OWNing a Home…

I recently watched the movies Sisters, in that there is a line where one of the characters states “a house is a building, home is a feeling.” When you buy your first house that is what you are trying to create; a “home” -that combined with too much HGTV well makes home ownership complicated.

Especially, for my generation! We typically had parents that made money on their houses, and then late in their life some lost money on their homes.  So as a result we are prone to unrealistic expectations from houses, or severely jaded. So when Mark and I went to buy a house, I did my research and decided to be as realistic as possible.

First things first, I think of a house that I plan to live in as an asset not an investment. What is the difference you might ask? An asset is something that can be owned that has value ideally with some positive economic return in the future. An investment is defined as the outlay of money for profit. At any given point I should be able to sell my house and cover my mortgage (ideally of course make money, but not with an expectation of that). Any updates done in my mind is done for us; the “value” it adds for us and making it a “home.” Another thing I made sure was to be realistic about what we could afford. M and I both have good credit, the bank told us we can afford a lot more than our house value, and they will do that. So be realistic about what you want to pay monthly and what that means for your lifestyle. Mark and I did not want to be “House Poor.” You don’t want to own a superb house and eat ramen daily. Finally, here is a motto from our home search that is super useful: “price, location, and size/layout” pick two! It is very unlikely that you get the size, price and location you want- you will need to compromise on something.

Once you have a house, and are happy with it your quest for a home begins. Making your house into a home is simple in some ways; make it comfortable for the people living there. And at the core that is all there is to it. But like I said earlier too much HGTV complicates this. Therefore, many homeowners have bigger dreams than pockets, this is us too! We want out home prettier, more modern etc. So here we are learning to DIY! One project at a time. Some small, some big and it has been an adventure.

What have we learned so far? Well we are typically not the best at DIYing, we always underestimate time. While it is a pain and we might not do A LOT of it, we do enjoy aspects of it, and there is a pride in it that is hard to explain.We are generally good at ideas; execution seems to be our problem. Sometimes it seems to man vs. house, and the house always wins. We will need a lot of help to make our home the way we want!

So then at the end of the day the question is whether home ownership is worth it? And the answer is yes, if you are realistic. You do build equity that you do not in a rental, you can make it a home in a way you often can’t a rental. That said I don’t home ownership if for everyone! And I do think we should stop insisting it is in America (I feel like there is a push for it that is not necessary and not accurate, may be it is just me). You can be as happy and financially stable renting. I was for years. 

So go ahead buy a home, if you want to and makes sense for you!

(I hope if you are reading this, you appreciate the pun in the title)