Here we are, talking about home ownership again. I am 35 years old and still rent and apartment with BF. For all the long time friends of Blonde & Balanced you know the saga: we rent, we want to buy, we love our apartment, we hate our apartment. However, in case you’re new here let me bring all of our recent friends up to date on why it’s time to buy a home.
BF and I are both 35 years old and have been dating for 17 years. We’ve also been renting just as long. It’s not that we don’t have the money to buy a home (we’ll get to those details in just a second), it’s that we have always loved the non-committal lifestyle of renting. Since neither one of us have family anywhere nearby (the closest is 8 hours away) it just always made sense for us to rent.
In October 2014 we moved from a small 570 square foot apartment in a large high-rise building to a gorgeous, newly renovated 1100 square foot apartment in a historical part of town. Our renter dreams had come true, or at least we thought so. The apartment is beautiful with built in bookshelves, exposed brick walls and a floor to ceiling marble bathroom. Like I said it’s gorgeous.
By December we quickly realized that exposed brick (with no insulation) and marble floors (with no heating) quickly added up to a freezing cold winter and a $900 electric bill. YIKES! We talked to our landlord and they agreed to come in and make the apartment more comfortable for us.
Fast forward to August 2016, we still have no upgrades to our apartment and the cold weather is only a few months away. Don’t get me wrong, we made it work. We purchased area rugs, floor mats and space heaters so we didn’t freeze our toes off the second winter. However, that shouldn’t have been the case.
Our lease is due for renewal on September 30 and BF and I have decided that it’s time to buy a home. I would personally love to be out of this apartment by December 1, but BF thinks we should take our time and find a home in a good neighborhood. Although I plan to move before the holidays, BF plans to move in spring. Therein lies the problem.
If you’re a homeowner, how did you know it was time to buy a home?
You can’t deal with people
This is one of the biggest reasons why we’re ready to move. Like I mentioned, we live in a historical part of town and what does history mean? Tourists! I’m over it. I want to walk outside and see nothing but trees, flowers and my car parked in the driveway.
You have money for the down payment
BF and I are in our mid-thirties (yes the mid-life-crisis is just around the corner) and we do have money saved for the down payment along with the other expenses that come with moving such as property taxes, furniture and the actual movers. It’s going to be hard to see a big chunk of cash come out of our savings account, but since we have no plans (or I should say HE has no plans) to get married anytime soon, buying a house seems like a smart way to spend our savings.
You’re ready to make lifestyle sacrifices
People keep telling me that as soon as I buy a house I’ll be house poor. I hope that’s not the case. I love to travel and although I know I will have to cut back, I’m hoping that I don’t have to cut it out. BF and I will also have to learn how to be handy and more importantly how to cook.
We live in the middle of a city and that means there’s always a restaurant open to grab dinner on the way home from work or order delivery or a late night snack. All that will change once we buy a house in the suburbs.
You think renting is a waste of money
Despite being a financial planner I am not one of those people who think renting is a waste of money, not if it’s what you want to do. Renting was good for us for all these years because of all the reasons mentioned above. However, now it’s time to buy a home because we want our own space, no neighbors and peace and quiet.
