I don't think anyone should own a house who doesn't like to do home maintenance. I have to complain about this because my parents have lived in the same home for 20+ years and have not maintained it at all.
My mom blames the fact they didn't have the money, which is an untruth. Nope, my parents don't like to do home repair. They don't do it themselves, they pay someone. But they also do not like to take responsibility and call a repair person. Truth is that my parents wish a genie would appear and fix the house.
They have no idea what it means to own a house. Right now the house I grew up in has a leaking roof, a rotting pipe, tiles falling out of the bathroom, a broken window, mold, termites, etc. But do my parents care? Not really, in fact my dad says they should sell the house as-is. I get so frustrated because my parents don't care for their belongings. They enjoy buying stuff like cars/homes, but they don't bother maintaining it.
I think people need to really consider their lifestyle before buying a home. After all even if you have all the money in the world, if you do not like maintaining a home then it's not a worthwhile investment. Instead you will be living in a house you hate, not maintaining it, letting it rot. Then when it's time to sell you resent the house and the amount of work necessary to bring it up up to a reasonable standard of care.
My parents I might add are again looking at houses. They are hoping to buy another condo, in move-in ready condition. I personally think they are nutters. My mom says that we don't understand the realities of homeownership because we like taking care of our house. We enjoy home repair, not true.
She thinks that it is normal to call people to replace a lightbulb. Trust me, until I meet DH I thought that's what people did. They pay people to change light bulbs, garden, pretty much do anything. But I'm realizing that home ownership is a huge financial drain for people who refuse to view their home as an asset.
Guess people should be cautious before leaping into home purchases.
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5 comments:
Wow.. really??
Because of all of our debt right now, if Husband and I owned a home, we'd be taking such good care of it, you'd think it was brand new, 10 years later!!
It's just worth so much more than just a home to us, it's the symbol of us getting rid of our debt, finally getting our own home, and being in peace together.
A lot of spoiled brats I went to school with, had no concept of the value of money. I think your parents (and mine) have a lot in common with them.
DH and I take care of our home because of the pride we take in ownership. It is showing you value your possessions, not matter how expensive or cheap.
The same with our cars. I don't quite know why my parents don't treasure their items considering they were very poor growing up. They were particularly poorer than most with the war and stuff.
But they sort of see homes and cars as disposable. After they don't repair it, they just trash it.
I'm not much of a mister fix-it, but normal maintenance should definately not be neglected. It's also much easier to take care of things as they come up instead of all at once when you decide to move and sell.
"She thinks that it is normal to call people to replace a lightbulb. "
are you serious? Maybe you can show her how to do some of these things
My husband friend has 4 boys and he still pays someone to cut the grass. I guess some people feel better when they have someone working FOR them. A sign of prestige, I guess.
I've found it also to be better to maintain the house a little at a time than all at once.
My mom does it because she justifies spending money on home maintenance because they earn good money. I used to believe that too, but I realize it's not worth paying someone for stuff so easy like changing a lightbulb.
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