well in term of managing the condo.
To each their own. Me, I love being a Steward, being the parent of 7 domestics (but 7 is quite enough) and who knows how many wild on the land. I am doing my part, as I can, by having an animal preserve.
Don't get me wrong I love it here, and love this land and all our animals... but the work doesn't get easier as we get older, and I am looking forward to passing it on to someone younger eventually.
It will still be quite a few years yet before we *can* quit. We still have a barn full...
I don't think our idea of the good life, or the simple life, is comparable to what our OP is thinking.
I love the convenience of living in a fully managed apartment. I don't like the occasional foot-stomping noise from the upstairs unit and having to schlep the groceries down the hall from the parking garage. I love that when I travel someone is looking after the place.
I despise doing yardwork and DIY home maintenance of any kind, so there is basically no way I would buy anything without an HOA that does exterior and structural maintenance. I'm looking at buying because I want more space and want to decorate it/adapt it how I want without having to ask for permission. I'll end up buying a condo or a townhome or if I buy a SFH it would have to be at a very significant discount so I can hire people to do all the maintenance. There's a lot of condos in my area that look like townhouses from the outside, I might get one of those. I'm an indoors person so the proximity to the neighbors doesn't bother me, but being car-dependent does. I have no intention or desire to have kids or start a family so it'll most likely just be me and a cat when I get around to adopting one.
I'm finding ways to automate as many chores as possible - everything goes in the dishwasher, the roomba vacuums every day on a schedule, I'll probably get a braava to mop on a schedule, all the messy stuff gets hidden in closets or designated storage spaces (shut the door and you don't even know it's there) etc.
Last edited by albert648; 09-18-2020 at 01:13 PM..
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
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Yes. I sold my aging sfh that I'd owned for 25+ years and now rent a townhouse. I had so much equity tied up in that house that the pressure to keep up with maintenance, etc was never-ending. I still never got around to some updating and projects that I'd planned to do.
The amount of free time I now have renting is mind-boggling.
Selling was such a relief. Renting is very free-ing. I'm not liking the handling of the pandemic in my current county and just knowing that I can easily move is an amazing feeling.
Prior to owing, I'd always live in apartments. Luxury apartments are amazing. The only reason I bought a house was because I wanted a yard for the kids and there weren't any available single family homes to rent. I love the availability of rental properties now. I'm not sure I'll ever buy again.
Apartments and condos are fine for a certain lifestyle, but things like bringing in groceries, then going back and forth to a parking garage for more bags would be a turn off. Apartment living has always seemed like a temporary living arrangement, for people in transition like students, divorce and so on.
Sharing walls is not really desirable, neither is a large complex with a variety of personalities who live close together. Makes me remember Mr and Ms drama queen, who would have loud fights late at night, in the yard in the center of the complex and waking everyone up. They finally got kicked out, but it’s not something I’d want to listen to again, since he used words that would make a sailor blush. Horses are much better neighbors and a lot quieter.
I believe that Martha's got it right, with her chickens, horses, dogs and garden. No apartment could compete.
Kinda sorta. We are planning to get an apartment with wheels.
We still want to enjoy our home for a few more years, but we are looking forward to selling it and freeing ourselves.
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