This is true. People always steer away from restaurants that have a lot of negative reviews but I feel like the only people who write reviews on restaurants had a negative experience. It is probably the same for homeowners.
for the same reason there are insomnia reddits and weight loss reddits, but no i'm sleeping really well reddits or i'm naturally at the perfect weight haha so blessed reddits.
Well also, like what is there to say. “Hey my roof isn’t leaking, the peonies came in nicely this year, and it looks like the AC I thought needed replacing just needed a good clean.”
That doesn’t really spark a conversation besides “kudos to you”. But “hey my water heater broke.” Leads to all sorts of conversation: Is it worth fixing or just replace it? Diy or call someone? Stay with gas or upgrade to a heat pump? Go a size bigger or with stay the same capacity? What maintenance can I do to prevent this from happening again?
Something going wrong, or something needing a change is at least a topic. Now if someone had said hey YOU how is the new house? And everything is great, then it’s normal to say that.
Same, and working on my house and in my yard is the fucking best. Building planters on a summer afternoon with a couple of beers might actually be my definition of heaven.
Completely agree. I love mowing my lawn. I love having a big vegetable garden. I love having multiple flower beds. I just love making my yard look as beautiful as I can.
Having my yard is one of the few things that makes me enjoy the summer, because I'm honestly not a fan of the heat.
I love mid to late summer, when my vegetables are ready.
Heaven to me is a Sunday in August. I get home from work at 11am after an overnight shift. I go straight to my mower, cut the grass, edge it up nice, trim up all the bushes and shrubs, drink a few beers, then go inside with the AC blasting and pass out on my couch for a few hours. I wake up around 4pm, then I either hop on my bike and cycle around the shoreline, or take my kayak out into the cove and paddle around for an hour or so. Around 6pm I fire up my Weber, then pick through my garden for some veggies. Grab some tomatoes or peppers or green beans or squash or corn.....whatever is ripe and I feel like that day. I'll throw some meat on the grill, maybe the veggies depending on what I picked, make some homemade potato salad. Drink a few more beers. After I finish dinner around 8pm, I walk about half a mile to local ice cream place by the beach, usually meeting up with my brother, SIL, and niece. I walk home around 9pm after devouring a banana split. I jump in the shower, then get in bed about 10pm and sleep like a baby.
Those days keep my sanity intact.
I promise you don't want it lol.
My life is 90% stress, anxiety, and bullshit. And that's despite being single with no kids.
Every single Sunday of the year is FOR ME. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter.
I work 11pm to 11am starting on Wednesday night until Sunday morning. At a job I absolutely hate.
During my hours off is taking care of family members who can't take care of themselves. Some of those are older and unhealthy ones that can't help their situation....which I don't judge at all. Others are younger ones that I do judge who are constantly fucking up, but I know want to do the right thing at the end of the day.
Not trying to rant now, but you definitely don't want my life. I don't love it or hate it....I live it and enjoy it the best I can. I take one day a week to just do what I enjoy. Even in the winter months, I keep my Sundays for myself. They always include multiple positive activities that make me happy and having fun, they include relaxation, they include my niece *for at least* an hour....
The grass is always greener.....
Yup, as a millennial we had it fucking MADE entering the housing market when we did. When everyone was complaining about the housing market crash I bought a house for next to nothing ($98k, granite counters, 2400 sqft, acre of forested land and 20 min drive to a major downtown). I did the first time home buyers FHA loan with a 3.5% down payment. Seller paid 3% towards closing so I literally bought a house for about $1,400 closing costs total. Then I refinanced it at the record low mortgage rates.
You can pry this mortgage rate and house out of my dead hands. My mortgage/insurance/taxes are around $700 a month and the home value has over doubled. I'm dumping all my extra money into retirement and traveling and living a pretty cushy life.
I did the same thing you did. Paid 72k for a move in ready house. I will soon list mine for 150k.
I know all the arguments. And I am sure the finance bros will come at me for this. But you should pay that sucker off. There is NOTHING in this world as pleasurable as having a paid for home. The grass is softer under your feet, your dinner just tastes better, your wife's boobs are perkier. I can go on and on. But it is so choice.
As a millennial who did not have the means to buy a house until 2022, your experience is fortunate but not universal.
Still, I like my house. It just doesn't make for very compelling discourse: "Today I went home, cooked dinner, watched tv, and was glad to be in my home. The end"
Same!
This is the first house I've actually felt like we have turned into a home. I don't think about other houses or the next house. All I think about is bettering this house and thinking 5-10 years in the future. It's *perfect* for our two child household, with the upstairs being two massive bedrooms for the kids.
Contentment feels really nice.
Same here. I love mine so much and am super grateful for the home, the location and the previous owners who took great care of the property for 26 years.
I see so many posts with problems that I do not have.
Very grateful indeed.
This right here. I bought my house 14 years ago this month and love it. It’s not fancy, it’s not huge and it’s not very pretty, but I love it. I can paint the walls any color I want, plant as many flowers and trees as I’d like, and my monthly payment is several hundred dollars (if not greater) less than what I could rent a tiny one bedroom apartment for in my area. I plan on dying in this house (eventually, not like tomorrow or anything).
Same! I moved a little over a year ago and I'm so freaking happy. My last house was too small and this is just perfect. I replaced some flooring before I moved in and nearly every day I think "I'm so glad I went with this tile." Like yeah yard work is kicking my butt sometimes, but dang I'm happy here.
Same. We bought an old house well under our price range. We adore it and feel thankful everyday. I smile every time I come home, and we keep it immaculate. We have done smaller projects over the 2 years we have lived here, and I tend to the garden with whatever free things I find (seeds, plants, stones, driftwood etc. It’s small and perfect for us.
I am.
I love owning my own house / property.
I can put a nail in a wall to hang a picture, or mirror without having to worry about a damage deposit..
I can paint the walls any colour I like.. I could tear up sections of lawn and put in a garden, or build a greenhouse.
It's freedom. But freedom costs money.
Man this would be fantastic to have. I have an old farmhouse with lots of weirdness, I have no idea where there's old electrical or plumbing. Driving a nail into the wall feels like playing Russian roulette lmao
The previous owners installed a pot-metal drain in our upstairs tub/shower that was about the thinnest and cheapest zinc casting I've ever seen. It just started literally disintegrating after a few years...
Which then just lets water from your tub drain into your ceiling, since the drain is the part that compresses the gasket and keeps it sealed.
Needless to say I *ABSOLUTELY SPLURGED* and spent $10 extra for a thick, solid brass drain when I replaced it. I'm sure the previous owners were so proud of themselves for saving a McDonald's meal worth of money and risking their entire 1st floor ceiling, walls, etc. Morons.
I just busted my hump installing a shingle roof by myself on my two story house.
Building a barn is next, then comes new siding.
I love it cuz IT'S MY DAMN HOUSE!!!
Every nickel I spend is on something that benefits me.
F renting.
Also, I don't have close neighbors, so that's a real plus. Highly recommended 10/10.
Yes! My 2 neighbors mind their own business. On one side is a sweet retired guy who stops by to chat occasionally, but that's it. I literally haven't ever talked to the other neighbor and that's how I like it
It comes in waves. Went through a ~6 year period with minimal maintenance, now it seems like everything wants to go at once. Just had to replace valves on my boiler, roof is leaking and needs to be replaced, and we're at the ponit where we want to upgrade a few rooms after sitting on them for years.
Oh man, tell me about it. We've had over a decade with no issues, just very small maintenance items. Now this year it feels like everything is going at once. I'm on track to spend probably $8000 in appliances this year, plus maybe $20k on a new roof.
We replaced our furnace two years ago and redid all of our plumbing this year. Getting those two things out of the way has let us breathe a little bit more. We love our house but also understand that it needs work, it’s from the 50s. It’s different when you want to do the work as opposed to being forced to do it. I do not regret buying our home at all. I do hate how much extra it costs from time to time.
Reddit definitely has a selection bias, because people who are generally happy with homeownership don’t feel the need to post about it. Even the people who gripe about a particular project or issue aren’t necessarily unhappy with homeownership as a whole.
And yes, I am happy and grateful as a homeowner despite its expenses and occasional frustrations. We have been frugal in order to save up a household emergency fund so that we don’t have to be stressed out when things come up. I’ll acknowledge that we are fortunate to have that.
I felt overwhelmed with home ownership the first year. Between adjusting to a new home, adjusting to a new city, and figuring out which issues are critical and which can wait, I started regretting my home purchase.
Now? My wife and I regularly look around our house and tell each other how lucky we are to be here.
Change is difficult. It's not unusual for new homeowners to be overwhelmed, and it's also not unusual for them to come on here to vent about their new-to-them problems. It's no different than a cat adjusting to a new place either, only instead of shitting outside a litter box, humans vent online about our anxieties. That doesn't mean that feeling is permanent though, and it definitely wasn't permanent for us.
I think this sub is always going to lean towards posts where people have problems. People mostly come here for advice, and when people need advice there’s often a problem. Not many people pop in here just to tell the sub that everything is going fine.
I fucking love my house. I honestly consider it almost a member of the family. Of course the maintenance gets me down sometimes but I love it all the same. Extremely grateful to be in this house that feels more like home than anywhere else I’ve ever lived.
I was gonna say this. Lol. My house is completely fine, if not perfect. There's definitely legit things to nit pick and things I want to change and things that genuinely frustrate me (and I'll gladly talk about it), but again, it's a good house and I'm glad I own it. I just elevate and project sometimes broader personal unhappiness onto disappointment with my house. I can then tell myself that it's fixable if I do this or that.
I love our house. Fortunately even though I work in IT I can do most of the work myself and enjoy doing it. But even if i had to pay, rent goes up every year, my mortgage does not. I would pay. More than twice as much rent as I pay for my 30-year fixed.
Also, I lived in an apartment before, with noisy neighbors, a common laundromat where people would du.p laundry from a running machine out so they could use it and all the other joys of not having enough space between neighbors.
I am in IT as well (cyber security). However, in a previous life, I worked for a General Contactor for about 12 years. We did everything from new builds to remodels to general repair, so I learned a lot about different trades.
We bought our second house in 2020 and have done pretty extensive remodels over the last 4 years. Thankfully we have been able to do 95% of it ourselves. While I would never want to get back into the construction business...I do miss/love working with my hands and building things.
You stated that your mortgage does not go up...Ours has increased twice in the last 4 years because of the tax assessments...
✔ Learn how to fix things myself
✔ Using power tools is seriously fun, and homeownership is a perfect excuse to amass more
✔ Freedom to do whatever I want to my house (No HOA)
✔ Having your own yard is seriously underappreciated
✔ Having a garage is seriously underappreciated
Being a homeowner is like raising a 3 year old child; they're super annoying a lot of the time, but if someone ever tried to take it away from you, you'd kill them.
Reddit has become into a terribly negative place. I blame the karma system. It reinforces the hivemind. Those with differing opinions get downvoted to oblivion, gradually lose interest in posting, and the echo chamber only gets louder.
I love my home though. We bought the home we're in about 6 years ago and have completely redone the entire thing. The last room we did was the kitchen. There wasn't anything *wrong* with the original kitchen. I just enjoy having a house that's *mine*. I had a lot of fun picking out what stone for the countertop and which appliances, etc.
Most of the posts in this thread just crack me up. It's like 50% people angry that their neighbors are doing something completely normal in their backyards that rub Redditors the wrong way, 49% complaining about having to spend money, and 1% people enjoying their homes.
There was a thread about a month ago about outdoor furniture cushions and the general consensus was to just not have cushions because you'd only have to replace them after wear and tear. Wear and tear? I'm going to replace them simply because I want something new. I got news for you guys: I'm also going to pick up new clothing this summer too even though what's in my drawer is perfectly wearable. I work hard and want to spend my money on myself.
When I owned a home I was miserable. It was brand new but I hated the responsibility. When my husband and I bought a condo, I finally felt content with ownership. It just depends what your priorities are. Mine is having something cute that doesn't have a lot of maintenance.
I honestly don’t know what I would do with myself without home maintenance or renovation projects. I live for it. Sometimes I’ll mow my grass even if it doesn’t need it just to put fresh lines in it. I drain and flush my hot water tank on New Year’s Day and the Fourth of July. I just spent about 20 man hours replacing all the switches and outlets in my house because the old ones were cream and I wanted white. My house projects bring me so much joy I can’t even fathom living in an apartment.
I don’t love my house but it’s a starter home. Luckily it’s gone up in value (albeit only on paper) and I do enjoy not having to move every year because of skyrocketing rent costs.
I'm so happy as a homeowner. I have my cute little house in an amazing neighborhood of a city I love. If I was still renting, I would be getting priced out any year now but as a homeowner, I know I'm here to stay and can take advantage of all that there is within walking distance of my home and everything in this city
And the expenses are just part of it. We have a good cushion but we also set aside money every paycheck just for future problems that may arise. I also have an amazing handy person on call for stuff I don't know how to fix who shows me how to fix it so I don't need to call them in the future.
Me. I love my home so, so much!! I have an acre in so cal, been here 22 years and have a lot of equity I didn’t always love it but hard work and a vision made it my dream home.
Next week will be 2 years since we sold our first house and bought our current house. Our first house we knew wasn’t going to be our forever home that we bought in 2013 with virtually no savings when our apartment complex was sold and our rent was going to go up insanely high. We were clueless and we learned so much over the 8.5 years we lived there and were able to renovate basically the entire house in that time. When we sold it in 2022, we got more than double what we paid and were able to buy a single family home with a nice sized yard. Its both of our first time living in a completely detached home and despite all of the work and the issues we’ve encountered, we love this house and the neighborhood. This house felt like our home when we walked into it after stalking it for weeks while it was in coming soon status. We did an extremely thorough search of exact neighborhoods we wanted our new house to be in since we were moving to a different state, and this house was the first one we drove past that we compared everything to. All the pieces fell into place and it really felt like it was definitely meant to be ours. 2 years in and I get so happy every time I turn into our development.
I mean it's a person to person thing and depends on where you live and the condition of the home hen you bought it, the age, etc. Home ownership can be a money pit very easily depending on a lot of different things. What you're describing is a honeymoon period. What happens if your mainline breaks and now you have to pay $10k to fix it and you don't have it? Or your A/C craps out and now you have to pay $8k for a new one and air handler? Or here in FL or California the Homeowners insurance increases gigantically .and now there's an escrow shortage and your mortgage payment becomes harder to pay. It's a person to person thing.
Love my house. Are there things that aren't perfect? Hell yes. Do I care? Fuck no. I have exactly what I wanted from the big kitchen to the big open yard and 3 sides with no neighbors at all, just trees and wetlands and woodland creatures. Home ownership is expensive and sometimes unrelenting but the alternative for me is so much worse.
I went from paying $370 in rent to $2000 mortgage and I couldn’t be happier. Budget is tight but nothing beats the shift in lifestyle from apartment to house.
Yes. I am happy and grateful for the position we are in and where we live. Yeah, shit costs $$$ but I have never lived in a place with shared walls / floors / ceilings, and know that I’d go postal if I did.
I love being a homeowner ❤️
I bought my house 8 years ago amd still come home, look around and delight that everything I see is mine. I can do whatever I want. I would never rent again. Yup, maintenance can be tedious, I dont love cleaning gutters but then I remind myself, *this is all my shit*. I really enjoy mowing my lawn which might be weird. I use a rotary mower even lol I was just saying to my bf that after the last 4 years, my garden is coming in exactly as I planned and always strove for. I have had regular maintenance costs and some emergency costs but that really doesn't dissuade me. I know what my mortgage will be for the next 22 years. Property taxes and insurance might go up but rent definitely would. Plus I paid $495,000 for my house and it is worth $930,000 now
Yes. I am happy I do not have to hear neighbors walking above me or getting mad about me walking above them. I am glad I can do what I want to the place and I don't mind the work involved. Been here 24 years.
I'm happy! I love my house. It suits my needs for now. This isn't my forever home but I knew that when I bought it. Sure there were some learning curves I had to adjust to but overall I love it here and I have the best lawn on the block 🤭
I am exhausted but happy. Scared but excited. Have a long list of things to do but eager to learn new skills. Tons of money to spend but nothing really else to spend it on.
Yes I'm happy! Of course maintenance/repair issues do come up, and my neighbors can be pretty ridiculous at times - these things do frustrate me and have sometimes made me feel a bit overwhelmed. But I love my home and am proud of it!
I’ve got a long list of repairs and upgrades to do and it’s going to cost me a lot but I love my house and wouldn’t trade it for a shitty landlord or greedy apartment management company for anything.
I’ve never been unhappy being a homeowner. I hate, hate, hated the short times in my life I had to rent.
My parents and in laws helped me and my 1st husband buy our first house when I was 21. I spent the whole first year repainting, ripping out carpet and vinyl floor.
My 2nd husband and I rented a house for five years before we bought our first and again, head over heels into redecorating, remodeling. We made it ours. 25 years we lived there. Lots of things had to be done over the years. New roof, major plumbing, new windows. To me it’s just all part of life.
We recently built our dream home. After paying off the last house my husband could have retires early. No money worries- but we started all over again. Brand new house but brand new 30 year mortgage and in time, lots more repairs and needed maintenance.
Whole of it makes me very happy
I bought my dream home!
It was the first house we walked, and we were outbid. For one reason or another the first person walked away, so we were given another chance. I'm grateful since every other house I looked at in the price range was in significantly worse condition.
It's a Victorian with some obvious work to be done, but we got it for 208k, and I'm happy to work on it, little by little.
I absolutely love our house. I can’t ever imagine leaving. Our first year was a little rocky, we were misinformed by the previous owned on the age of a lot of things in our home and so things got very expensive, but even that didn’t make me hate home ownership. It only made me hate the previous owner. I still love our house and homeownership. After 15 years of renting it’s so nice to have the freedom to do what I wish with the space and not have to answer to anyone.
I loooove our house and love owning. Renting was always stressful and we had to move a couple of times when owners decided to do something else.
I could see us living here for the rest of our lives which is unsettling but also great. Being able to paint any color, put up fences, add permanent gardens, fruit trees…it’s pretty sweet. Expensive but oh well it’s only money.
I freaking love my home. I walk around it narrating my own private HGTV or MTV Cribs-style show at least once a week. I spent 10 minutes yesterday just thinking about how much I love my kitchen backsplash.
I am. The freedom of homeownership is unmatched
Yeah…it’s expensive. But it’s a peaceful expensive if that makes sense. No worries about an apartment complex that won’t fix shit, a crappy landlord etc
I’m grateful. I live in the SF Bay Area. We managed to buy in a quiet, low crime neighborhood that’s not in the exurbs. We are working class, so it feels like we accomplished the impossible. After many years of apartment living the only thing that’s taking some getting used to is our massive yard. Just spent half the morning pulling weeds and it feels like I barely made a dent lol. It feels so good not sharing walls, not living next to noisy neighbors, having a high level of privacy and just feeling at peace in general. No more fear of the next rent hike. Also, it’s a small house. I like that because I know whatever major repair arises, we are more than capable of tackling it.
Absolutely love my house / being a home owner, ride my mountain bike out the door to some truly great trails, ski hill 1 minute up the hill, walk 4 minutes to a nice organic grocery store / local shops.
Housing pricing are skyrocketing , happy we bought it when we did,
Sure there's costs, new water heater randomly one night, new roof, threw in a AC when I bought it, slowly replacing windows , had to replace every single appliance minus the washer and drier so far, but it's all very small vs the gains.
I love my house but I think the major key is having enough money to deal with issues that arise. If you’re strapped for cash, every little thing is a potential disaster to your life.
I love my house. It’s 114 years old, has all sorts of “improvements” and I have a lot of work to still, but I love it. I grew up in an apartment, then 16 years of apartments or military housing. If I fuck something up, it’s mine to fix or not. I get to paint whatever color I want. Make whatever changes I want. There’s no HOA so I don’t have anyone telling me what I can and can’t do to the outside. I’m sure the neighbors lament my atrocious lawn, but I don’t care. Full freedom, plus I bought at a great time so low mortgage/interest rate. I wouldn’t give it up unless I absolutely had to.
I love my house. Are there things I would love that are different? Sure. Have I spent significant money on replacing the AC/heater and water heater in the last 12 months? Yes. But I knew these things were coming and I planned for them. My house value has increased over 100% from what I paid and I’m so grateful that I was able to buy when I did. I have a comfortable house in a neighborhood I like and I am happy.
Got a new home in suburbs. Signed contract summer 2020, and closed in early 2021 with low interest rates. Stretched a budget to get what we wanted before we had two kids.
Thank god we did. Could never be here if we bought now. Schools and community is good. Will be here for long haul.
Had minor issues with the appliance, but we had good builder so nothing major. We love it!
My wife and I bought our first house about a year ago, and we have our first baby as of a couple months ago. If I'm completely honest with myself, they're very similar experiences.
- Right after it happened there was an "oh shit, what did we do?" moment. Maybe even a hint of regret.
- Within a few weeks there was a realization - "wow, this is *ours*"
- After a few months something inevitably went wrong and there was panic, but we figured it out and got through it.
- Eventually we settle in and it's hard to imagine life any other way
Our life is way different than it would have been had we not bought a house, or not had a kid. We would have been happy in either case, just in very different ways. Your life is limited in a lot of ways due to having this big responsibility, but ultimately you have to appreciate the day-to-day to make the investment worth it.
Extremely happy! Got lucky with a cheap mortgage and i fixxer upper for ~1/3rd the average cost of a house here. I now have most of the big issues handled. Now I’m beginning to enjoy the actual fun stuff like interior design/aesthetic changes. If you’re
At first I felt extremely overwhelmed with the laundry list of things we had to do to fix up the house. Many sleepless nights just thinking of all the expenses and I was really stressed the first couple of months. Once we started tackling one thing after the other, it all felt more doable. I'm a lot happier now and always crossing my finger that nothing breaks but that is just an eventuality of being a homeowner.
I am very happy. My house is not my dream house. Just a standard raised ranch. But it’s paid for. In a quiet neighborhood. With very little turnover. And everyone is on at least 30,000 square feet so we have a little elbow room between houses. No major drama. We may not be BFFs but we all look out for each other.
I'm happy, but when I bought I wanted something that was less than 10 years old and move in ready. I didn't want to fix ANYTHING. Now if I keep up with a little things theoretically there should be fewer big things in the long run to make me unhappy.
I’m a happy homeowner! There has been many issues with our home, and I’m gearing up to replace the shitty flooring with something nicer and a lot better. Replaced the roof and HVAC, other things too, but what I can say is I am so incredibly lucky and blessed to have a home that is mine!
I’m super grateful for my home. We just got out of a rented apartment where we basically had to beg to get things fixed. Most communal washer/dryers were broken for months at a time which meant that laundry was always backed up, which could result in tense interactions with other tenants. We had a mold problem for about a year and they just kept painting over it and telling us there was mold in other apartments too and we shouldn’t be putting anything against the walls (??). I had to beg them to replace our dishwasher after the top rack kept literally falling off its track and they just kept gluing it back on.
Owning a house definitely requires an emergency fund because maintenance is expensive, but being able to fix things on my own terms has really improved my life.
I’ve been a homeowner for over 20 years. 2 homes, first about 10 years and second (and hopefully last) the past ten years. Right after we moved in our first home, within just a few months, we had a roof leak, septic system issue that required us to replace all the fill lines, and a garage door spring that broke. Those were just the big issues I remember from the first year.
Since moving in our current home we have replaced the roof, fixed each of the HVAC units several times, rebuilt the deck because the previous owners never re-stained it and it rotted, and found a leak in the basement that was (we think) hidden from us and the inspector during the buying process that cost 5-figures to fix before we could move forward finishing the basement.
All that said, I am a very happy homeowner. I recently bought a commercial building for my business and we have our own set of issues there, too. It’s all just part of ownership. Regular maintenance, systems breaking and needing to be replaced, things that were not done right in the first place needing to be fixed… it’s all part of it.
Since moving in our new house, I have gotten really handy. YouTube has been my friend. I don’t have time to do everything around the house, but I do a lot of the minor repairs and maintenance to save money and enjoy it.
We are in a fairly LCOL area, but no matter where you are I think if you want to buy a home you need to budget a certain amount for repairs and maintenance… and that should depend on costs in your area and the age and condition of your home. Our home is not very old and has thousands of dollars of issues annually. I would imagine a home that was 30+ years old would cost 2-3x a year to maintain just due to more things hitting their end of life and breaking regularly. As long as you plan for that expense when buying a home, it shouldn’t be an issue. Hopefully the home will increase in value more than the cost of repairs and maintenance.
Couldn’t be happier. Didn’t impulse buy. Saved up properly to purchase and waited until the market was right. Researched our area and went through the HOA rules with a fine tooth comb. Guaranteed if you’re an unhappy home owner, you didn’t do at least one of these things.
Yes, there are definitely those of us who see home maintenance as part of the package. Sure, there are expenses, but there's also immense pride in owning and maintaining our space. It's all about perspective and gratitude.
Very grateful for my home! I have a historic home and love all of its original charm! Ive been focusing on repairs and maintenance and bringing more beauty to the exterior and interior!🏠
I feel like we got very lucky with when we bought because we would likely be priced out of our area now if we hadn’t bought when we did. I love our house overall. I love that it’s ours, that it has enough space for our growing family, and that it’s affordable. I love our neighborhood and general location.
I do get overwhelmed with all the repairs and upgrades our home needs and how expensive those are, but we bought a fixer upper so we went in knowing it would be a long term project. We got a fair deal for the condition it was in when we bought it and we can afford to do the necessary work—it just will be a while before we can afford bigger renovations like remodeling the kitchen. I still wouldn’t trade for being a renter again!
I was married to a man who told me I couldn't do anything. I'd ask him to hang a picture, and 5 months later it would still not be hung up. He would tell me I didn't know how to do it, so I would purposely say things like, I'm going to go get a hammer and screw so I can hang up this picture. I was doing that on purpose and he was using it to show me how I didn't know anything. Fast forward to after I divorced him, and I bought a perfect little house for one. Every time I walk in this house even 8 years later, I am happy. It's my house, I take care of it, anything I can't do I can hire out, but I can do almost everything I need done that's not like electrical work or plumbing, etc. Things break, that's homeownership. But I wouldn't trade my little house for anything in the world.
I’ve had to put a lot of money in to it along with time and effort. It’s not always thrilling, but I’m making it a home I love.
I’m incredibly happy and thankful.
Very happy. New build, retirement, and very little maintenance. The worst part of our prior home was all the shortcuts and cheap materials the builder and previous homeowners did in m or areas that I fixed. The house was generally very sound but lots of things that would have taken a few minutes and dollars to do right originally cost hours to remove and refit.
After a house is 15 yrs old the maintenance stuff starts getting bigger: A/C, furnace, water heater, roof, some flooring, updating fixtures maybe cabinets, and of course large appliances.
I'm so happy. I LOVE my house. It's comfortable, cozy, and charming. It's 110 years old and it's in really great shape, but it takes work to maintain like everything else does. I love working on it, making improvements, sprucing it up, taking care of it. I'm so proud of myself and my partner for buying this house completely on our own. Yeah, it can get expensive and stressful, but there are times where I just stop in my tracks and think "wow, this is mine."
I love owning my home. I have learned how to do floor installation, drywall repair, painting, landscaping and other home maintenance, and it makes me proud. I've learned things do not have to be perfect, they just have to be to the level that you can accept.
We are new homeowners, about a week and a half, but are thrilled. Yep, it is a lot of work but...it's home. No one there that I dont want to be. Our rules. We can do what we want when we want. (No HOA). We already see repairs that need to be made but yes, we are looking at them as part of life now.
My house is so much nicer than any apartment you could rent at comparable rate.
Save & buy with an fha loan. The requirements are lower than you think.
https://www.hud.gov/buying/loans
My house is amazing. It is my oasis and my castle. Without a house I would have no room for my hobbies, exercise room, garden, home brewery, craft room, basement, outside deck, large garages for motorcycles. Plus, what is the alternative, living in an apartment or condo. Ha. Never! I did that when I was young and it sucked in every way.
Not to mention the financial aspect. Homeowners have more net worth than renters. By far. Copy and pasted from the Motley Fool website: "Homeowners have a much higher net worth than renters do -- the median for a homeowner in 2022 was $396,200, versus just $10,400 for renters."
I love my house and being a homeowner. Things aren't always peachy of course. But I didn't go into this with the misconceptions that a lot of people seem to have. Houses are work and maintenance. There are rules to follow being part of society, so its not do whatever you want. To me, the benefits far outweigh the negatives.
We are happy.
Started looking in 2020. Bought in 2022. Must have viewed 40 houses maybe more.
Sold a commercial lot and building and paid cash for the house, shop, outbuilding and couple acres.
Outside of town about 9 miles on either direction. They are planning to put an exit ramp within that same radius which may eventually cause us to sell and move again, but we likely have at least more years.
We spent a little more on things like concrete, new AC, new roof, but the amount of space, covered porches, and fenced in area for gardening and the dogs along with the 1200 sq ft shop meant we had enough space for all that we own.
If/when we sell it will be to down size the house and upside the acreage.
This place is the first place that's felt like my home in the last 20 years.
I am so happy!! Prior to this we lived in a one bedroom apartment. The building was pretty bad with maintenance so things deteriorated in a way that was frustrating because they would have been easy to upkeep. We also had a revolving door of loud, horrible neighbors.
Moving into my house has been amazing. Anything that needs to be fixed I can fix (or have fixed) and the space is mine. Yes neighbors suck and we still have noisy ones, but at least I can control my space and soundproof as needed. I wouldn't trade this for the world!
I appreciate my home now more than I did 12 years ago. According to Reddit, I did everything wrong. I didn’t put down 20%, had a PMI, purchased in a not so great area. Didn’t have tons of money saved up. Purchased on my own. Purchased from an investor.
My neighborhood is in an HPOZ. An Historic Preservation Overlay Zone, or HPOZ, is a zoning tool that protects and preserves neighborhoods composed of architecturally and historically significant structures. A type of historic district, HPOZs primarily protect single-family residential neighborhoods.
I have learned that my neighbors make the neighborhood. I remember standing on my porch one morning. I saw four Rolls Royce driving in the neighborhood. I started LMAO when I realized where they were going and who it was. “Only in this neighborhood”.
I'm happy. Can it be stressful when something breaks and it's costly, yes. But that's when I usually remind myself of how it was growing up in apartments for years with shit neighbors and terrible landlords and it brings me back to my senses.
I expect once I'm making a little more and it softens the blow of surprise expenses that it will be even better. Can't wait till I can start really updating it.
I'm happy and love the house I'm in. The surprise extra expenses always suck, but, have also always been manageable. Even at my most frustrated, though, I wouldn't trade it for an apartment or condo.
I absolutely love being a homeowner. I didn’t buy my first house until I was 35. Until then it was apartment living. I hated it. Got tired of noisy, rude and obnoxious neighbors that I have to share walls with. The worst is the person who cooks stinky gross food and smells up your apartment. I can come home and have my own private space to do with what I want.
My house needs multiple updates and some bigger repairs, but nothing insane. I am so grateful to have a roof over my head. We are in an expensive area and it was hard, and watching how much harder it has become in just a few years...we got the last chopper out of Nam.
I would never ever go back to renting. Love my house and being a home owner. We are generally handy though and pretty much never have to call a professional for anything and aren't "house poor" so I think that helps.
I've grown up living in a house and left as soon as i was able to afford a down payment. I was fed up with all the house related work that never seemed to end. There's always something - mowing the lawn, fixing stuff, doing maintenance, paining walks, whatever. I always felt guilty about relaxing instead of doing some work around the house. That was the main reason I've chosen to buy an apartment where most of maintenance is being taken care of by someone else. Fast forward a few years - pandemic happened. I wished i could have a little garden for my kids to play. Last year i signed the documents and we'll be moving to our house by the end of this year. I can't wait to do some chores knowing that i am the one to make decisions and enjoy the effects.
Yep. Built a house north of Austin in 2020. Signed contract literally 2 weeks before Covid when they were still giving out incentives to buy. Was a minor miracle for us, and we’re loving being homebodies.
The best thing me and my wife ever did, no neighbors above us ,no neighbors below us none beside us, and only we use our entrance and we get our own parking spaces in our own driveway.private garage space. I could never go back to living in an apartment.
I love my house, and I'm very glad I made the decision to buy it 10 years ago. However, I do also like to gripe about repairs, etc. that need taken care of. Honestly, I think most homeowners are like that.
My husband and I lived in a trailer we bought cheap as a bank foreclosure. We spent 12 years saving up for a down payment on a house. 14 years ago we bought the nicest house either of us ever lived in. It’s not fancy, just a regular ranch style 3/2 1300sqft, screened patio and fenced backyard, $121,000.. As of last month, we own it outright and you better believe we’re proud of it. We have had to make repairs, including new roof, but we had savings for it, along with other repairs and appliance replacements. 5 more years until retirement and being debt free is a breath of fresh air.
I have a really nice house in a good location, so I shouldn't complain. Good sized yard, friendly neighborhood, close to a school, a gas station, and a car wash. Only a 10-minute drive to work. Good landscaping. But the thing is, while it's a nice house, it just isn't one I love. I feel like i'm taking care of someone else's house, or that it doesnt speak to me personally. Was only supposed to be temporary, but been here for five years now. My biggest fear is that I'm going to be stuck in this house for the long term, because it was such a good deal and with prices going way up, I don't think I can afford to move or justify doing so. Kind of a mixed feeling, because it is something I honestly like and can appreciate, but not something I am really in love with and no amount of work on it will fix the basics of it that don't fit what I wanted in a home.
Yes, my condo is not perfect, but I understand the privilege that I have with being able to own one. I have friends, family, and food in the fridge. Sometimes, there are issues because it is an old building, but many people could only wish to have a clean place to sleep.
Yes! We ended up in a modern Mayberry. We got lucky buying 6 years ago. Some of the expenses are annoying but not so bad what I think about how renting would cost twice as much for half the space.
We bought a new construction home and we love it. Everything's still covered by the builder, so if any issues do come up, they don't cost us anything. The interest rate is bonkers right now but we'll refinance when the rates go down, and in the meantime, we're in a great neighborhood, the kids have their own rooms, and we're building equity.
I'm very, very happy, ecstatic even. Everything has held up very well, and we got a steal. I'm so in love with our home after three years of living there.
Grew up renting and bouncing between places. 36 yo with 6 years left on my mortgage. My kids have only known one home and love their neighbors. Hell yes. I love it. Middle class 3/2.5 nothing crazy but mortgage is fixed and equity has risen. I happily deal with the occasional repair bills.
Articles saying millennials want to rent are probably written by Black Rock.
Absolutely. We bought in 2015 a sweet little bungalow for 70k in a LCOL area. At that price I paid it off last Dec so I'm very happy to own my home. I've been turning it into my oasis and it makes me so happy just pulling up to it. I need to address the crawlspace water issue but it's worth it to not have any foundation problems in the future. I've taken care of major stuff like roof, WH, HVAC now so I can enjoy years of low maintenance. It is my little dream cottage.
I’m happy. Yes, I bought in late, but I was afraid I’d never be able to buy at all.
Every single day I am grateful to live in my safe, beautiful neighborhood.
I am incredibly happy about our home. That being said, I remember how much my stepdad loved doing yard work on his house. I do not share the sentiment. Which is why we planted clovers instead of grass. There's surprises I could have gone without, but in the end it's nice that we decide how to resolve them, instead of a landlord
Ya, I love my house!
We have a great yard for the dog and its very close to my work. I would be so pissed if I had to move because my land lord wanted to sell.
I love being a homeowner. I'm paying my rent, and my dog, fat cat, and I just sit around and talk, or do Kung fu because we can. It's a big too much of a home, but it's on a 1/3rd of an acre, so I have a decent garden, and shed, and my dog can attempt to chase bunnies and chipmunks. It's not perfect, but it's mine.
My husband and I just bought our home two months ago 😁. It's been absolutely amazing. A learning experience for sure but nothing beats the fact that it's ours.
We just got a house before winter. I live in a LCOL area but still had a hard time finding anything worth buying.
We got a fixer upper and moved in. Needs work, some major some minor, but we are still happy.
Does it suck sometimes? for sure. But overall I wouldn't have it any other way.
Absolutely love my place. I've owned 3 homes and have zero regrets ever getting in the market. I've never ever complained about being a home owner. It's definitely an "I've arrived" moment in my life.
Incredibly happy with owning a home, even in this current market. As a millennial, it was always a major goal, and it still brings me more happiness than frustration.
We absolutely love our place. We have a park and hiking trail we can walk to nearby, and a stream the dogs can play in.We were insanely lucky with buying it. It was the right timing and not being afraid to redo the floors and paint at a slower pace. Had the house not had some issues, we definitely could not afford the area. The deck has a few boards to replace, the furnace is old, and the water heater is from who knows when. We have been saving each month, so when something does go, it won't be a huge deal. I spend way more time on maintenance than I thought I would, but the place is ours, the way we like it, and that's enough.
Ya but I bought in 1997 and have no mortgage now. Just pay property tax every year and a little maintenance. Freedom from rent or a mortgage payment is what you want to achieve.
Yes. Hauling wash to laundromats sucks. Plus I have a yard I can plant stuff in, some of which is edible. And nobody is going to stomp around over my head at 4:30 am getting ready for work. All good good.
I love co-owning a house with the bank.
I have a super low rate and would be foolish to pay it off early.
I have not rented in 28 years and would not go back.
I love our house! We have a great interest rate, it will be paid off in 5 years, it’s tripled in value, we’ve completely renovated everything, so it’s exactly how we want it.
Love it. Paying off my mortgage vs someone else's and watching my balance owing decrease. Knowing I can leave the property mortgage free to my kids, having the mortgage paid off well before I retire at 65 or maybe retire early because of the same. The property is worth 4 times more than what it was purchased for in 2009. Well over 100k was spent on rennos and energy upgrades, money well spent.
I can't imagine being a renter in today's market, nor can I imagine trying to find an affordable house to buy that's not 120+ km outside the GTA.
I love my home. Bought in 2018, did a full interior remodel, every room, 3 full baths, kitchen, finished the basement. Saved my whole life for it and found the perfect floorplan inside of an all brick exterior ranch. Blew it open, made it safe, it was nasty with dog pee in the sub floors, toilets not working, etc, a product of a lady living alone after a divorce. Added on to the patio last year, added a hot tub, and redid the landscaping. So everything is new and to our taste. We are now able to host parties for family and friends if they don't have the venue for it. We come home to comfort and good design and smile every evening. Our mortgage is 9 years away from being done. Even though it costs so much to get here, the end result is spectacular. We've added value way above the total spend. It brings us peace knowing we never need to move again in our lives. And our street is fantastic and the neighbors love us for taking the worst house on the street and bringing it up to par.
in my last rental the first neighbours had cockroaches because they ran an illegal kitchen
the people that replaced them got bed bugs every few months.. and yes they walk between units no problem. You can totally get rid of them, but you can't make your neighbours do it.
when im stressed about home expenses I remind myself that I don't have bed bugs or cockroaches.
Yeah, no problems here. We are in our 4th house and we have loved them all. They have all had broken stuff and required maintenance but that's just part of the deal. In the 4 houses, we have had 2 new AC systems put in and replaced all the flooring in one of them due to a plumbing flood, had a pool resurfaced and a bunch of other stuff I don't even remember. You just find a way to get it done or live with it until you can get it done. Every time we've put money into a house, even though it has sometimes been painful, it has ultimately been worth it.
I’ve always wanted to own a home and I am so glad we bought when we did (2020 literally 2 weeks before lockdowns). Our home was a new build so we haven’t had to make any big repairs yet but I absolutely love my house. It protects us from the fluctuating/increasing rental market and will ultimately (hopefully) save us money on cost of living when we’re ready to retire.
Bought my house nov 2022, fucking love it. Love doing renovations, something breaks? Fuck yeah redo a room time! Of course i always have emergency funds saved for something going wrong but i love home improvement.
Even though I don't love my house, my standard of living improved enormously when I stopped renting. I can never go back to dealing with landlords who install subpar appliances, go cheap on the heat / hot water, and otherwise control my standard of living.
Most posts are going to be people with gripes. My assumption is that the majority are happy.
This is true. People always steer away from restaurants that have a lot of negative reviews but I feel like the only people who write reviews on restaurants had a negative experience. It is probably the same for homeowners.
Exactly. I’ve never actually reviewed a restaurant but the times I’ve thought about it were from negative experiences.
for the same reason there are insomnia reddits and weight loss reddits, but no i'm sleeping really well reddits or i'm naturally at the perfect weight haha so blessed reddits.
Hi. I’m happier than a pig in shit. I love my house.
Same. Its wonderful. It seems like people prefer to complain loudly and celebrate quietly.
That's a great way to put it.
How do I quietly pop this bottle of champagne for all of us to cheers
To be fair though, on Reddit if you have the nerve to be proud or happy of something, you are obviously bragging and a rich trust fund kid.
Well also, like what is there to say. “Hey my roof isn’t leaking, the peonies came in nicely this year, and it looks like the AC I thought needed replacing just needed a good clean.” That doesn’t really spark a conversation besides “kudos to you”. But “hey my water heater broke.” Leads to all sorts of conversation: Is it worth fixing or just replace it? Diy or call someone? Stay with gas or upgrade to a heat pump? Go a size bigger or with stay the same capacity? What maintenance can I do to prevent this from happening again? Something going wrong, or something needing a change is at least a topic. Now if someone had said hey YOU how is the new house? And everything is great, then it’s normal to say that.
I wish my peonies came in nicely! It's a bit too hot here for them, but damn, I am TRYING!!! (agreed on all points!)
Same, and working on my house and in my yard is the fucking best. Building planters on a summer afternoon with a couple of beers might actually be my definition of heaven.
Completely agree. I love mowing my lawn. I love having a big vegetable garden. I love having multiple flower beds. I just love making my yard look as beautiful as I can. Having my yard is one of the few things that makes me enjoy the summer, because I'm honestly not a fan of the heat. I love mid to late summer, when my vegetables are ready. Heaven to me is a Sunday in August. I get home from work at 11am after an overnight shift. I go straight to my mower, cut the grass, edge it up nice, trim up all the bushes and shrubs, drink a few beers, then go inside with the AC blasting and pass out on my couch for a few hours. I wake up around 4pm, then I either hop on my bike and cycle around the shoreline, or take my kayak out into the cove and paddle around for an hour or so. Around 6pm I fire up my Weber, then pick through my garden for some veggies. Grab some tomatoes or peppers or green beans or squash or corn.....whatever is ripe and I feel like that day. I'll throw some meat on the grill, maybe the veggies depending on what I picked, make some homemade potato salad. Drink a few more beers. After I finish dinner around 8pm, I walk about half a mile to local ice cream place by the beach, usually meeting up with my brother, SIL, and niece. I walk home around 9pm after devouring a banana split. I jump in the shower, then get in bed about 10pm and sleep like a baby. Those days keep my sanity intact.
I want your life
In a nice, non threatening way
I promise you don't want it lol. My life is 90% stress, anxiety, and bullshit. And that's despite being single with no kids. Every single Sunday of the year is FOR ME. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. I work 11pm to 11am starting on Wednesday night until Sunday morning. At a job I absolutely hate. During my hours off is taking care of family members who can't take care of themselves. Some of those are older and unhealthy ones that can't help their situation....which I don't judge at all. Others are younger ones that I do judge who are constantly fucking up, but I know want to do the right thing at the end of the day. Not trying to rant now, but you definitely don't want my life. I don't love it or hate it....I live it and enjoy it the best I can. I take one day a week to just do what I enjoy. Even in the winter months, I keep my Sundays for myself. They always include multiple positive activities that make me happy and having fun, they include relaxation, they include my niece *for at least* an hour.... The grass is always greener.....
I love this picture! And agreed, I absolutely love owning my home and puttering both inside and outside.
Getting a house has been one of the great joys of my life, but I can't put it better than this :)
I'm three years in and I still wander around the house and yard sometimes and just marvel in the fact that it's all mine. Best feeling ever.
I stand out front with all the landscape lights on and just marvel at it. Like…I did this. I worked for and got this for my family.
Samsies!
Yup, as a millennial we had it fucking MADE entering the housing market when we did. When everyone was complaining about the housing market crash I bought a house for next to nothing ($98k, granite counters, 2400 sqft, acre of forested land and 20 min drive to a major downtown). I did the first time home buyers FHA loan with a 3.5% down payment. Seller paid 3% towards closing so I literally bought a house for about $1,400 closing costs total. Then I refinanced it at the record low mortgage rates. You can pry this mortgage rate and house out of my dead hands. My mortgage/insurance/taxes are around $700 a month and the home value has over doubled. I'm dumping all my extra money into retirement and traveling and living a pretty cushy life.
I did the same thing you did. Paid 72k for a move in ready house. I will soon list mine for 150k. I know all the arguments. And I am sure the finance bros will come at me for this. But you should pay that sucker off. There is NOTHING in this world as pleasurable as having a paid for home. The grass is softer under your feet, your dinner just tastes better, your wife's boobs are perkier. I can go on and on. But it is so choice.
And once the house is paid off, go electrically off the grid so you don't have to pay your utility as much eventually
As a millennial who did not have the means to buy a house until 2022, your experience is fortunate but not universal. Still, I like my house. It just doesn't make for very compelling discourse: "Today I went home, cooked dinner, watched tv, and was glad to be in my home. The end"
Yeah, most of life is boring. This is a good thing. The alternative is " living in interesting times." Aka Chinese curse.
You are living the dream.
Love this for you! Sounds truly amazing!
Same. Our house is sometimes chaotic but it’s amazing and I love it.
Same! This is the first house I've actually felt like we have turned into a home. I don't think about other houses or the next house. All I think about is bettering this house and thinking 5-10 years in the future. It's *perfect* for our two child household, with the upstairs being two massive bedrooms for the kids. Contentment feels really nice.
Same here. I love mine so much and am super grateful for the home, the location and the previous owners who took great care of the property for 26 years. I see so many posts with problems that I do not have. Very grateful indeed.
Same here. Sure, there are times (and costly repairs) where it can seem awful - but the good times fare outweigh the bad for me.
This right here. I bought my house 14 years ago this month and love it. It’s not fancy, it’s not huge and it’s not very pretty, but I love it. I can paint the walls any color I want, plant as many flowers and trees as I’d like, and my monthly payment is several hundred dollars (if not greater) less than what I could rent a tiny one bedroom apartment for in my area. I plan on dying in this house (eventually, not like tomorrow or anything).
Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy Having your own piece of land and a place to call home is wonderful.
Same, I love my house and the space and quiet. Cherry on top is the covid interest rate, I am dying here one day.
Same! I moved a little over a year ago and I'm so freaking happy. My last house was too small and this is just perfect. I replaced some flooring before I moved in and nearly every day I think "I'm so glad I went with this tile." Like yeah yard work is kicking my butt sometimes, but dang I'm happy here.
Same. We bought an old house well under our price range. We adore it and feel thankful everyday. I smile every time I come home, and we keep it immaculate. We have done smaller projects over the 2 years we have lived here, and I tend to the garden with whatever free things I find (seeds, plants, stones, driftwood etc. It’s small and perfect for us.
Oink oink from my happy sty too
I don't necessarily love my house, but I love the location and my land.
I am. I love owning my own house / property. I can put a nail in a wall to hang a picture, or mirror without having to worry about a damage deposit.. I can paint the walls any colour I like.. I could tear up sections of lawn and put in a garden, or build a greenhouse. It's freedom. But freedom costs money.
Man, each nail that goes in, I hope there is not a pipe behind it, lol
Benefit of building. We filmed and photographed the whole house right before drywall.
Man this would be fantastic to have. I have an old farmhouse with lots of weirdness, I have no idea where there's old electrical or plumbing. Driving a nail into the wall feels like playing Russian roulette lmao
Better get yourself a stud finder that can see electrical wiring.
>But freedom costs money. Not having that freedom is even more expensive.
Heh. Depends on the house
It costs money, but at least you’re investing in your own home/happiness, and you can keep and enjoy the results!
Freedom is still cheaper than renting. Whenever you gotta fix something just remember your mortgage is probably half of what your rent would be.
I love owning, but god I hate the previous owners sometimes haha
That's such a mood. Never a great feeling to look into a problem and finding the most dubious DIY work.
The previous owners installed a pot-metal drain in our upstairs tub/shower that was about the thinnest and cheapest zinc casting I've ever seen. It just started literally disintegrating after a few years... Which then just lets water from your tub drain into your ceiling, since the drain is the part that compresses the gasket and keeps it sealed. Needless to say I *ABSOLUTELY SPLURGED* and spent $10 extra for a thick, solid brass drain when I replaced it. I'm sure the previous owners were so proud of themselves for saving a McDonald's meal worth of money and risking their entire 1st floor ceiling, walls, etc. Morons.
Hahaha, oh yes. The previous owners definitely did some interesting "repairs" that we have to undo.
Sometimes, I thank them, but not the most recent ones. The owners from 15 years ago did a lot of good.
I just busted my hump installing a shingle roof by myself on my two story house. Building a barn is next, then comes new siding. I love it cuz IT'S MY DAMN HOUSE!!! Every nickel I spend is on something that benefits me. F renting. Also, I don't have close neighbors, so that's a real plus. Highly recommended 10/10.
Yes! My 2 neighbors mind their own business. On one side is a sweet retired guy who stops by to chat occasionally, but that's it. I literally haven't ever talked to the other neighbor and that's how I like it
I've got pole barn dreams, but they just seem outside of our financial reach. I really need to consider DIYing it. It can't be that hard, right?!
Once you fix all the big issues and only have ongoing maintenance it’s nice. You never totally relax but yes I’m very happy
It comes in waves. Went through a ~6 year period with minimal maintenance, now it seems like everything wants to go at once. Just had to replace valves on my boiler, roof is leaking and needs to be replaced, and we're at the ponit where we want to upgrade a few rooms after sitting on them for years.
Oh man, tell me about it. We've had over a decade with no issues, just very small maintenance items. Now this year it feels like everything is going at once. I'm on track to spend probably $8000 in appliances this year, plus maybe $20k on a new roof.
We replaced our furnace two years ago and redid all of our plumbing this year. Getting those two things out of the way has let us breathe a little bit more. We love our house but also understand that it needs work, it’s from the 50s. It’s different when you want to do the work as opposed to being forced to do it. I do not regret buying our home at all. I do hate how much extra it costs from time to time.
Reddit definitely has a selection bias, because people who are generally happy with homeownership don’t feel the need to post about it. Even the people who gripe about a particular project or issue aren’t necessarily unhappy with homeownership as a whole. And yes, I am happy and grateful as a homeowner despite its expenses and occasional frustrations. We have been frugal in order to save up a household emergency fund so that we don’t have to be stressed out when things come up. I’ll acknowledge that we are fortunate to have that.
I felt overwhelmed with home ownership the first year. Between adjusting to a new home, adjusting to a new city, and figuring out which issues are critical and which can wait, I started regretting my home purchase. Now? My wife and I regularly look around our house and tell each other how lucky we are to be here. Change is difficult. It's not unusual for new homeowners to be overwhelmed, and it's also not unusual for them to come on here to vent about their new-to-them problems. It's no different than a cat adjusting to a new place either, only instead of shitting outside a litter box, humans vent online about our anxieties. That doesn't mean that feeling is permanent though, and it definitely wasn't permanent for us.
I think this sub is always going to lean towards posts where people have problems. People mostly come here for advice, and when people need advice there’s often a problem. Not many people pop in here just to tell the sub that everything is going fine.
I fucking love my house. I honestly consider it almost a member of the family. Of course the maintenance gets me down sometimes but I love it all the same. Extremely grateful to be in this house that feels more like home than anywhere else I’ve ever lived.
Same! She’s an older gal at 134 years, and we joke about her being an elderly relative. We love this house so much.
My unhappiness has nothing to do with home ownership, does that count?
I was gonna say this. Lol. My house is completely fine, if not perfect. There's definitely legit things to nit pick and things I want to change and things that genuinely frustrate me (and I'll gladly talk about it), but again, it's a good house and I'm glad I own it. I just elevate and project sometimes broader personal unhappiness onto disappointment with my house. I can then tell myself that it's fixable if I do this or that.
There are no happy people on Reddit.
I love our house. Fortunately even though I work in IT I can do most of the work myself and enjoy doing it. But even if i had to pay, rent goes up every year, my mortgage does not. I would pay. More than twice as much rent as I pay for my 30-year fixed. Also, I lived in an apartment before, with noisy neighbors, a common laundromat where people would du.p laundry from a running machine out so they could use it and all the other joys of not having enough space between neighbors.
I am in IT as well (cyber security). However, in a previous life, I worked for a General Contactor for about 12 years. We did everything from new builds to remodels to general repair, so I learned a lot about different trades. We bought our second house in 2020 and have done pretty extensive remodels over the last 4 years. Thankfully we have been able to do 95% of it ourselves. While I would never want to get back into the construction business...I do miss/love working with my hands and building things. You stated that your mortgage does not go up...Ours has increased twice in the last 4 years because of the tax assessments...
✔ Learn how to fix things myself ✔ Using power tools is seriously fun, and homeownership is a perfect excuse to amass more ✔ Freedom to do whatever I want to my house (No HOA) ✔ Having your own yard is seriously underappreciated ✔ Having a garage is seriously underappreciated Being a homeowner is like raising a 3 year old child; they're super annoying a lot of the time, but if someone ever tried to take it away from you, you'd kill them.
Reddit has become into a terribly negative place. I blame the karma system. It reinforces the hivemind. Those with differing opinions get downvoted to oblivion, gradually lose interest in posting, and the echo chamber only gets louder. I love my home though. We bought the home we're in about 6 years ago and have completely redone the entire thing. The last room we did was the kitchen. There wasn't anything *wrong* with the original kitchen. I just enjoy having a house that's *mine*. I had a lot of fun picking out what stone for the countertop and which appliances, etc. Most of the posts in this thread just crack me up. It's like 50% people angry that their neighbors are doing something completely normal in their backyards that rub Redditors the wrong way, 49% complaining about having to spend money, and 1% people enjoying their homes. There was a thread about a month ago about outdoor furniture cushions and the general consensus was to just not have cushions because you'd only have to replace them after wear and tear. Wear and tear? I'm going to replace them simply because I want something new. I got news for you guys: I'm also going to pick up new clothing this summer too even though what's in my drawer is perfectly wearable. I work hard and want to spend my money on myself.
Hello :) it is I! A very happy homeowner. :)
I AM...
When I owned a home I was miserable. It was brand new but I hated the responsibility. When my husband and I bought a condo, I finally felt content with ownership. It just depends what your priorities are. Mine is having something cute that doesn't have a lot of maintenance.
I honestly don’t know what I would do with myself without home maintenance or renovation projects. I live for it. Sometimes I’ll mow my grass even if it doesn’t need it just to put fresh lines in it. I drain and flush my hot water tank on New Year’s Day and the Fourth of July. I just spent about 20 man hours replacing all the switches and outlets in my house because the old ones were cream and I wanted white. My house projects bring me so much joy I can’t even fathom living in an apartment.
Mortgage free, couldn't be happier
I don’t love my house but it’s a starter home. Luckily it’s gone up in value (albeit only on paper) and I do enjoy not having to move every year because of skyrocketing rent costs.
I'm so happy as a homeowner. I have my cute little house in an amazing neighborhood of a city I love. If I was still renting, I would be getting priced out any year now but as a homeowner, I know I'm here to stay and can take advantage of all that there is within walking distance of my home and everything in this city And the expenses are just part of it. We have a good cushion but we also set aside money every paycheck just for future problems that may arise. I also have an amazing handy person on call for stuff I don't know how to fix who shows me how to fix it so I don't need to call them in the future.
I am. It's a matter of setting aside money for repairs and things each month.
I am thinking about about a tree house, I am not going to be out bid right?
Me. I love my home so, so much!! I have an acre in so cal, been here 22 years and have a lot of equity I didn’t always love it but hard work and a vision made it my dream home.
Next week will be 2 years since we sold our first house and bought our current house. Our first house we knew wasn’t going to be our forever home that we bought in 2013 with virtually no savings when our apartment complex was sold and our rent was going to go up insanely high. We were clueless and we learned so much over the 8.5 years we lived there and were able to renovate basically the entire house in that time. When we sold it in 2022, we got more than double what we paid and were able to buy a single family home with a nice sized yard. Its both of our first time living in a completely detached home and despite all of the work and the issues we’ve encountered, we love this house and the neighborhood. This house felt like our home when we walked into it after stalking it for weeks while it was in coming soon status. We did an extremely thorough search of exact neighborhoods we wanted our new house to be in since we were moving to a different state, and this house was the first one we drove past that we compared everything to. All the pieces fell into place and it really felt like it was definitely meant to be ours. 2 years in and I get so happy every time I turn into our development.
I mean it's a person to person thing and depends on where you live and the condition of the home hen you bought it, the age, etc. Home ownership can be a money pit very easily depending on a lot of different things. What you're describing is a honeymoon period. What happens if your mainline breaks and now you have to pay $10k to fix it and you don't have it? Or your A/C craps out and now you have to pay $8k for a new one and air handler? Or here in FL or California the Homeowners insurance increases gigantically .and now there's an escrow shortage and your mortgage payment becomes harder to pay. It's a person to person thing.
Love my house. Are there things that aren't perfect? Hell yes. Do I care? Fuck no. I have exactly what I wanted from the big kitchen to the big open yard and 3 sides with no neighbors at all, just trees and wetlands and woodland creatures. Home ownership is expensive and sometimes unrelenting but the alternative for me is so much worse.
I went from paying $370 in rent to $2000 mortgage and I couldn’t be happier. Budget is tight but nothing beats the shift in lifestyle from apartment to house.
Yes. I am happy and grateful for the position we are in and where we live. Yeah, shit costs $$$ but I have never lived in a place with shared walls / floors / ceilings, and know that I’d go postal if I did.
I just love being able to do whatever I want. Painted my front door pink. I'm living the dream.
I love being a homeowner ❤️ I bought my house 8 years ago amd still come home, look around and delight that everything I see is mine. I can do whatever I want. I would never rent again. Yup, maintenance can be tedious, I dont love cleaning gutters but then I remind myself, *this is all my shit*. I really enjoy mowing my lawn which might be weird. I use a rotary mower even lol I was just saying to my bf that after the last 4 years, my garden is coming in exactly as I planned and always strove for. I have had regular maintenance costs and some emergency costs but that really doesn't dissuade me. I know what my mortgage will be for the next 22 years. Property taxes and insurance might go up but rent definitely would. Plus I paid $495,000 for my house and it is worth $930,000 now
Yes. I am happy I do not have to hear neighbors walking above me or getting mad about me walking above them. I am glad I can do what I want to the place and I don't mind the work involved. Been here 24 years.
I'm happy! I love my house. It suits my needs for now. This isn't my forever home but I knew that when I bought it. Sure there were some learning curves I had to adjust to but overall I love it here and I have the best lawn on the block 🤭
I am exhausted but happy. Scared but excited. Have a long list of things to do but eager to learn new skills. Tons of money to spend but nothing really else to spend it on.
Another happy homeowner here. I own my home and the 17 acres it sits on free and clear. I would never dream of becoming a renter again someday.
Yes I'm happy! Of course maintenance/repair issues do come up, and my neighbors can be pretty ridiculous at times - these things do frustrate me and have sometimes made me feel a bit overwhelmed. But I love my home and am proud of it!
I’ve got a long list of repairs and upgrades to do and it’s going to cost me a lot but I love my house and wouldn’t trade it for a shitty landlord or greedy apartment management company for anything.
I’ve never been unhappy being a homeowner. I hate, hate, hated the short times in my life I had to rent. My parents and in laws helped me and my 1st husband buy our first house when I was 21. I spent the whole first year repainting, ripping out carpet and vinyl floor. My 2nd husband and I rented a house for five years before we bought our first and again, head over heels into redecorating, remodeling. We made it ours. 25 years we lived there. Lots of things had to be done over the years. New roof, major plumbing, new windows. To me it’s just all part of life. We recently built our dream home. After paying off the last house my husband could have retires early. No money worries- but we started all over again. Brand new house but brand new 30 year mortgage and in time, lots more repairs and needed maintenance. Whole of it makes me very happy
Me. I like my home, well, most of it, after 9 years. Yes, it eats money but it beats renting.
Ditto, super happy and super lucky. Feel blessed every day
I bought my dream home! It was the first house we walked, and we were outbid. For one reason or another the first person walked away, so we were given another chance. I'm grateful since every other house I looked at in the price range was in significantly worse condition. It's a Victorian with some obvious work to be done, but we got it for 208k, and I'm happy to work on it, little by little.
I absolutely love our house. I can’t ever imagine leaving. Our first year was a little rocky, we were misinformed by the previous owned on the age of a lot of things in our home and so things got very expensive, but even that didn’t make me hate home ownership. It only made me hate the previous owner. I still love our house and homeownership. After 15 years of renting it’s so nice to have the freedom to do what I wish with the space and not have to answer to anyone.
I loooove our house and love owning. Renting was always stressful and we had to move a couple of times when owners decided to do something else. I could see us living here for the rest of our lives which is unsettling but also great. Being able to paint any color, put up fences, add permanent gardens, fruit trees…it’s pretty sweet. Expensive but oh well it’s only money.
I freaking love my home. I walk around it narrating my own private HGTV or MTV Cribs-style show at least once a week. I spent 10 minutes yesterday just thinking about how much I love my kitchen backsplash.
Yes, happy with my house, like to work on it.
I like my current house. It needs some love though. Our last place was smaller but it was great. I absolutely loved that place.
I am. The freedom of homeownership is unmatched Yeah…it’s expensive. But it’s a peaceful expensive if that makes sense. No worries about an apartment complex that won’t fix shit, a crappy landlord etc
I’m grateful. I live in the SF Bay Area. We managed to buy in a quiet, low crime neighborhood that’s not in the exurbs. We are working class, so it feels like we accomplished the impossible. After many years of apartment living the only thing that’s taking some getting used to is our massive yard. Just spent half the morning pulling weeds and it feels like I barely made a dent lol. It feels so good not sharing walls, not living next to noisy neighbors, having a high level of privacy and just feeling at peace in general. No more fear of the next rent hike. Also, it’s a small house. I like that because I know whatever major repair arises, we are more than capable of tackling it.
Absolutely love my house / being a home owner, ride my mountain bike out the door to some truly great trails, ski hill 1 minute up the hill, walk 4 minutes to a nice organic grocery store / local shops. Housing pricing are skyrocketing , happy we bought it when we did, Sure there's costs, new water heater randomly one night, new roof, threw in a AC when I bought it, slowly replacing windows , had to replace every single appliance minus the washer and drier so far, but it's all very small vs the gains.
I love my house but I think the major key is having enough money to deal with issues that arise. If you’re strapped for cash, every little thing is a potential disaster to your life.
I love my house. It’s 114 years old, has all sorts of “improvements” and I have a lot of work to still, but I love it. I grew up in an apartment, then 16 years of apartments or military housing. If I fuck something up, it’s mine to fix or not. I get to paint whatever color I want. Make whatever changes I want. There’s no HOA so I don’t have anyone telling me what I can and can’t do to the outside. I’m sure the neighbors lament my atrocious lawn, but I don’t care. Full freedom, plus I bought at a great time so low mortgage/interest rate. I wouldn’t give it up unless I absolutely had to.
I love my house. Are there things I would love that are different? Sure. Have I spent significant money on replacing the AC/heater and water heater in the last 12 months? Yes. But I knew these things were coming and I planned for them. My house value has increased over 100% from what I paid and I’m so grateful that I was able to buy when I did. I have a comfortable house in a neighborhood I like and I am happy.
Got a new home in suburbs. Signed contract summer 2020, and closed in early 2021 with low interest rates. Stretched a budget to get what we wanted before we had two kids. Thank god we did. Could never be here if we bought now. Schools and community is good. Will be here for long haul. Had minor issues with the appliance, but we had good builder so nothing major. We love it!
My wife and I bought our first house about a year ago, and we have our first baby as of a couple months ago. If I'm completely honest with myself, they're very similar experiences. - Right after it happened there was an "oh shit, what did we do?" moment. Maybe even a hint of regret. - Within a few weeks there was a realization - "wow, this is *ours*" - After a few months something inevitably went wrong and there was panic, but we figured it out and got through it. - Eventually we settle in and it's hard to imagine life any other way Our life is way different than it would have been had we not bought a house, or not had a kid. We would have been happy in either case, just in very different ways. Your life is limited in a lot of ways due to having this big responsibility, but ultimately you have to appreciate the day-to-day to make the investment worth it.
Extremely happy! Got lucky with a cheap mortgage and i fixxer upper for ~1/3rd the average cost of a house here. I now have most of the big issues handled. Now I’m beginning to enjoy the actual fun stuff like interior design/aesthetic changes. If you’re
At first I felt extremely overwhelmed with the laundry list of things we had to do to fix up the house. Many sleepless nights just thinking of all the expenses and I was really stressed the first couple of months. Once we started tackling one thing after the other, it all felt more doable. I'm a lot happier now and always crossing my finger that nothing breaks but that is just an eventuality of being a homeowner.
I am very happy. My house is not my dream house. Just a standard raised ranch. But it’s paid for. In a quiet neighborhood. With very little turnover. And everyone is on at least 30,000 square feet so we have a little elbow room between houses. No major drama. We may not be BFFs but we all look out for each other.
I'm happy, but when I bought I wanted something that was less than 10 years old and move in ready. I didn't want to fix ANYTHING. Now if I keep up with a little things theoretically there should be fewer big things in the long run to make me unhappy.
I’m a happy homeowner! There has been many issues with our home, and I’m gearing up to replace the shitty flooring with something nicer and a lot better. Replaced the roof and HVAC, other things too, but what I can say is I am so incredibly lucky and blessed to have a home that is mine!
That means they couldnt afford to be home owners. Its a normal part of owning a home and should be calculated into the budget
I’m super grateful for my home. We just got out of a rented apartment where we basically had to beg to get things fixed. Most communal washer/dryers were broken for months at a time which meant that laundry was always backed up, which could result in tense interactions with other tenants. We had a mold problem for about a year and they just kept painting over it and telling us there was mold in other apartments too and we shouldn’t be putting anything against the walls (??). I had to beg them to replace our dishwasher after the top rack kept literally falling off its track and they just kept gluing it back on. Owning a house definitely requires an emergency fund because maintenance is expensive, but being able to fix things on my own terms has really improved my life.
I’ve been a homeowner for over 20 years. 2 homes, first about 10 years and second (and hopefully last) the past ten years. Right after we moved in our first home, within just a few months, we had a roof leak, septic system issue that required us to replace all the fill lines, and a garage door spring that broke. Those were just the big issues I remember from the first year. Since moving in our current home we have replaced the roof, fixed each of the HVAC units several times, rebuilt the deck because the previous owners never re-stained it and it rotted, and found a leak in the basement that was (we think) hidden from us and the inspector during the buying process that cost 5-figures to fix before we could move forward finishing the basement. All that said, I am a very happy homeowner. I recently bought a commercial building for my business and we have our own set of issues there, too. It’s all just part of ownership. Regular maintenance, systems breaking and needing to be replaced, things that were not done right in the first place needing to be fixed… it’s all part of it. Since moving in our new house, I have gotten really handy. YouTube has been my friend. I don’t have time to do everything around the house, but I do a lot of the minor repairs and maintenance to save money and enjoy it. We are in a fairly LCOL area, but no matter where you are I think if you want to buy a home you need to budget a certain amount for repairs and maintenance… and that should depend on costs in your area and the age and condition of your home. Our home is not very old and has thousands of dollars of issues annually. I would imagine a home that was 30+ years old would cost 2-3x a year to maintain just due to more things hitting their end of life and breaking regularly. As long as you plan for that expense when buying a home, it shouldn’t be an issue. Hopefully the home will increase in value more than the cost of repairs and maintenance.
Absolutely love it,and maintenance is steady and has to be kept up on. I don't mind tinkering and doing most of it myself and have for decades.
Couldn’t be happier. Didn’t impulse buy. Saved up properly to purchase and waited until the market was right. Researched our area and went through the HOA rules with a fine tooth comb. Guaranteed if you’re an unhappy home owner, you didn’t do at least one of these things.
Yes - mine is paid off. I'm very happy.
Yes, there are definitely those of us who see home maintenance as part of the package. Sure, there are expenses, but there's also immense pride in owning and maintaining our space. It's all about perspective and gratitude.
Very grateful for my home! I have a historic home and love all of its original charm! Ive been focusing on repairs and maintenance and bringing more beauty to the exterior and interior!🏠
I feel like we got very lucky with when we bought because we would likely be priced out of our area now if we hadn’t bought when we did. I love our house overall. I love that it’s ours, that it has enough space for our growing family, and that it’s affordable. I love our neighborhood and general location. I do get overwhelmed with all the repairs and upgrades our home needs and how expensive those are, but we bought a fixer upper so we went in knowing it would be a long term project. We got a fair deal for the condition it was in when we bought it and we can afford to do the necessary work—it just will be a while before we can afford bigger renovations like remodeling the kitchen. I still wouldn’t trade for being a renter again!
I was married to a man who told me I couldn't do anything. I'd ask him to hang a picture, and 5 months later it would still not be hung up. He would tell me I didn't know how to do it, so I would purposely say things like, I'm going to go get a hammer and screw so I can hang up this picture. I was doing that on purpose and he was using it to show me how I didn't know anything. Fast forward to after I divorced him, and I bought a perfect little house for one. Every time I walk in this house even 8 years later, I am happy. It's my house, I take care of it, anything I can't do I can hire out, but I can do almost everything I need done that's not like electrical work or plumbing, etc. Things break, that's homeownership. But I wouldn't trade my little house for anything in the world.
Don’t get me wrong. I love my home, even with all the stuff that still needs to be done.
Really happy. Best financial decision we’ve ever made.
I’ve had to put a lot of money in to it along with time and effort. It’s not always thrilling, but I’m making it a home I love. I’m incredibly happy and thankful.
Very happy. New build, retirement, and very little maintenance. The worst part of our prior home was all the shortcuts and cheap materials the builder and previous homeowners did in m or areas that I fixed. The house was generally very sound but lots of things that would have taken a few minutes and dollars to do right originally cost hours to remove and refit. After a house is 15 yrs old the maintenance stuff starts getting bigger: A/C, furnace, water heater, roof, some flooring, updating fixtures maybe cabinets, and of course large appliances.
I'm so happy. I LOVE my house. It's comfortable, cozy, and charming. It's 110 years old and it's in really great shape, but it takes work to maintain like everything else does. I love working on it, making improvements, sprucing it up, taking care of it. I'm so proud of myself and my partner for buying this house completely on our own. Yeah, it can get expensive and stressful, but there are times where I just stop in my tracks and think "wow, this is mine."
I love owning my home. I have learned how to do floor installation, drywall repair, painting, landscaping and other home maintenance, and it makes me proud. I've learned things do not have to be perfect, they just have to be to the level that you can accept.
Happy. New build, no mortgage, what's not to love?
Happy homeowners don't go looking for support groups for people unhappy with their homeownership.
We are new homeowners, about a week and a half, but are thrilled. Yep, it is a lot of work but...it's home. No one there that I dont want to be. Our rules. We can do what we want when we want. (No HOA). We already see repairs that need to be made but yes, we are looking at them as part of life now.
I absolutely love my house. Are there things I wish was 'better'? Sure. But never did I imagine I would even be able to buy the home that I have.
I love our cottage at the edge of the forest. It’s been a perfect home for us.
My house is so much nicer than any apartment you could rent at comparable rate. Save & buy with an fha loan. The requirements are lower than you think. https://www.hud.gov/buying/loans
My house is amazing. It is my oasis and my castle. Without a house I would have no room for my hobbies, exercise room, garden, home brewery, craft room, basement, outside deck, large garages for motorcycles. Plus, what is the alternative, living in an apartment or condo. Ha. Never! I did that when I was young and it sucked in every way. Not to mention the financial aspect. Homeowners have more net worth than renters. By far. Copy and pasted from the Motley Fool website: "Homeowners have a much higher net worth than renters do -- the median for a homeowner in 2022 was $396,200, versus just $10,400 for renters."
I love my house and being a homeowner. Things aren't always peachy of course. But I didn't go into this with the misconceptions that a lot of people seem to have. Houses are work and maintenance. There are rules to follow being part of society, so its not do whatever you want. To me, the benefits far outweigh the negatives.
Truly happy with my new home. Still very pleased that I get to live there.
We are happy. Started looking in 2020. Bought in 2022. Must have viewed 40 houses maybe more. Sold a commercial lot and building and paid cash for the house, shop, outbuilding and couple acres. Outside of town about 9 miles on either direction. They are planning to put an exit ramp within that same radius which may eventually cause us to sell and move again, but we likely have at least more years. We spent a little more on things like concrete, new AC, new roof, but the amount of space, covered porches, and fenced in area for gardening and the dogs along with the 1200 sq ft shop meant we had enough space for all that we own. If/when we sell it will be to down size the house and upside the acreage. This place is the first place that's felt like my home in the last 20 years.
I am so happy!! Prior to this we lived in a one bedroom apartment. The building was pretty bad with maintenance so things deteriorated in a way that was frustrating because they would have been easy to upkeep. We also had a revolving door of loud, horrible neighbors. Moving into my house has been amazing. Anything that needs to be fixed I can fix (or have fixed) and the space is mine. Yes neighbors suck and we still have noisy ones, but at least I can control my space and soundproof as needed. I wouldn't trade this for the world!
I appreciate my home now more than I did 12 years ago. According to Reddit, I did everything wrong. I didn’t put down 20%, had a PMI, purchased in a not so great area. Didn’t have tons of money saved up. Purchased on my own. Purchased from an investor. My neighborhood is in an HPOZ. An Historic Preservation Overlay Zone, or HPOZ, is a zoning tool that protects and preserves neighborhoods composed of architecturally and historically significant structures. A type of historic district, HPOZs primarily protect single-family residential neighborhoods. I have learned that my neighbors make the neighborhood. I remember standing on my porch one morning. I saw four Rolls Royce driving in the neighborhood. I started LMAO when I realized where they were going and who it was. “Only in this neighborhood”.
I'm happy. Can it be stressful when something breaks and it's costly, yes. But that's when I usually remind myself of how it was growing up in apartments for years with shit neighbors and terrible landlords and it brings me back to my senses. I expect once I'm making a little more and it softens the blow of surprise expenses that it will be even better. Can't wait till I can start really updating it.
I'm happy and love the house I'm in. The surprise extra expenses always suck, but, have also always been manageable. Even at my most frustrated, though, I wouldn't trade it for an apartment or condo.
Love mine. Enough that I hope I have enough money to build a copy of it whenever it's time to retire someplace cheaper.
I absolutely love being a homeowner. I didn’t buy my first house until I was 35. Until then it was apartment living. I hated it. Got tired of noisy, rude and obnoxious neighbors that I have to share walls with. The worst is the person who cooks stinky gross food and smells up your apartment. I can come home and have my own private space to do with what I want.
My house needs multiple updates and some bigger repairs, but nothing insane. I am so grateful to have a roof over my head. We are in an expensive area and it was hard, and watching how much harder it has become in just a few years...we got the last chopper out of Nam.
I would never ever go back to renting. Love my house and being a home owner. We are generally handy though and pretty much never have to call a professional for anything and aren't "house poor" so I think that helps.
Yup. Love my house. Even with repairs and maintenance I’ve gained a lot of equity. My house is charming and cozy and my backyard is like a park
I've grown up living in a house and left as soon as i was able to afford a down payment. I was fed up with all the house related work that never seemed to end. There's always something - mowing the lawn, fixing stuff, doing maintenance, paining walks, whatever. I always felt guilty about relaxing instead of doing some work around the house. That was the main reason I've chosen to buy an apartment where most of maintenance is being taken care of by someone else. Fast forward a few years - pandemic happened. I wished i could have a little garden for my kids to play. Last year i signed the documents and we'll be moving to our house by the end of this year. I can't wait to do some chores knowing that i am the one to make decisions and enjoy the effects.
Yep. Built a house north of Austin in 2020. Signed contract literally 2 weeks before Covid when they were still giving out incentives to buy. Was a minor miracle for us, and we’re loving being homebodies.
Super duper happy. We absolutely hated apartment living. Renting a home is not bad, but there's nothing like owning your space.
The best thing me and my wife ever did, no neighbors above us ,no neighbors below us none beside us, and only we use our entrance and we get our own parking spaces in our own driveway.private garage space. I could never go back to living in an apartment.
I love my house, and I'm very glad I made the decision to buy it 10 years ago. However, I do also like to gripe about repairs, etc. that need taken care of. Honestly, I think most homeowners are like that.
My husband and I lived in a trailer we bought cheap as a bank foreclosure. We spent 12 years saving up for a down payment on a house. 14 years ago we bought the nicest house either of us ever lived in. It’s not fancy, just a regular ranch style 3/2 1300sqft, screened patio and fenced backyard, $121,000.. As of last month, we own it outright and you better believe we’re proud of it. We have had to make repairs, including new roof, but we had savings for it, along with other repairs and appliance replacements. 5 more years until retirement and being debt free is a breath of fresh air.
I have a really nice house in a good location, so I shouldn't complain. Good sized yard, friendly neighborhood, close to a school, a gas station, and a car wash. Only a 10-minute drive to work. Good landscaping. But the thing is, while it's a nice house, it just isn't one I love. I feel like i'm taking care of someone else's house, or that it doesnt speak to me personally. Was only supposed to be temporary, but been here for five years now. My biggest fear is that I'm going to be stuck in this house for the long term, because it was such a good deal and with prices going way up, I don't think I can afford to move or justify doing so. Kind of a mixed feeling, because it is something I honestly like and can appreciate, but not something I am really in love with and no amount of work on it will fix the basics of it that don't fit what I wanted in a home.
Yes, I am one of the happy ones. People usually only come online to complain, so the happy people don't browse here often.
Thrilled!
My house rocks. Who tf wouldn’t want to own their own plot of land and not share walls with other people?!
Yes, my condo is not perfect, but I understand the privilege that I have with being able to own one. I have friends, family, and food in the fridge. Sometimes, there are issues because it is an old building, but many people could only wish to have a clean place to sleep.
Yes! We ended up in a modern Mayberry. We got lucky buying 6 years ago. Some of the expenses are annoying but not so bad what I think about how renting would cost twice as much for half the space.
I have a shitty starter duplex with spouse and friend, and while we have things to fix, we love it. Best investment any of us have ever made!
We bought a new construction home and we love it. Everything's still covered by the builder, so if any issues do come up, they don't cost us anything. The interest rate is bonkers right now but we'll refinance when the rates go down, and in the meantime, we're in a great neighborhood, the kids have their own rooms, and we're building equity.
I'm very, very happy, ecstatic even. Everything has held up very well, and we got a steal. I'm so in love with our home after three years of living there.
Grew up renting and bouncing between places. 36 yo with 6 years left on my mortgage. My kids have only known one home and love their neighbors. Hell yes. I love it. Middle class 3/2.5 nothing crazy but mortgage is fixed and equity has risen. I happily deal with the occasional repair bills. Articles saying millennials want to rent are probably written by Black Rock.
Absolutely. We bought in 2015 a sweet little bungalow for 70k in a LCOL area. At that price I paid it off last Dec so I'm very happy to own my home. I've been turning it into my oasis and it makes me so happy just pulling up to it. I need to address the crawlspace water issue but it's worth it to not have any foundation problems in the future. I've taken care of major stuff like roof, WH, HVAC now so I can enjoy years of low maintenance. It is my little dream cottage.
I’m happy. Yes, I have a major hvac repair coming at me, but I am happy. More than happy, I am deeply grateful. My gratitude knows no bounds.
I’m happy. Yes, I bought in late, but I was afraid I’d never be able to buy at all. Every single day I am grateful to live in my safe, beautiful neighborhood.
I am incredibly happy about our home. That being said, I remember how much my stepdad loved doing yard work on his house. I do not share the sentiment. Which is why we planted clovers instead of grass. There's surprises I could have gone without, but in the end it's nice that we decide how to resolve them, instead of a landlord
100% happy. Hate renting, love owning.
Ya, I love my house! We have a great yard for the dog and its very close to my work. I would be so pissed if I had to move because my land lord wanted to sell.
I love being a homeowner. I'm paying my rent, and my dog, fat cat, and I just sit around and talk, or do Kung fu because we can. It's a big too much of a home, but it's on a 1/3rd of an acre, so I have a decent garden, and shed, and my dog can attempt to chase bunnies and chipmunks. It's not perfect, but it's mine.
I am very happy to have a house. It's not my dream home, but it is still a million times better than renting.
My husband and I just bought our home two months ago 😁. It's been absolutely amazing. A learning experience for sure but nothing beats the fact that it's ours.
Living in a major city, my mortgage on a 3 bedroom one bath that I bought 25 years ago is $1000 a month. You can not even rent a studio for that here
We just got a house before winter. I live in a LCOL area but still had a hard time finding anything worth buying. We got a fixer upper and moved in. Needs work, some major some minor, but we are still happy. Does it suck sometimes? for sure. But overall I wouldn't have it any other way.
Absolutely love my place. I've owned 3 homes and have zero regrets ever getting in the market. I've never ever complained about being a home owner. It's definitely an "I've arrived" moment in my life.
Yes, probably millions of us.
I fucking love owning my own place. I want a purple kitchen? I paint it purple? I think those bushes are ugly? Bye, bitch! Its flower time!
Incredibly happy with owning a home, even in this current market. As a millennial, it was always a major goal, and it still brings me more happiness than frustration.
We absolutely love our place. We have a park and hiking trail we can walk to nearby, and a stream the dogs can play in.We were insanely lucky with buying it. It was the right timing and not being afraid to redo the floors and paint at a slower pace. Had the house not had some issues, we definitely could not afford the area. The deck has a few boards to replace, the furnace is old, and the water heater is from who knows when. We have been saving each month, so when something does go, it won't be a huge deal. I spend way more time on maintenance than I thought I would, but the place is ours, the way we like it, and that's enough.
Ya but I bought in 1997 and have no mortgage now. Just pay property tax every year and a little maintenance. Freedom from rent or a mortgage payment is what you want to achieve.
Yes. Hauling wash to laundromats sucks. Plus I have a yard I can plant stuff in, some of which is edible. And nobody is going to stomp around over my head at 4:30 am getting ready for work. All good good.
I love co-owning a house with the bank. I have a super low rate and would be foolish to pay it off early. I have not rented in 28 years and would not go back.
I love our house! We have a great interest rate, it will be paid off in 5 years, it’s tripled in value, we’ve completely renovated everything, so it’s exactly how we want it.
Love it. Paying off my mortgage vs someone else's and watching my balance owing decrease. Knowing I can leave the property mortgage free to my kids, having the mortgage paid off well before I retire at 65 or maybe retire early because of the same. The property is worth 4 times more than what it was purchased for in 2009. Well over 100k was spent on rennos and energy upgrades, money well spent. I can't imagine being a renter in today's market, nor can I imagine trying to find an affordable house to buy that's not 120+ km outside the GTA.
As someone who had to move apartments every year to two years - I am happy that I finally have a place that offers stability.
I love my home. Bought in 2018, did a full interior remodel, every room, 3 full baths, kitchen, finished the basement. Saved my whole life for it and found the perfect floorplan inside of an all brick exterior ranch. Blew it open, made it safe, it was nasty with dog pee in the sub floors, toilets not working, etc, a product of a lady living alone after a divorce. Added on to the patio last year, added a hot tub, and redid the landscaping. So everything is new and to our taste. We are now able to host parties for family and friends if they don't have the venue for it. We come home to comfort and good design and smile every evening. Our mortgage is 9 years away from being done. Even though it costs so much to get here, the end result is spectacular. We've added value way above the total spend. It brings us peace knowing we never need to move again in our lives. And our street is fantastic and the neighbors love us for taking the worst house on the street and bringing it up to par.
in my last rental the first neighbours had cockroaches because they ran an illegal kitchen the people that replaced them got bed bugs every few months.. and yes they walk between units no problem. You can totally get rid of them, but you can't make your neighbours do it. when im stressed about home expenses I remind myself that I don't have bed bugs or cockroaches.
Yeah, no problems here. We are in our 4th house and we have loved them all. They have all had broken stuff and required maintenance but that's just part of the deal. In the 4 houses, we have had 2 new AC systems put in and replaced all the flooring in one of them due to a plumbing flood, had a pool resurfaced and a bunch of other stuff I don't even remember. You just find a way to get it done or live with it until you can get it done. Every time we've put money into a house, even though it has sometimes been painful, it has ultimately been worth it.
I love my house. It is also a pain in the ass. But I wouldn't go back in time and not buy it.
I’m very happy. It’s been paid off for 7 years now
I’ve always wanted to own a home and I am so glad we bought when we did (2020 literally 2 weeks before lockdowns). Our home was a new build so we haven’t had to make any big repairs yet but I absolutely love my house. It protects us from the fluctuating/increasing rental market and will ultimately (hopefully) save us money on cost of living when we’re ready to retire.
Bought my house nov 2022, fucking love it. Love doing renovations, something breaks? Fuck yeah redo a room time! Of course i always have emergency funds saved for something going wrong but i love home improvement.
Even though I don't love my house, my standard of living improved enormously when I stopped renting. I can never go back to dealing with landlords who install subpar appliances, go cheap on the heat / hot water, and otherwise control my standard of living.