What's the return policy on this thing, anyway?
My husband and I recently celebrated one year of home ownership. What a milestone! As much as we need our vacation this year, I'll admit we needed it far more last year. Maybe the stress we were under can explain some of our seaside antics. Or maybe we're just a pair of crazy kids who like drinking the demon liquor, removing all our clothes and swimming in the ocean in the dead of night. The world may never know.
Last spring, I was so incredibly antsy to get out of our apartment and start investing our money in a home. But to be perfectly honest, part of it came from feeling like everyone else was buying a house and feeling like we should be able to do it too. Now that I've lived in this house for a year, I've matured a bit (how could you not) and come to realize that owning a home is a lot of work. I "knew" that last year, in theory - but you don't really know it till you have lost sleep and cried tears over how broke you are thanks to your precious four walls and roof.
The pros of home ownership absolutely outweigh the cons, and I don't regret our decision in the least. However, I think twenty-somethings have this weird sense of entitlement about owning a home - and not just a home, a really nice, large home. It's so odd - there's really no reason to rush something like this, but we do it. It's like we feel like we should have everything by the time we're 30 - house, awesome cars, great job, lots of money, kids - and really, things don't even really get started till we're 30. If I had it to do again, I think I would have waited 6 to 12 more months, saved a bit more money before taking the plunge. Not that those pearls of wisdom are going to matter one iota to anyone who might be reading this now, feeling just like I did last spring - yes, I'll admit it - entitled.
But regardless of how we got here and whether it was right or wrong, here we are. And the house is still standing, so I call that a successful year. Here's hoping we can sell this mother when the time comes.