I bought my first home when I was 27. When we signed the contract I was fighting waves of nausea. Not from anxiety, but as I found out later that day…I was pregnant with my first. When I was 38 I had to rent a house to live in. My husband and I were splitting, and the real estate market was dive bombing close to the bottom. Even though the couple of years I had to rent were actually relatively happy, I hated renting. You might think you know the reasons I hated renting, but I want to point out a few you might not have considered.
I couldn’t keep the dog I rescued from being chained outside on the west side of a house in July. I actually had to BUY this dog from its owner. With the market in the tank, plus my recent split, I certainly didn’t have money to do this…but I also had to. I couldn’t leave a dog that would surely not survive much longer out in the heat. I am not even a dog person, I love cats. But I am not cold hearted, so I bought this dog. My kids loved him. The landlord didn’t. I had to find him a new home. Most landlords don’t allow “aggressive” breeds. Or dogs of a certain size. Or more than one dog. Or other exotic animals. Sometimes you can’t control who you fall in love with…if I owned my home I would still have this guy.
2. I had to live with the ugliness. The home I rented was outdated and some of the light fixtures were seriously ugly. So ugly that I had to point them out and laugh about them whenever I had anyone over. I could have taken them down, put up my own, and then put the owner’s back up when I moved out…but then I would have risk damaging the fixture either while moving it or storing it. It wasn’t worth it. Everything I wanted to do to the house while I was living in it would have increased the home’s value. But I would have returned those changes back when it was time to move out…and even if the home owner liked my changes…she would have been the one to benefit from them….not me.
3. I had to move out when the home owner decided she wanted the house back. Yes, I had been there for a couple of years, and my lease was only month to month, but it sucked. My kids were in school, moving is expensive, blah blah blah. I loved that house and the neighbors. If I had owned that home that couldn’t have happened to me. I could still be there today. Or I could have fixed it up and sold it and made a decent amount of money (I imagine) on all of the upgrades I would have done. Bottom line is I didn’t have control. I didn’t have any say about moving. Even though the house was in perfect shape and I never paid rent even a day late, I got kicked out because the owner wanted to move back in. It happens.
Good thing is the story ends well. I bought a house. It wasn’t easy, and I had to cash in a few favors, but I bought a house for my kids and myself. It was super ugly when I bought it, and it still has some ugliness left…but little by little I am making the changes I want to my home. I have pride of ownership, I love being able to choose whatever I want when I want changes, and I love that I can grow old in this home if I want, or I can sell it for a great profit and use that money for my next home. I bought a house close to my kids schools, so their friends are their neighbors and not everything had to change for them. I never doubt my decision to buy…even though it was scary to do with an uncertain income and all alone. Also, I can choose any type of pet that I want…as long as the city and HOA allow it…but my options are FAR greater than they were in a rental. Maybe my next soul mate will be of this variety:
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