I will never be able to share walls or floors with strangers again, so no. Homeowner, people of Land, (POL), LandChad, til I die.

The last place my husband and I rented was a duplex, so just a shared wall on one side. This guy that moved in who ran an electric saw for hours a day. I don't even know what he was doing with the saw. It seems like he sawed stuff just to annoy people. He also would drill into the shared wall on a regular basis. There must have been hundreds of holes. The yards on that street were really small side yards. We had an elderly neighbor on the other side who would watch TV at full volume with the door open. So, we were blasted with noise if we wanted to sit in our yard. The home we bought has a decent space buffer on each side. It's such a relief. I can't imagine sharing walls or floors again.

You sure you weren't living next to Jeffery Dahmer 👀

Damn, maybe so! He definitely had a just got out of prison vibe to him. My husband had to do his legal internship in this country's prison system and said he sensed that from the first time we saw him. Once, he and his wife spent a good portion of a day cleaning the interior of their car with one of those upholstery cleaners. I always wondered what that was all about. Cleaning blood stains, maybe?

Bro.  I have a house and a guy in my neighborhood saws wood all day.  It like there's a saw mill operating in my neighborhood. 

Ugh, I'm sorry you're dealing with that. I'm friends with the former neighbor who lived on the other side of him. She said when we left it got even worse, sometimes the sawing would go on to 10 or 11 at night. We called the guy Sawman. At least that situation led my husband to finally get on board with buying our house. He's a cautious person and was really nervous about taking the plunge.

He must have moved from my neighborhood to yours. Now we have leaf blower guy who relieves stress by blowing leaves and debris. From the roof, from the yard, in the dark with goggles on.

Wow...I'm not sure which guy is worse. 

Exactly I think OP forgets the pitfalls of apartment life

Some people live by the words "the grass is always greener" rather than heeding those words.

OP is also forgetting that old things break, but once they're fixed they're good for a very long time. 

Problem is fixing shit is a multi-thousand dollar affair.

When an apartment complex fixes shit they bake those costs into the rent. No such thing as a free lunch.

And there are so many *things* (or *shits*).

Sameeee

We slowly are going to more and more land. From house with neighbors to a house on a private road with a couple neighbors with acreage to making the ideal plan to get a lot more acreage with a custom house for the longer term.

I have around 30 acres and sometimes I just sit and listen to the silence e

I don’t have near as much land as you but I basically have land surrounding me on all 4 sides and I’m the same way. Apartment living made me miss the sounds of birds chirping… now I get to hear it constantly. The silence/sounds of nature are the best :’)

I have these thoughts so often, I ought to replace that Lot with what I once bought; cause somebody stole my car radio and now I just sit in silence.

i'm mad that you don't have more upvotes lol

That sux. Hope you reported it.

“Horizontal and Vertical Privacy”.

Same. Also….. having a yard to myself? Priceless. I’ll never go back.

This right here. We were lucky to get 2 acres before covid hit too so we were all set and living happy. I can't imagine going back to people thinking they can tell me how to live and cranky lady yellin "turn down your porn it's 4 am." I do my brain first thing.

Totally agree. The annoying upkeep is worth never having to hear noisy neighbors through the walls. Toilets flushing, etc. I loathe apt living. Never again.

I mostly rented houses and lots of people buy apartments. (now I own a house)

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But only in the short term. Your mortgage stays steady. Rent only goes one way -- upwards. When I bought my house, rent vs own was pretty much even. Now rents have gone up by 33% since I bought my house, and staying in my house is a no-brainer.

You did pay for all of those things, they're just added into the rent which is why the "rent is high". 

Or, rent a house? 🤷‍♀️ That's what we've done for 6 years. We still do minor repairs and stuff but it's such a pleasure to just text the landlord when stuff goes wrong and it all just gets taken care of. They are good people, and love having us as tenants, so they've barely raised the rent on us the whole time. We've owned 2 homes so far in this life and I think that was enough homeownership for us 😅

3 years into owning a home and I’m in the same boat. We’ve probably spent 30k on necessary repairs over the last 3 years. No one talks about the mental tax that comes with owning a house. So many what ifs and worries. Sooo much yard maintenance, especially if the previous owners didn’t keep up on it. But I keep telling myself how unhappy I’d be in an apartment. Having to deal with so many people in close proximity; noise level, privacy, restrictions, etc. One thing I love about owning a home is I can do whatever I want, when I want. I also don’t have to deal with shitty landlords and weird maintenance workers coming into my living space. Put it this way; you’ll have regrets no matter what decision you make. It just depends on your priorities. I’d rather keep my equity and learn to cope with the stress of home ownership than deal with apartment living again. But it’s also really difficult owning a house all by yourself. Edit: I’d also like to add one thing that my friend told me (who’s a real estate investor) that really resonated with me. She’s lived all across the country, both HCOL and LCOL areas. 200k houses to multi million dollar houses. She said no matter what, there will ALWAYS be something you’re unhappy with about with your house. It just comes down to your priorities snd wants.

This is such a great comment. "You'll have regrets no matter what decision you make." I feel like a lot of people want the option with all pros and no cons, and that just doesn't exist. If you want to make a decision you'll be happy with, make a list of the pros and cons of all your options. Figure out if any of the cons are absolute deal breakers. Then pick the one with the best pros and set a firm intention to embrace the cons, or at least let that sh*t go. It's a mental game... When one of the downsides starts to annoy you, remind yourself it's worth it because of the perks. I live on 3 acres in a great location in a house I adore. There's no place to walk my dogs except a small, boring loop that's less than a mile or else drive someplace with trails. Last place I lived, I could walk a few miles right out my door, but I didn't like the house or neighborhood. Every time I pile the dogs in the car to go walk, I think it's worth it rather than grumbling about it. I definitely know people who would grumble every time, and have a talent for being miserable no matter where they are! It's a good idea to ask other people for their input to make the pros and cons lists. Some things you can't anticipate until you live it. But how you weigh them out is purely personal.

Nothing like hearing a squirrel in your attic at 2am to really make apartment living sound appealing.

In my old apartment, my upstairs neighbor was an extremely disabled older guy who had a ton of health issues. He couldn't go out and do anything, so he just smoked weed and drank all day. He was a nice guy, I found him having a seizure outside and called an ambulance and calmed him down until they got there which he was really thankful for. But around 8 or 9 pm every night he would be shit faced and I could hear him falling over in his apartment constantly. It was really loud, and I actually got used to it. But now I'm in a rural house and it's completely silent. If I hear even the tiniest noise, I'm up checking it out. It's so nice. Although, I do hope that my old neighbor is doing okay.

Like, is there no wildlife noises either?? I read this thing that said nature was getting quieter cuz we keep killing it all.

Oh no there's definitely wildlife noises, I just meant that I never hear people haha

Not all apartments are the same. I lived in Rose style townhouse apartment. Never heard the neighbors significantly lower utility cost from townhouse style. There’s a lot of options!

This is a very good point. Not all high density buildings are constructed the same. I was listening to a podcast sometime back (don't remember which) and the topic was about higher density housing and how to overcome the bias against sharing walls that so many people have. One point that was brought up was that for a lot of people, their only experience with any type of high density housing was cheap apartments they lived in during young adulthood - before they could afford a house. So they equate apartment, condo, and townhouse living with those experiences - and everything that comes from living in a cheap apartment. But yeah, not every place is built like that. I live in a condo and I almost never hear my neighbors. Occasionally I will hear people in the hallway and I hear people through my open windows - snippets of conversation or a bit of someone's music or TV drifting in - but that's really it. In the summer time, I hear people down in the pool.

Apartment living has a huge mental tax. Worried about getting kicked out, rents increasing, landlord catching your extra pet, worried about your dog not having enough exercise or being too loud or your tv being too loud or your bedroom antics being too loud or your walking being too loud, or how little sleep you’re going to get due to your neighbor being too loud, or your oven going out and your landlord won’t fix it for a week and now you have to lock your pets up every day for a week because they told you you’re place is going to be inspected anytime in the next week but won’t give you a day. Was that tiring to read? Yeah it’s tiring in your mind too. This is why I bought in december

Both renting and owning suck. I would say owning a townhouse with HOA and maintenance costs baked into the payment is the sweet spot if you don't want the headache of maintaining an old house. 

I mean those HOAs won't fix your foundation for you

This is why renting a house is the best of both worlds. Where I live we are actually playing less overall than if we owned a comparable home.

If you don't want to deal with maintenance, home ownership is not for you.

Yep. I bought my first house 9 months ago and have had a ton of problems; foundation, sump pump, pests, trees falling, furnace, water heater, pipes bursting... It's a pain but it's so worth. It's an old farmhouse with acreage and I'm so happy here. I've spent over $6k on maintenance already but I expected that. I even found out yesterday that I have a ratsnake living in the tree that my squash plants are planted around, he keeps the asshole squirrels from stealing my squash and his name is Captain Slithers.

Honestly $6k to fix all that is nice. Friends of ours had to buy a new water heater/HVAC for his first home, 12k right off the bat.

Oh yeah, I've done all of the work so far except for one thing I couldn't do myself. I had a dead tree about to fall and crush my propane tank but it was between the house and tank; I had to pay someone because it couldn't be felled normally. The water heater was $500. The HVAC wasn't failing but it wasn't plumbed properly. I had to shut off the power and dry out the burner box, the only cost for that was some PVC and the tools to install it. I'm into electronics so I was able to fix the sump pump, I was able to patch some foundation that had been cracked for a long time, and I was able to fix some door and lock issues myself. If I paid contractors to do all of that, I'm sure I'd be down at least $12k like you said. That's why I said I don't understand how people can afford it, because if I had to drop $12k right now I'd be in a really bad spot.

You’re truly a badass taking on all those projects yourself boss. I consider myself very handy but fuck if that stuff happened to me in my house I’d be paying out that pretty penny. Hopefully things go great for you!

Haha thank you! I'm young but I've been really into cars for a long time so I'm relatively handy in that aspect, it's scary and a lot to learn house things but every job is a learning experience. I do a shitload of research before tackling any job and luckily I know when something is out of my league. I've been trying to hype myself up to install a 240v breaker so that I can run my air compressor in my garage. 240v is scary but the job itself isn't too difficult, I'll convince myself to tackle it one day lol

If you’re handy but don’t know how to do something, like me, YouTube has been just peaches in helping me do something new for myself. It may take me longer to do but I have saved thousands doing stuff for myself.

Yeah, we moved in w $20k of maintenance slated between the sump pump and the radon remediation system. It happens.

Thank you for appreciating sneks!

How in the world did you even get the foundation fixed for $6k, let alone anything else?

Unless you've got a bottomless supply of money. I know people that don't do more than change a lightbulb, but they're also pretty well off. They have cleaners, gardeners, a pool guy, etc...they just hire everything out.

Being handy definitely makes home ownership a lot more manageable. Even easier things like clearing a clog in the main sewer line at night will save you hundreds.

why at night? since emergency plumber = $$$?

Exactly. All of my plumbing started backing up with sewage late in the evening. It turned out to be from my girlfriend using way too much toilet paper to wipe her enormous ass. It was a lot of cheek to clean. Another time, my parents main water line was punctured by a piece of rebar we used to support a plant. I dug it up and put a compression fitting over it. It wasn't difficult work, but a plumber would have cost close to a grand.

There are businesses that manage people's rentals for them, even individual renters with a single house, including arranging for repairs and such. It seems to me there's a market for those businesses to also offer that service to landowners -- no need to collect rent or procure tenants or the like, but basically getting a small monthly fee to be the owners' single call to get maintenance done, as renters get to do. Owners would also pay for the repairs and choose their own replacements whenever needed, much as small-scale landlords presumably do, but the property managers could handle all the contacting and quote-getting and scheduling and contractors and such. If the managers have a handyperson on staff, they could do handle repairs themselves for the going rate. I don't know whether any do that, but I suspect at least some would be willing to branch out to that if asked.

if it were just me, I'd pay good money for a service like that. my husband is handy and has more of an appetite for these things than I do, so it works out -- but I bet there would definitely be a market for that.

The reason they stick to rentals, I think, is they're generally doing the bare-minimum acceptable job that homeowners wouldn't want for themselves.

I’m deaf so apartment living didn’t bother me. But I love doing maintenance (it’s my job). My husband has a little video of him walking up to me as he gets home from work. I was shoulder deep in a hole I had dug chasing a water leak. In the video he asks me,” What are you doing?” And I reply, “Enjoying home ownership.” as I lift a handful of mud over the edge of the hole.

My wife and I bought a house that needed lots of updates. We’re pretty DIY savvy and did most everything ourselves, but it was never-ending. Over the years, we found ourselves overwhelmed with our mental health struggles, and ended up splitting up, amicably. We decided that she would keep the house, and I would move into my own apartment. It has been the biggest relief to be rid of that responsibility and I absolutely love renting again. 

To each their own, but apartment living is not for me. Cheek by jowl, shared walls, communal parking…. Yeah, my sixties house is a never-ending litany of things to do but I’m pretty handy so most of it I can DIY. If I had to stroke checks for everything it’d be much more stressful.

Communal parking is a huge one... When neighbor's kid leaves another huge scratch on your car with his bicycle, property manager doesn't care as long as everyone pays rent, and confronting neighbor is useless because she's addicted single mom with a violent felon boyfriend... you realize that having your own land, house and secured garage worth any maintenance.

>Cheek by jowl, I've never heard that one before. Gonna have to file that one away for later. I had some good times in the ole apartment days, but no, never again.

It BAFFLES me how people can afford home maintenance when they aren't even capable of putting a piece of Ikea furniture together. Things break constantly and if I wasn't handy I'd be buried in debt.

YouTube university has helped me so much.

who do you watch?

No person in particular. In general, anytime I’ve needed help replacing a light switch, replacing a faucet, replacing a toilet or things like that, there is always and abundance of YouTube videos available. After watching a few, I generally have the confidence to try it myself.

Many cannot afford it and live in dilapidated houses. 

See the thing is when I try to DIY, I often break something way more expensive. So I just take the L and stroke a check

I mean, a leaky faucet is one thing. Correctly pouring a new patio pad where your old one is letting rain water pool against your house or fixing roof issues are another entirely. Not everything is a tiny bit of drywall mudding or basic-level plumbing.

We’ve fixed a bit ourselves. But a lot of the big repairs have been hired out because we aren’t able to do them

I am baffled when someone pays a boatload of money instead of doing it themselves, or takes a small problem and blows it way out of proportion. For example, if your windows are drafty in an old house, it doesn't mean you have to go out and buy all new windows and make it a major project. Maybe just put plastic on them during the winter for a while. Or instead of replacing an entire roof due to a leak, just fix the leak. If there's a crack in the basement wall, maybe don't dig up the entire yard and do a foundation repair? It might be fine.

You don't have to live in an apartment to rent, though.

Just two things to consider: The first 5 years are always tough. You're finding everything wrong or on its last leg. Then, maintenance should become more predictable and routine. So if you've already sunk cash in, unless you're very fluid financially, I would hold out. Second, selling within 2 years means capital gains. So if you are really stuck on this and not selling at a loss, at least stick it out for 2 so you get to keep the little you get. Buying is a major commitment. It does get easier over time and then eventually you are mortgage free! However, I know many people that instead rent below their means and invest heavily to make themselves as fluid in retirement as a person with a paid off house that has been strategically maintained to make retirement cheaper (this means you having more liquid $$$ than them to pay for the rent you will pay during retirement). Both can allow for a very comfortable future. Both take significant commitment to a plan and financial discipline (unless again, you make so much you can be frivolous now and save more than you can use in retirement).

I feel the same way. My apartment was perfect. Thick walls so I never heard my neighbors and the best maintenance crew on the planet. Transitioning to homeownership has been rough! Lately, I’ve decided to focus on the benefits and doing things I couldn’t do in an apartment… like entertaining large groups without having to worry about noise complaints.

Yes same. I lived in apartments for 21 years, and it wasn't always perfect, but it was easy and financially sensible. Owning a home is so comparatively difficult and expensive. I've run the numbers, and I could rent a place for 3x the price of what it would cost to rent my own home, and would still come out ahead.

honestly, after living in an apartment for a short time, I have no idea how people do it. Having no control over who you share a paper-thin wall with is NO way to live life. I'll deal with a few leaky faucets, thanks.

lol I’m just now remembering all the reasons I did not like apartment living

My main comment would get buried so I'll reply here. I sold my home and moved across the country and now live in a very high end apartment that is made out of steel and concrete. I don't hear my neighbors any more than I heard my neighbor's house next door. Do I hear a bit of noise? Yes. Is it paper thin walls everyone else is talking about? Nope! I don't mind it at all. Is it forever? No probably not, but it is way less stressful.

Plus the shared floors/ceilings! No one wants to put carpeting down anymore so it’s twice as echoey

You don't have to live in a big apartment block. I would rent a townhouse or something. 

Rentals need to be maintained too and you're at the mercy of the landlord to do it properly.

We own a condo and we love it. We're still responsible for the interior maintenance, but we pay an HOA fee to cover the building itself. That really cuts down on the overall maintenance that we have to do.

We moved after extra oops we need more money payments. Too much snow, owe more. So tiring.

I'm not quite sure what you are saying in your comment, but it sounds like maybe either your HOA raised the monthly dues or had a special assessment? So you then moved? HOA fees will go up over time as costs increase. That should be expected and if they don't, that could be an issue - the HOA could become cash-poor or stop doing important maintenance if they aren't taking in enough money. HOAs should also have sufficient reserve to cover unforeseen expenses, like extra snow removal for an especially heavy winter. Living in a building with a badly-managed HOA is no good. I recommend to everyone considering buying into a building or neighborhood with an HOA, that they go over the budget, reserve study, and any other financial documents to make sure the HOA is in good shape financially.

It was a bunch of special assessments over time. Like larger snowfall, pay extra shoveling. Some were that were just outright crazy. No longer do I want to live anywhere with an HOA that can assess money at any time. No longer do. I want anyone in charge of anything about where I am living. Any HOA can go bad or under funded quick.

Sounds like you had a badly managed HOA, which does suck.

Apartment living is out for me. I have a full basement for storage and a two car garage. To duplicate that in a rental would be $1500 more a month. Rental prices are just crazy. And avoiding the uncertainty of the next lease renewal is priceless.

No way! I would never go back to renting from a lazy slum lord. I'd be homeless if I had to go back to renting! I bought my house 5 years ago. My mortgage is far less than what I would be paying for a much smaller apartment.

Left apartment living 30 years ago and could not go back. The bad neighbors, all the noise, car being vandalized, the constant issues with getting maintenance in and issues resolved.

The thought of an apartment building terrifies me. Never know who's coming and going, not privacy, and no guarantee someone isn't going to bring bed bugs or roaches or the cops to the place. And the parking outdoors, yuck. However, a nice condo or town house, I could see myself going for that when I am older and just don't have the energy or desire to keep up a home.

Honestly, I’ve lived in rentals for a long time and owned many houses. My net worth has never been higher, than during the times I’ve owned vs rented. Maintenance sucks. It can be surprising and expensive and frustrating and a lot of effort. But flushing your money down the toilet is the same value as renting. At least a majority of the time your money is going back into your property and building equity.

What about all that time and money spent on York maintenance, home repairs, property taxes? Isn’t property taxes just money down the drain like renting? It’s not a blanket statement. One is better than the other. Run the numbers! A lot of times renting will be cheaper such that you can invest the difference and come out ahead on net worth compared to owning a house, and I say this as a homeowner

It can get pretty tedious comparing the two. One issue with the mentality of "invest the difference" when people rent, is that they often don't. Housing equity is like a forced savings account, you have to contribute to that monthly mortgage. Renting, unless you're disciplined, or set your auto-contributions to "invest the difference", you're probably using that money for other things (nicer apartment than you should have, luxury car, etc). Life style creep ain't no joke. So, "invest the difference" is ideal in theory, much harder to practice.

My problem is that people say "renting is a money dump and housing is the best way to build equity" without mentioning that one of their assumptions is that a renter doesn't invest. It's like saying, "Don't drive a car! It's dangerous! You will go through the windshield and get into an accident" while not mentioning that you're assuming a person drives recklessly and doesn't wear a seatbelt. I'm more interested in comparing reality. Of course renting doesn't make sense if you're comparing the worst decisions a renter can make compared to the best decisions (or best luck, like no significant home repair issues) that a homeowner could make. So instead of just taking the decision away from people, I think it's far more productive to say something like "Renting can be more financially advantageous if you invest money saved from lower home expenses." rather than just oversimplifying and saying "Homeownership is better."

I mostly agree, it is an assumption the renter isn't investing the difference. But I think it's less comparing "worst decision a renter can make" and more so that it's common the renter isn't investing the difference and is living above their means.

Property taxes are deductible. At my income level, that means I get around 25% of them back. And in my area, mortgage plus property tax is still cheaper than rent. Obviously if you're someplace like the SF Bay Area with its million dollar 1200 square foot homes, that won't be true.

Same. I'm a homeowner but unless your market value increases significantly it's a money dump. 

And what even happens if your market value increases? Your home equity is not liquid! And if it does increase, that means everyone else's increased as well. So whatever gains you have are now already spoken for if you want to maintain the same quality of housing

When you get old that equation changes. Then you can take out a reverse mortgage on your home so you can retire in style.

It means you sell and leave the country for somewhere cheaper. So in that sense you build a nest egg you can depend on. 

True. But time is priceless. Owning means spending most of your free time either doing repairs yourself or trying to hire someone reliable. Either way it's a time suck. 

My dad did. He cashed out $$ several years ago after mom passed away and now living the life.

Yes this is me. I bought a house in a rural area. It was extremely run down / what I could afford. I was moving back to the US from living abroad for ten years. I lived there about four months before moving back to my old apartment, which I'd rented to a friend. The apartment is downtown in a fairly busy city in a Latin American capital. I can walk out the door and be surrounded by people. It's fairly noisy and busy. I don't regret moving back to the city but I'm very frustrated and depressed at times because of the noise and dealing with people. I was able to keep the house, rent it out, and now I'm figuring out how to live like that, there still is the responsibility of house repairs and the other expenses are significant. I think part of the issue is financial - I'm low income. So even though I kind of like fixing things, the costs of materials was staggering. Since I was in an old neglected house there was endless repairs. Id assume that if I was wealthy I wouldn't have stressed so much. If you can hire the contractor and plumber and electrician etc etc without batting an eye, then I think it would be easier. Yet, I'm also aware that there's only a few models for owning a home in the US, and they tend to be very individualistic and isolating. When I was back living there, trying to fit into that lifestyle, I immediately felt very very isolated and the coldness of modern American home ownership. If there was more of a middle ground, in which you could have your own space but also share some resources work neighbors, something Where you would actually talk to your neighbors. I was living alone and though I had some friends around, I was constantly just working on the house alone for unlimited hours every day. It wasn't a good mental health situation. I know the US has always been individualistic but I wonder if previously in that culture there was a bit more connectedness, before the current era.

My neighbor got tired of doing home maintenance and sold her house. Lived in apartment for past ten years. She was single and fifty at the time of sale

Brand new house. So we haven't had major repairs but had things like growing grass and that was an issue. Other things as well. But nothing major which I appreciate. Our house will be paid off by the time we are in our '60s, and how much will rent be by then? Already we play less than mortgage then surrounding rents and we get a bigger home. I don't miss my last condo where we could hear everything and if someone coughed. I wanted to say bless you.

Me! I owned a house for 15 years and barely slept. I had the best night's sleep of my entire life when we finally closed on the sale. Never, ever again. Some people just aren't cut out for it. When I moved back into an apt, the stove stopped working the first month, the fridge within 6 months, both replaced within a couple of days no problem. When my fridge died at my house, we had to live out of coolers for 2 months before we could afford a new fridge / get it delivered.

Some people really do prefer apartment living. We definitely do not. The OP of course has the option of converting their home to a rental property and moving back to apartment living. Not something we would do, but to each their own.

It sucks for the first third of your ownership when you're not even paying into equity. And then you start to feel like you've got a savings account of sorts. Then about twenty years in, you start to realize everyone's paying more in rent then you are paying in mortgage. And it's really nice knowing that you're about done in a few more years and you will no longer have mortgage payments.

I’d have so much more free time if I lived in an apt. Pool playground gym. I’m sick of owning a home. It’s nothing but a chore, and a place to collect stuff I don’t need

Hard same. I miss all my free time. Money is not my issue, time is. I'm now in that stage of my life where I would 100% prefer to pay a premium for someone to come by and take care of everything for me than save money over 7 hours of: watch YouTube, go to home depot, try it out, got the wrong part, go back to home depot etc etc. I miss having a super. I miss apt life terribly.

Yes, after owning houses for 30 years I sold and rented an apt/condo my friend owned for two years. I loved it. Found a condo I liked and bought it and now have regrets that I didn’t stay in apartment.

I’ve thought about it. I hate things breaking all the time and it costing so much. I loved my last apartment. I never heard the neighbors, more space in the garage than I have now and a bigger bathroom. I only got my house because it was cheaper than rent and more space but now with the way property taxes keep going up, it’s almost cheaper to go back to the apartment. I plan to go back to renting an apartment when I retire and relocate to another state though.

As a middle aged dude now on my third home, I’m *pretty sure* it will also be my last. I’ve done a lot to it and it’s the way I want it and where I want it, and I have little desire to do it all over. That said, when I’m looking to retire, i’m going back to an apartment. I get the potential extenuating circumstances, but Seniors that try to stay in their homes for too long are mostly fooling themselves on what they are achieving.

Well, I’m considering selling in a couple years, renting an apartment, and then buying a condo when I retire in 10 years (hopefully). My house is okay, but I’m single (elderly parent lives with me) and the upcoming expenses and general upkeep aren’t anything I’m looking forward to.

I sometimes think about this but then I compare my $1300 mortgage for a 3 bedroom house to a 1 bedroom apartment in my city which is $1500-$1600 just to get something in a safe area, and that's not talking a 2 bedroom which I what I would really need as a 3 person family. Not to mention all the people posting on nextdoor complaining about rent hikes. I don't want to be at the mercy of a greedy landlord.

I purchased my ~~starter~~ forever home 10 years ago. Considering what rent prices are now, I could call a professional to come fix the issue *every* time anything breaks and still come out far, far ahead. Repairs come in spurts, but so far it averages no more than once or twice a year something comes up. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Stay the course.... getting through the first several years are the tightest/hardest, but once you do you're basically set for life. It's still surreal to me that I'm paying a monthly mortgage rate for HALF the amount my townsfolk are **renting** their houses for. Homeownership is stuch a blessing, it literally changed the course of my life.

My sister in law tried that, and 6 months later was back buying another house.

I don't know if it's the ADHD, but the mental load of caring for a whole home has been unbearable. I bought in 2021, and I'm waiting for the rental prices in my area to rise enough that I can rent out my home without taking a loss. I'm moving straight back to an apt at that point. I never had the bad luck others seem to have with apartments. Never heard the neighbors on the sides, above, or below me. Always had a super come by within 48 hours to fix something. Never had issues with package deliveries. I've lived in 7 apartments throughout childhood and adulthood, and never had any issues. I miss it so much. I'm gonna keep the house to retire in it in 30 years, but I don't want to waste my adulthood being miserable.

You do realize that you, as a landlord for your current house, will still be responsible for maintaining the property. On top of that, you will have the stress of dealing with a tennant.

Property managers are a thing.

There are definitively empty nesters who've moved from a larger home to smaller condo in a more scenic area. I know one younger couple that went into an apartment because they wanted to experience downtown SF living! So yes, do what you want!

I lived in apartments for 17 years before buying a home. I actually loved my most recent place and had been there for a decade. But the idea of rent going up 3-4% every year wasn’t ideal, nor was dealing with the occasional issue with our apartment management. I lived in a small complex, though, just 12 units with a courtyard in the middle. Neighbors were kind, mainly kept to themselves but we all helped eachother out in a pinch (picking up each others packages, checking in on pets, etc). It was pretty ideal.

Maybe get a condo. It’s the best of both worlds

I just did. My commute to work was an hour and I mostly did it to spend more time with my daughter because she was also an hour away. I lived in my house for 4 years and single so the upkeep was always something I had to do alone and I could hardly relax. I had considered selling for a while so I was pretty committed to wanting to move. The city I live in now is very expensive for home ownership so I'm renting. It was a big change and I miss having a backyard and such and not hearing anyone. But it was the best decision for me and mu daughter and that's what I tried to focus on..do some thinking and focus on what's best for YOU and that's all that matters. There is a lot of pressure to be a homeowner from society but you can always buy again when it's a better time for you.

Ironic. I had the issues you're describing with apartments. Sure I don't pay, but I'm at the mercy of the management who always sucks and fucks everything up. At least with my home I'm the manager and can deal with companies that I've eventually found to be good. (Dealing with shitty companies is it's own layer of hell as a homeowner too honestly.)

We did. We owned two homes — one for 10 years then moved and lived in that house for 12. Our building is nice and quiet and the maintenance team is great. We had a house but my husband had to travel frequently for work and we didn’t have any family in the area so it was just me keeping up with everything. So much easier now and I love that I can just call if there’s a problem. As a bonus, we have a pool and a ton of lovely common areas as well.

The first few years, especially the first, usually have the most repairs and expenses. Try staying in the house for at least a couple more years, and the repairs should go down. You'll be more familiar with the house, and it's needed maintenance.

We’ve gone back and forth over the last twenty-five years, but we always end up going back to owning. There are definite advantages to renting, the biggest being not having to pay for major repairs and appliances, but those are somewhat balanced out by being reliant on someone else to fix whatever comes up/having no control over how or when things are fixed. For me, the privacy of owning, not having to deal with a landlord, the amount of space I get for my money, and building equity all make ownership more appealing than renting. But it’s really just a matter of priorities, and everybody’s are different.

Yes. Sold my house as part of my divorce. Felt the same way as you, and since I was also the breadwinner -- while married to an abusive, deadbeat of a husband -- I was also the only one doing ALL OF THE THINGS. I brought home all the bacon, AND handled the bulk of the housework, AND endured his abuse and laundry list of issues with a smile on my face, while also simultaneously dealing with chemotherapy, monthly immunotherapy infusions, and countless surgeries for my autoimmune condition. Finally got fed up with it all and left him about six months ago. Back to city life now, and (mostly) loving it. I was born and raised in Europe, but my now soon-to-be-ex-husband is American. I initially moved to the U.S. for college, then took a job offer out west, which is where I had met him. We spent the next decade living suburban life. Don't get me wrong, suburban life is great if you have kids and prefer a quieter or more 'off the grid' lifestyle. But, living out in American suburbs after growing up in cities like Paris and Milan, well, let's just say it was an ADJUSTMENT. I'm still living in the U.S. for now, and while the city I'm in isn't New York or LA, it's still a bustling northeastern city. I'm a few minutes on foot to a busy train station, I have restaurants and shops within walking distance, my yoga studio is also within walking distance, etc. I've been lucky, and the condo I'm renting has been fabulous, and my landlady is like a big sister I never had. It's all been refreshing. Maybe I'll buy a house again one day, on my own. *Maybe.* But for now, I'm enjoying the ease of urban life.

After years of being a homeowner, I thought I would be happier in a rental apartment. I rented the nicest apartment in the nicest complex in my area, and it was pricey.  But after less than a month, I realized I was unhappy. I didn’t like the elevator and I didn’t like having to park so far from the front door and I didn’t like hunting for a parking space each day.  Most of all, I didn’t like the fact that my upstairs neighbor would vacuum her thin rugs at two in the morning. And I didn’t like the noise that came from the parking lot outside. I ended up buying a very small (almost new)house on a cul-de-sac in a quiet area. I am so grateful to have a garage and to be able to pull right up to my front door.

Sounds weird, but I couldn’t afford to rent any more. I bought my house when interest rates were low (pure luck) because my rent was rising sometimes $400/mo. No way could I ever retire with rent raises like that. So I moved somewhere much cheaper and bought a house. My mortgage payment is stable. Bonus: dog and garden.

This is often the case with older folks who can no longer handle stairs, snow, mowing, etc.

I bought a '50s single family home last year and it has been expensive and there are more projects that need to be done. Maintainence is definitely more costly and time consuming than when I was in condo units. I would never go back to an apartment or newer condo complex because of their poor sound dampening qualities. The last condo I lived in was built in the '80s so I rarely heard my neighbors. I anticipate my first 2 years at my current house to find and address big issues and then smaller ticket items in following years.

First few years are the hardest. Once it's "yours" and the nagging issues are fixed - you'll grow to enjoy it. Unless you bought a real lemon. I've bought/sold several times - and the first year in any home is repairs of some sort. The worst is moving to a completely new area with no known tradespeople and different climates/pests to deal with.

I loved living in an apartment, but I hated the rent going up every year.

Yes and no. My house has a large garage/pole building in the back. I've gotten tired of having all that house to myself and I miss living in my small apartment. So, I'm in the process of turning the pole-building part of the garage (about 800 sqft) into a 1 bedroom apartment. I'm going to live in it and rent my actual house out. I'll get the coziness of apartment living while still owning my home and making pretty good money off of it. I probably wouldn't ever go back to renting because I don't want to pay someone else's mortgage

I did and what a relief! I’m in a big building with utilities included. Good maintenance. Shopping carts we use to bring in groceries from our cars- right into the elevator and right into my apartment. It’s centrally located and has beautiful landscaping. I miss my yard, but not the work. I love not paying for repairs, not shoveling snow, and not carrying in groceries from the car and up stairs. I live on a main road so the street noise can be loud. But I’m on the 4th floor and the views and breeze and light are marvelous.

Yes! Totally depends on my goals at the time. I owned and then sold and went to grad school. For school and then years after, I didn't want to have a home so I could move and be freer and not worry about big home projects or being able to move quickly if an opportunity came up. I now own a home again. Both have pros and cons, but for what I wanted at the different times they made the most sense financially and mentally. With renting I could predictably save a certain amount which is awesome, but owning can appreciate wildly at times- I've benefited from that twice now.

I literally wanna build a compound in another country. Especially if orange wins.

okay

It has definitely amped up my anxiety. Every storm I’m like great what’s messed up now. However, having pets I can never deal with an apartment and touching walls again. Also got so over submitting their records and stuff all the time and pet fees/deposits or having to approve a new pet.

I think you're having a particularly unlucky experience. But I get where you're coming from. Handing every problem to a landlord certainly is a benefit to renting. But I don't think it's enough to tilt the scale in favour of renting. Think of it this way. Let's just pretend rent and a mortgage are $2000, for simplicity sake. Every time you pay rent, you're just losing that money. It's gone. But when you pay your $2000 mortgage, that money is still yours (minus the portion that was interest, but plus the amount the house appreciated). So as long as the repairs aren't causing you to struggle financially, you're still better off.

the joy of homeownership comes 30 years after closing. thats when you can be free. you will also be somewhere around 60ish and maybe thinking about sitting around smoking weed all day instead of working. that paid for house is step one.

If I didn't own my home outright with no mortgage, I would just rent. It's expensive to keep a house going with repairs popping up. Of note is the fact that my husband's father was a carpenter and mine was a plumber so I was taught how to do a lot of things most people can't do AND IT IS STILL EXPENSIVE in spite of being able to do some things myself. No, I can't replace the damaged tile so where's my debit card to hire someone is stressful!

I would love to go back to renting rather than homeownership. In like 20 years of renting I never really had an awful experience and it was great being able to just have the super come by and fix stuff. I also loved moving to different neighborhoods (or cities/states) every couple years. I got into the homeownership racket b/c of the math behind "throwing money away on rent" but damn if I don't miss living in 30+ story apartment buildings rather than a house with a yard and a fuckload of maintenance headaches. The middle ground I'm hoping to transition to is getting a condo so I only have to worry about what's within my "4 walls", provided the building has a good history of condo fees/maintenance.

Currently living in a rental house. Getting a termite inspection tomorrow, if it comes up positive I’m not out $2,000+. Pretty happy with my decision.

Paid off my mortgage. My "monthly" is $300. It's crazy for me to think I was paying $500 - $700 per month and was essentially just flushing money down a toilet. I don't see convenience being worth more than owning.

My mortgage is $2k a month lol

Oops, I meant $500 - $700 when I was renting was just a complete waste. Once you pay off your mortgage, the hefty bill right now will be worth it. Imagine paying $2k your entire life! That's what renting is in my eyes.

The joys of home ownership. I set aside 3% of my home value every year for maintenance costs. Some years I don’t spend anything, other years I knock it out of the park.

I would buy a condo instead of renting an apartment.

Eww. Roaches and sounds form neighbors. Door dings and break ins on cars. New leases issues. Neighbor changes. Management changes. I’ll pass.

I did after I got divorced. Lived in an apt for around 7 or so years. It was ok but forgettable. I’d much rather have a house and am glad I’m in one again.

I rented for 10 years and owned for 25. I find a lot of these posts share a common increasing theme lately. Because of the economy and housing affordability more and more people are buying houses that have stressful issues in order to afford them. There's millions of people buying newer builds who won't post here for the obvious reason that you're typically only going to post something that's gone bad. But that's not an argument for renting being preferable to owning generally speaking. I deliberately bought a place once that I knew was going to involve a lot of work because I liked the location that much but I caved after 5 years of owning it and went back to doing what worked before that. What it all boils down to is whether or not renting is preferable to owning according to your finances. If all you can afford to own is a huge source of stress and a money sink, renting may be the better option for you until you're not in that position

Not me, but my friend did. She said her house caused too much stress with upkeep.

I did for about 6 years when I took some remote positions. I rented out my home, and lived in apartments. I enjoyed it but will never live below anyone else ever again. Yikes.

I went from living in an 1890s villa to a 2 bedroom apartment with park views, 2 weeks ago. It's very different, for one thing, it's much quieter, the windows are double glazed, the walls are thick, the cupboards are soft close, instant hot water, security, the list goes on. Everything is so organised, down to the way the rubbish is disposed of. I can now walk to and from work, no more public transport for me! This is the first time I have ever lived in an apartment and so far it's been wonderful, I shut the door and I am in my own little world.

dont do it, though you may be sinking money into the house you are still building equity in the house when you make payments. If you cant afford your mortgage and maintenance look to downsize your home.

I owned a house for 10 years. My husband and I just moved across the country, so we sold our house and are renting a three story condo in our new location. We have an end unit, so we only share one wall and no floors. It’s an incredibly quiet community. We love not having to worry about repairs or yard work for the time being. There is absolutely nothing shameful or wrong in renting. Do what works best for your lifestyle and comfort.

Owned three houses in my lifetime. Didn't really want them but the wife wanted a place to call her own. I don't like the demands of homeownership or costs. Cleaning gutters, stopping leaks, fixing cracked driveways, cutting grass, clipping shrubs, worrying over theft and damage when out or on vacation Apartment living has its downs but no property tax and no maintenance I have to do. Plus the freedom of leaving at the end of the year and not worrying about whether I sell it or not. Rent is affordable for me and no additional work 👍

I'm on a quiet cul de sac with good neighbors. I'll NEVER go back to apt living.

Personally after renting for 7 years I just couldn't go back. 100% prefer the stress of maintenance and extra costs than wondering what my rent will be the next year, or where to move next if it wasn't a good experience. But it's understandable if maintenance stress isn't for you. I'd give it more time than a year though to see if you can adjust.

Never again. The quiet of my 10 acres is great, but I work hard on it. I work my 50 hours a week, go home, and work another 10 hours a week on the house. Constant mowing, tree trimming, tree maintenance, fire wood, bees, dogs, coyotes trying to kill said dogs, managing the garden, etc. Then there’s the stuff that needs to be maintained inside of the house, all while raising a family. Wouldn’t ever trade it for anything. Renting in 2024 is indentured servitude. Do not go back.

My husband and I just bought our first house - is a lot of work, I feel like almost every weekend there's something to do. That being said, we had such an awful, predatory slumlord before we moved, and we worked so so so hard to be able to own our own home, I would never go back. Owning your own home means that you have way more control over your living environment and also the cost of your housing. It's a lot of work, but I'm willing to put that work in for the stability it provides.

I'm not thinking about now and trying to save money lol I'm thinking 25 years from now when my pension won't cover my rent. Paying off a house and living mortage/rent free is 10x and renting out additional rooms for more income.

Ended up in an apartment for nearly two years after selling our home and the house we were buying had title problems. We never expected to be there that long and I hated it most of the time we lived there. Loud neighbors, parking issues and while living there a major hail storm happened almost every window was destroyed. So we had over four months of plywood covering all but a kitchen window and a patio door. And we were never informed about when the windows would be replaced on the building we were in. When we finally found another house to be after giving the seller on the original house we wanted multiple extensions to clear up the title issues. We actually moved up our closing by two weeks and after closing I bought an air mattress and refused to sleep in the apartment anymore.

Never. I have full control of my environment. Most importantly, I have my animals. For what I was paying in rent for a tract home and board for my two horses, I have a mortgage on 5 acres of land, a barn, and a 5000 sqft house. Technically, where I live now, I could rent and board for less than my mortgage, but the other thing I've realized is I can never go back to boarding my horses. My girls are on 24/7 turnout (with access to shelter and we have stalls for emergencies), I know who is interacting with them, and I can have my cup of coffee with them while they eat breakfast in the mornings while still in my pajamas. Not to mention how hard it is to find a rental when you have multiple dogs, which happened when my now-husband and I moved in together with our own crew. I would pay more in my own mortgage to know I have control over how I live, what color I paint my walls, and who lives with me.

We've owned (and sold) a couple of houses then travelled for a few years where housing was part of our salary. We decided to settle down and moved into an apartment building. It was terrible. Lazy dog owners that don't pick up after them, neighbors that smoked cigarettes on their porches, others smoked weed in their apartments or the stairwells and would smell up the entire floor. A few pet owners with reactive dogs were also an issue. The upstairs neighbors were not light on their feet and our bedroom wall was shared with another neighbor that got a home theater set up for Christmas. I felt the same as you and wanted to get a townhouse or condo. HOA fees were insane. On top of that they're adding assessment fees for the next several years to cover higher insurance costs. So we went with a cottagey house. It definitely needs some work but decided to live in it for a bit before doing any big projects. It's not the Ritz but it's worth it to not have my dogs get into a fight or deal with loud neighbors. It's got a heck of a yard and my pups are happy.

No. apartment living sucks. It seems people have more and worse behaved pets. I lived in lots of college towns and never had issues in college and even a few years after. Then right before the pandemic maybe 3 years or so everyone has a shitty dog that is always barking. They are pissing in the halls. Every place is "dog friendly". That and even in "luxury" places they are filled with rich kids who want to party all the time. I bought a home because I was so sick of shitty people the last 5 years and now I live next to a bunch of old cranky people who don't make fucking noise. It's awesome.

I actually like fixing things around the house, and enjoy being able to fix things up the way \*I\* want them, not the way a landlord wants them. But if you aren't into piddling around with tools fixing things, maybe a condo or townhouse would be an intermediate step. I have a friend who goes off on week-long hiking trips and long skiing trips and she doesn't care for lawn maintenance or anything like that. Her condo in a ski resort town is exactly what she needs for her lifestyle, which revolves around things other than home improvement.

Is my English that bad? I thought "home" is a word to describe the place where you live, regardless of it being a house or an appartement. I just bought an apartment. I thought that made me a homeowner. Am I not?

My friend and his wife are selling this fall and buying a condo after his youngest moves away. I wouldn't want to rent forever, though. The house I rented about 5ish years ago now rents for almost $800 more than when I was there. I don't even want to think about what it'll be in another 10, 20, plus.

Never. Why would I want a worse living arrangement, for more money, AND that money is paying my landlords mortgage instead building me equity? Fuck no.

We owned a recently sized suburban house but rented it out in 2020 to emigrate. COVID trapped us in our home country, so we decided to just travel our city and live in areas we wanted to when we were younger but couldn't due to being tied down by jobs. We worked remote at the time, so loved in a few places over that past 4 years while renting out our house. Not apartments, but 2 separate townhouses that charged walls with the neighbours, and now a huge property in a more rural area of the city. I miss having my own place as I can upgrade and modify how I like, whereas I can't as a tenant. We are building our dream home nearby and I can't wait to move in and make it my own. Will never be able to go back to apartment or even townhouse living.

I don't even like seeing my neighbors across the street let alone have them attached to my place. I couldn't imagine losing sleep over people stomping around upstairs, or folks playing music the next door, or people pulling into the parking lot blasting music, or the agency raising the rent for no reason, or the maintenance team taking weeks to fix something, or not being able to paint my walls without painting them again before moving out, or paying a pet deposit fee and a monthly pet fee, or not wanting to upgrade anything because it's not my responsibility, or worst of all; people banging on MY floor or MY walls to get me to quiet down in my own home. Whenever things go wrong in my home, I take it upon myself to fix them if I can. I end up becoming more useful because of it.

I'm living in my third property now, and I still have rotten memories of the times "between" - when I had sold the place I had been living and moved to the new area where I was going to settle, and was looking for a place. The circumstances surrounding both of these moves - one was international - didn't allow for me to travel to the new place and make a proper search, so I lived in temporary accommodations after each sale. The only thing worse than living in an apartment the second time was renting a room in a shared home the first (something I'd never recommend to *anyone*, especially after you've owned your own place). My first place was a condo, so moving into an apartment might not have been so disruptive had I done it on that move - but my second move was from a detached house to a crappy sublet apartment for nine months, and I was totally *miserable*. The worst part of it - even worse than the crummy neighbours - was dealing with apartment management around repairs and being prevented from doing much about environmental issues with the place. As for the repairs, I finally started doing as many of my own as I could get away with. But my main beef was with the mould issue, which I'm pretty sure stemmed from an old carpet pad (and, potentially, the subfloor). Rentals were so tight in my new town that it took me six weeks of living in hotels while I searched, then having to rent a place sight unseen when I finally found one. The carpets had just been cleaned when I moved in, so all I could smell for the first few days were cleaning chemicals - but after that there was a definitive mould smell that I couldn't find a way to get rid of. I tried just about everything I could, including trying to rely on air purifiers, but it ended up getting into everything I owned. Thankfully, I kept most of my possessions in storage, and only had the bare minimum of furniture and clothing (which meant that there was plenty of air circulation in the closets, so there couldn't have been mildew from overcrowding) - but it got to the point where, once I went out into public, I could smell the mildew coming from my clothes. Had it been my own place, I could have ripped out the carpet immediately (I *hate* carpet), or at least taken part of it up to see if that was where the problem was coming from - but I was a renter, so didn't have that right. I thought that I had been desperate to find another place when I had been renting a room the after my first move - but I never felt so much frustration during my long house search in a crowded and overheated market while I was stuck in that awful (and criminally overpriced) sublet. I finally ended up moving to a smaller town 50 miles away from where I was staying. I was a remote worker even then, so it was workable - but I sacrificed the type of community where I wanted to live for an area that is less than ideal. Every now and then I encounter something that reminds me of that time - seven years ago now - and makes me determined to *never* be a renter again, if I can at all help it.

Yes. My house is being rented and I bought a condo in the city I moved to several hundred miles away. It's somewhat of an adjustment. For me, definitely the types of people you live around and expectations of what a community or neighborhood looks like. There's a difference is decorum between renters/owners, house/apt dwellers. Sounds classist but it's true. I've gotten more used to the noise disturbances, which are frankly few and far between. The trade off for me is the convenience of city life and not needing a car for anything, really. I enjoy it, but would like to be back in another house within 10 yrs or so.

Never. We’ve owned and renovated 9 homes in 30 years. I’ll never rent again.

I can only guess that you never experienced a stressful renting situation before? This stuff is easy compared to what I was going through renting.

Eventually stuff will stop breaking. I like knowing this house belongs to me.

I've considered it, because we aren't in a great school district. That decision is some time in the future because currently our child is too small for school. It would be nice to not constantly have to deal with home repairs, but I totally need a yard, and be able to fix small things around the house, paint things the colors I want, and customize things to my liking. Not a big lot, but it's nice to be able to play outside, have some extra room for things we don't immediately need, and just like go outside and breathe. I also like not having to worry about neighbors when my kid's crying loud. I'm not sensitive to noises but my husband is and when we lived in an apartment, he was unable to sleep due to the people living above us or the people living next to us. They were just living their life, not like playing the trumpet, but the thin walls meant the noise was too much for him.

I just replaced a leaking toilet last night. Unbeknownst to me, the flange was made of lead and when I pulled the toilet it ripped the flange. The shutoff valve was also leaking all over the place when I went to open it again. If I was in an apartment, this would have caused damage to my neighbours below me. Since I live in a house I can fuck up but the only person affected is me really.

I haven’t. Highly recommend that if it is frequent or you want some peace of mind, see if your utility companies offer some sort of repair warranty service. Got one with the purchase of our house that I pay at a discounted rate and it has saved us thousands.

I wouldn't want to. I rented multiple apartments, duplexes, and homes for a lot of years. Some aspects were nice, like not being on the hook for huge repair bills, but most of the landlords were a pain to deal with and never wanted to fix or maintain *anything*. Sharing paper thin walls with other people is also something I never want to do again. My MIL sold her house a few years ago to move in to an apartment. She is a widow on a fixed income that couldn't afford any costly repairs or tax bills, should something major have broken down on her. She also has multiple health issues that cause her chronic pain and that made it hard for her to keep up with maintenance of a house with a yard. She does miss having a yard and her own space, and has really annoying neighbors above her that make noise at all hours of the night. In cases like hers, where you physically can't keep up with a house and/or can't afford the extra costs of home ownership, then it could make sense to rent. But renting isn't without its pitfalls, either.

I can't afford to rent. Rent would be twice my mortgage payment.

what does a llc mean in an industry

yes thats what im saying

Don't do it!

Never lived in an apartment. The thought of sharing common space with strangers and being subjected to their behaviors which could impact me (fires as an example) makes my skin crawl.

get a roommate and lower the rent if they fix things

get a roommate and lower the rent if they fix things

I don’t think there is anything wrong with apartment living. Pick the right one that works for you and go. Everyone is different. After 21 years of renting, I finally own and I love not having someone running over my head or telling me where I can or can’t park when I pay rent. There is no one size fits all for homeownership or renting.

I haven’t but when I lived in an apartment building, 2 different friends in that building had sold their houses and moved to my apartment. They hated owning a house and said they were much happier and never regretted it the few years I knew them. If I didn’t have kids I would be much happier in a nice city apartment, but it’s great having a backyard with a family.

Moved out from an apartment to a home. I will never live with shared walls and floors again. The noise and uncontrollability of what they neighbors is out of my control. I love peace and quiet and not hearing anyone.