[bksvol-discuss] OT: Owning a home

I've been trying to stay out of this, but it's
becoming harder and harder.

Lora, you seem to have made the emotional decision to
own a home, and there are some advntages, of course:
you have hav a yard and a large dog and tax and
interest deductions, and if you enjoy gardening, you
can garden--and you don't have to worry about making
too much noise for your neighbors, or your neighbors'
noise, depending on how close together houses are
where you decide to live.

But as I read E's posts, I think of all the reasons
for not owning a house--the constant upkeep, both
financial and, if one does it oneself, effort. We're
lucky that my husband likes to and is cable of fixing
a lot of things, both inside and outside the house,
himself. But it seems as if it's constant. I've lived
both in apartments and houses, and I personally prefer
the former, because if something goes wrong I can call
the landlord. Also, as a single person, I felt a sense
of security in an apartment--a relatively small
building, so one didn't worry about a lot of
strangers, but if something happened there were
neighbors easily at hand. I remember one time, before
I was married, that my roommate and I had a fight in a
nearby apartment and we banged on the door and called
the police and protected the woman.

With children, having a home is an advantage, as they
have more room to play and one doesn't have to worry
about the noise--though we did have to be sure not to
let them out to play in the yard before 9, because our
neighbors wanted to sleep. Now, at night, since our
dining room, where we watch tv, is opposite our other
neighbor's new bedroom (they rebuilt the house), we
have to close the windows after 9. And on the other
side of the house, when I work at the computer with my
bedroom wndow open, I "enjoy" the Chinese soap operas
and music coming from that neighbor's house. And we
live in an area where 3 to 5 foot side space is
required between houses (depending on when the house
was built).

Your daughter, as I recall, is about to move to
Hawaii? so you don't have children. There are condo
communities  where you can have a home rather than an
apartment and where the greenery is taken care of and
paid for by the condo fees. Depending on your age,
there are retirement communities; my brother and
sister-in-law are renting a wonderful house in such a
place, as did my dad. And the communities, retirement
or not, have, I believe, lists of people who are
approved to make repairs if you need them. It's
something to consider when the time comes. Maybe by
that time you'll be old enough for a retirement
community--some have an age as young as 55. There is
security and lots of activities and good
transportation, usually, and of course you can
continue working--and without worrying about the
security of your home while you're gone.

Just my thoughts. 

Cindy







      
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