[Disclosure: I initially posted this under Home-improvement sub but was asked to move].
The short story is, I want to discuss whether it sounds an OK idea to go from owning a house to renting a house or townhouse, because one would like to make life simpler by taking off the burden of maintenance/repair?
The longer version of the story is, some years ago, I hit the saving target for down payment and was able to buy a house. Over the past years, I enjoyed living in this house and had lots of nice time. But overall I feel that there is so much work in maintenance and home improvement. Homedepot and Lowes become places I frequent. (My house was built in 1950s, which is probably a factor here, but it had been remodeled a few times and quite well maintained by previous owners.) I'm in my early 30s and I want to give more time to other things in my life (work, career, relationship, etc).
In addition, I feel that the feeling of ownership makes me want to make the things in the house more perfectly. For example, I want to make a sprinkler system have perfect coverage rather than just so-so. I want to make a hose bibb look nice rather than just functional. As a result, I feel to some extent, the sense of ownership is costing me work and time.
As a result, I am considering going back to rent... But at the same time, I realize this sounds a bit insane because it sounds like life going backward. So I want to hear people's opinions here.
Don't get me wrong. Doing house work and improvement can be fun sometimes, especially improvement projects where you can be a bit creative. Having a backyard and looking at the trees/flowers you planted or the patio you created can be very enjoyable. But the amount of work is also non-negligible. When it comes to pure maintenance and repairs, there is pretty much no fun and sometimes can be really ugly (especially if it involves plumbing). You definitely can call a professional, but dealing with professionals can also be tiresome. There are "professionals" out there that make you feel anxious dealing with; they make you think you need to spend big replacing this and that, do not show up, or even make things worse rather than repairing them.
Financially, I feel rent isn't really "wasting money" as some people say. It needs to be compared with property tax, mortgage interests, maintenance, and insurance. It also saves you time & sweat equity. I feel that time is money and should be put to what I am trained to do (which is not house maintenance or home improvement).
I have talked to a few friends about this idea of going back to renting a townhouse or house. They all showed some level of skepticism because the idea sounds like "life going backwards." So I am not sure. As an alternative to renting, maybe I should consider buying a more recently built home (e.g., 1990s or 2000s), which I assume will be easier to maintain. Does this sound like a correct assumption in general?
So, I am here hoping for some insights or ideas from you. Does it sound so bad to go from owning to renting, not because of financial hardship, but because one would like to make life simpler? Am I making a wrong assumption here assuming that renting a house is easier compared to owning one?
Thanks in advance!
Submitted July 15, 2021 at 02:45AM by hmwyh https://ift.tt/3xGVkUz
