Home ownership

In my previous post, I mentioned that my views on owning a home have changed drastically since becoming a home owner. When we bought this place, we knew things would creep up. It is an older home. The reason for buying an older home was because we liked the 'hood. It is established and there is not the threat of a Wal-Mart ending up in our backyard.

So, I worried about the old AC going south on us in the dead of summer and the cost of replacing it. Then it happened. Next, I worried about needing new windows, because the ones we had were chintzy and cheap. We got new windows and then I worried about the... You see a pattern here? Currently, I am worried about our 18 year old roof, and all of these G-d damned hurricanes and what have you that are lining up out in the Atlantic.


We had our roof looked at recently by a roofer. He said for as old as it is, it is in good shape. Right, good shape until a Hurricane rips it off of the house. I guess that happens with new roofing as well, but still. LOL. A newer one would give me a wee bit more peace of mind. I think.


Also, our backyard paradise is no more. The pool tiles started falling off, so we picked the rest of them off, one by one. Now, it looks like crap. The weeds have overtaken everything, and it is just too hot to deal with it right now. Hopefully once it cools off, we will have SOME $$ to do something about it. Nothing expensive, we just need some river rock and some mulch. And about a ton of weedkiller.
meh.


It just seems like we are always worried about something. When we rented, we didn't worry about a darned thing. We had an awesome landlord, and when something needed to be handled, she was on it. I realize that this is not always the case. There are just as many crappy landlords out there, as there are crappy tenants.


Still, I am too old to worry about all of this shit. Not to mention the near heart attack I have every time I see the numbers on the statement, and that with all that we pay out each month, only $150 of that actually goes to the principal. Pfft. *waves hand*


As I also noted in my previous post, we pay through the ass for this place. I would much rather pay less, for more house, and let someone else worry about all the crap that comes with actually owning the joint.

Broke as a JOKE, yo

My broke ass cannot afford the $$ for the hosting of my old blog, so here I yam, on blogger. Kind of humiliating, you know? But whatever. We have been in a financial mess ever since the hubby's melt/breakdown almost 2 years ago. If I had just one more week, I'd have been able to pay for it! Piss me off.


When we first got together, we lived paycheck to paycheck. Then we got serious, paid off all of our (read: MY) credit cards, stopped spending foolishly, and even had money in savings. Then we bought a house. And an older one at that. Hello debt, my old friend. We did lots to the house to update it, got rid of a nasty mold problem that was making us both sick, and thus ended up being house poor. We pay WAY TOO MUCH for this place. And as each mortgage payment goes in the mail, I get more and more irritated with that fact. If we were to try and sell, we would NEVER get what we owe.


And that brings me to my views on home ownership. My views on this have changed COMPLETELY. I do not care to ever own another house, EVER. Unless we build LARGE and with some of the goodies we want (like a media room and a game room, and an outdoor kitchen...). I would be happy to rent. However, if WE have to sign a lease, then so does the homeowner. That is only fair, right? I know of too many people who have been tossed on their asses because the owner decided to sell. I would be ok with this, but would want more than 30 days to find another place to live. And I would want it in writing.


I found an ad in a local flyer the other day for a 5 bedroom, 3 bath, 3 car garage, pool home for $1250 a month. That included lawn and pool service. Hello! Where do I sign up??
Pfffft.

Ok, enough bitching. Welcome to the new blog.