As I sat and listened to the sales contractor walk through the calculations for a roof replacement estimate, it made me wonder yet again had I been crazy to dive head first into buying a house. If I’m being honest, I never imagined that I’d purchase a house at my age; I’m a city girl by nature, and so a whole-ass house is generally an expensive, sometimes elusive, goal in many cities. So what I really imagined is that I would possibly buy a nice little condo when I got good and ready to plant some roots somewhere. However, plans change and people buy property for different reasons. My reasons were tied to a desire to take care of my family, and to have some stability to balance out my sense of adventure. I guess I just didn’t realize that buying and owning a house can be an adventure in itself.

The Setup

            When the pandemic hit, I was living in a town with my mom and little sister about seven hours away from our extended family. We were sheltering in place, I was working remote, and my sister was about to graduate from high school. My mom wanted to be near our family, and I wasn’t very fond of where we were living anyway. So with all these factors coming to a head, we decided to move. The plan was actually to rent a place where our family lived. But as we began to do research, we realized that for what we wanted, a mortgage would be cheaper than rent (go figure). So we switched gears, and I decided I would buy something.

            For me, buying a house was scary! It’s such a huge investment. It was a lot of money to spend at once (I tend to be very careful about how I spend money). And in our case, because of the timeline of when my lease was ending, we were tasked with finding a house to purchase in one extended weekend visit! At the time, interest rates were really low. So the housing market was very tight. The weekend that my family and I went to find a house it seemed that just as soon as we found a listing we were interested in, it just as quickly got snatched up off of the market. Finally, we came across a house that I instantly knew that I was interested in buying.

The House: Pros and Cons

            Built in the 1890’s, although it was being sold as a single family home, at some point the second floor had been converted to a separate unit, so it had its own kitchen and living room. The house had lots of large, beautiful windows, old-timey details, a nice yard, and a big side porch. I could envision holidays with the family in this house. I could see summer evenings on the porch with my mom and a glass of wine in this house. And we could be together while simultaneously not being together (the upstairs was its own separate living space, which I would occupy), in this house. The house was big and old and beautiful…and it was over my budget. Lol.

            It was over the budget I had set for myself, but I asked myself what was I trying to achieve in buying a house, and what opportunities would this particular house afford me. Well, I wanted to provide a stable place for my family that was near my extended family. My sister would be going away to college soon. I wanted a home she could always come back to. I had aspirations of living a nomadic life while working remote, so I wanted a place that I could come back to when I wanted to take a break from that and have my own space. And I wanted a place that we’d all be comfortable in, especially since I would be working from home for the foreseeable future. The house was over budget, but it also presented an opportunity that no other house we had looked at had afforded – the opportunity for a rental income. Although I wanted the house for all of us, I knew that it was not a final destination for me. The pandemic would end, and I figured that I would move on to a more desirable (to me) city. When that happened, I could rent out the second floor of the house. These were the pros.

            The cons were that although the house was beautiful and could potentially generate an income, it was old and was sure to need some repairs. It was big and would require a lot of upkeep. Were we up to the task? I thought that we would be. But I had to balance my excitement over the house with my mother’s clear worry and surprise that I was even considering buying it. She thought I should stay in-budget, and she worried that it was too much house to worry about repairs and upkeep. I value my mother’s opinion a lot, and her whole vibe around the house was pulling my excitement down and causing me to have serious doubts. Was buying this house the right thing to do? Ultimately, although I was scared as hell and now plagued with a nagging doubt, I went with my gut and I moved forward with putting an offer on the house.

What Goes into Purchasing a Home

            The home-buying process itself can be a lot. You put in an offer, a contract is drawn up, inspections have to be made, your loan has to be approved (unless of course you’re a baller and just paying in cash). There’s mortgage insurance and taxes, and house insurance and a host of other things; like a huge stack of paperwork that I never quite felt that I had a grasp on, despite my actually attempting to read through and get a gist of everything that I was required to sign. After a few bumps were smoothed out, I signed on all of the dotted lines and got the keys. I felt elated! …and simultaneously sick to my stomach. What had I gotten myself into?

            Well, since buying the house, I am constantly reminded that being a homeowner is a lot. Especially in my case with an older house. You need to be a project manager, you need to have a contingency of money, you need to be willing to roll up your sleeves to implement quick fixes (if you don’t have someone else to do it for you) and you need to build up a roster of reliable workers/companies to step in when something inevitably needs maintenance. You also need to be decisive and willing to make tough decisions. Within the first six months I had to bomb the house for fleas (the previous owner had a cat obsession), I had a costly plumbing expense, a carbon monoxide scare, and a lot of painting and small fixes along the way. And then there’s the roof. Considering all this work and mishaps, of course I would question the sanity of my decision. Part of me had to have known all of this when I was going through the purchasing process. Why else had I felt sick?

Getting Right

            But I’m not crazy. I did it because despite all of the challenges that I was sure I would encounter, and have encountered thus far, I had a vision. A vision for my family and the way that we could come together in comfort, and be proud and happy in our surroundings. And from the very first time I viewed the house, it helped my vision come alive. There were and continue to be many things about purchasing the house that made me uncomfortable and made me question if it was the right move. But I’ve come to realize that whether or not I made the right decision is moot. It’s something I wanted. I considered the pros and cons and I went after it. We all deserve to take our shot at the things we think will make us happy. And we shouldn’t let fear or doubt or worry keep us from that. Whatever happens, I know that there are lessons that will be learned along the way. And this is why I am able to get right with my decision to buy this house, and really any decisions that I make in my life.