Since we have a home improvement section coming out in the paper later this month, I’ve been looking at a lot of helpful articles on repairs and hints to make one’s home more energy efficient or beautiful. That got me thinking.
I’ve heard plenty of people (one of whom I’ve been married to for 31 years) say, “Why would anyone throw money down a hole renting an apartment or house when they could buy a home instead?” Well, to me, it’s just not that simple.
First of all, many banks require a 20 percent downpayment — or more — to start home loan proceedings. Let’s say someone is planning to buy an average, older house, one that costs $80,000, just to throw a figure out there. The downpayment would be $16,000 before closing costs and other fees are tacked on. Not everyone has money like that lying around. If they do, it’s probably in a savings or retirement account, where they intend for it to stay.
Secondly, even if one can scrape up the cash for a downpayment, there are always things that have to be done to the home unless you’ve had a builder construct it to your specifications. Wait, what am I saying??? I know couples who’ve divorced over house plans and construction! Even if you work closely with a builder, a list of “somethings” is bound to go wrong.
Thirdly, once you move into the home — no matter how wonderful it seems — things tend to start going wrong. Maybe not right away, if you’re lucky. Upkeep on a house can be awful, even in the best of houses. There’s always something. Oh, and besides your payment and all the upkeep, there’s the property tax every year. That’s lovely, she said in a snarky voice.
Scott and I rented for barely a year before he got the itch to buy a house. It took some fancy footwork by a kindly banker to make it happen. Our first house in El Dorado was an oldish one, built in 1927. It had been abandoned for some time and needed work. It was love at first sight for us, so we didn’t mind, and we got it for a song. The house needed paint and carpet, just for starters. We’re pretty good DIY painters but the carpet set us back. Later, there were problems with the dishwasher, the HVAC unit, a leaky toilet in the hall bathroom. Just before we moved to Texas, we found out that mice were getting into the house through a little hole behind the stove in the kitchen. (Shudder). I’m glad the people who bought it made improvements we couldn’t.
The house on Lee Avenue in College Station was a desperation buy. It was ugly — we didn’t like it much. It cost twice what our house in El Dorado did, even though it was approximately the same size and built in the early 1950s. New houses in CS were astronomically high, and our income wasn’t much better there than it had been in El Dorado. We could barely afford it — and didn’t have anything close to a 20 percent down — but I’m glad the bank worked with us and we took the plunge. That house had been a rental for some years and had suffered many indignities. We painted, papered, or carpeted every single surface in the house, eventually redoing floors, repainting, and re-carpeting again over the years. We had to hire people to work on doors and windows. Later, there were plumbing problems (multiple), electrical problems (brownout conditions were normal), and the yard was a real chore to keep up (nearly 1/3 acre). The property tax was well over $3,000 per year. After 18 years there, I wasn’t unhappy to leave.
I don’t know if I’ve made it completely clear how much I love my house here in Magnolia, but let’s just say it’s an awful lot.
That said, we’ve had plumbing problems and even gas line problems (yeah, scary). The place was clean as a whistle when we moved in, but there were things we wanted/needed to have done. A big snow caused the roof over the laundry room to leak (and cave in completely) and the carport roof leaked. Eventually, we caved in and replaced the whole roof. Being as old as it is, you could hear wind whistling through the windows. So we put on storm windows. Did that help with heating/cooling? Not really. The old, original wooden blinds barely worked or didn’t at all. New blinds it was. Two rooms really needed repainting and another two kinda needed new carpet. We had had ceiling fans in our bedrooms for over 20 years, so that was a want-to.
Over the course of five years, as we could afford it, we’ve made those repairs or improvements, and we’ll be paying for some of them for the next few. Improvements are optional, but it sure would have been nice to call a landlord to make the repairs. I totally get why some people choose to rent.
Our house really needs better insulation and some storm doors next. Besides that, the garage needs painting. See, it never ends.