Do you love your home?

[Optionallyretired]

Just wondering. Is your home an affordable abode or the space of your dreams, which one are you? Some find enjoyment from a nice home they really enjoy while others couldn't really care less

Being a rather frugal type of site (natural for early retirees of course) I would expect most people's homes to be rather affordable. Just wondering really

Cheers

 

[davebarnes]

Yes

Is your home an affordable abode or the space of your dreams

Both.
No mortgage. Bought it for a reasonable $482K in 2011.
Newer. Modern. In a great thriving neighborhood with a WalkScore of 90.

 

[Dtail]

We moved from an apt to a SFH in Florida and we do love the extra space and quiet.

 

[Red Badger]

Affordable abode. But our yard is another story. a dozen raised garden beds and ~500 SF of deck surrounded by trees. We can be on the deck or in the screened patio and see absolutely no windows nearby. Also, no houses across the street and we are at the "bottom" of our subdivision, so about zero traffic after UPS and the mail lady. Having a private space in a quiet burb of Charlotte is pretty awesome (and we love the area)

Come to think of it, our modest abode was one more element of financial independence, so I guess it is our dream home.

 

[Optionallyretired]

Cheers guys. I like hearing about this kind of thing, it's always interesting

We're personally had 3 homes now. The first a crappy place that was all we could afford. Next a couple of mediocre acres with small 2bdrm home which allowed us to get into a decent suburb and now pretty much our dream home!! 5 acres of manicured private gardens, resort style pool and 4 bedrooms.

It's so worth the wait and the type of thing I've always dreamed of and worked toward as a teenager even. I aim to pay down the mortgage on it asap and am still not compromising on my semi retirement late 30's. Perfect!

I am however somewhat of an introvert and there's nothing I enjoy more than spending time alone or with my Wife and pets so it really makes my life something special. Going out is usually horrible so I must enjoy my home

 

[Midpack]

Affordable abode if that, we really don’t like our house, never did. But it was a conscious choice - owning this house, well below our means, was a factor that enabled us to reach FI early. Our next house will be the space of our dreams.

 

[Golden sunsets]

We love our home. We built in in 1991(northeast) after moving back from stints in NY and CA. Paid off the mortgage in 2006. It's a 3000 SF custom built colonial on an acre in a neighborhood with similar homes and a strong HOA. It is in a sought after community with one of the best school systems in the state we live in. We could have traded up to a McMansion at a certain point but did not, so now that the kids are gone it is not too big and we don't feel the need to downsize. We have been consciously updating and upgrading over several years, gutting kitchens and baths and replacing with high end fixtures and features. Just finished some exterior cosmetic refurbishment this summer and it now looks much younger and fresher than its age. Going to install central air and replace the front walkway and landscaping next year. Fortunately we have like minded neighbor's so we haven't over improved. We constantly keep it "ready for sale" so that when the time comes, there isn't a lot of work to do. In the meantime we get to enjoy the upgrades.


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[Dawg52]

I like my home. A patio style on the golf course with not much yard to maintain. Of course the one downside to small lots and being close to your neighbors is if you eventually get a bad neighbor.

 

[ponyboy]

We love our home. Very affordable. Smack dab in the middle of 10 acre, mostly wooded area. No neighbors we can see.

I will say, living on that much space with a large yard...there is constant maintenance. Not an ideal place as one gets much older. We're currently 34/35 so not something we have to worry about for another 30 years or so...hopefully.

 

[Aerides]

I like my home, DH loves it.

3/2 SFH, we remodeled the inside completely over 10 years ago so it's very nice and mostly to my taste. But still some "bones" I don't care for, things I can't remodel for without overspending for the neighborhood. And I want a water view of some sort (not hard in SFL)

So, my plan (shhh don't tell DH) is that in about 5-7 years once we are a bit more comfortably along with ER, we move and upgrade a bit, and get that water.

 

[street]

Interesting question. Thirty four years I built my home and we are still in this home today. We have been very happy with our home and everything is on one floor no basement which we didn't want.

I would say we like our home it is us and might not really do anything different with the floor plan etc..

 

[gauss]

I love my home and it is affordable IMHO. 1800 sq foot mid-centry ranch with basement located on 2/3 acre. Good for entertaining and parties.

 

[Kelor]

I’m in the minority. Our 5 bedroom was nice to have when we blended a family 23 years ago. Now it’s too big. I would drop down to a condo in a heartbeat, but the lovely Mrs. loves her back yard.

 

[Dash man]

We both love our home. We had it built for $308,000 in 2001 and last did major renovations in 2009, so the itch is starting to grow again. But since we just did a complete remodel of our FL winter home, we really don’t have the stomach for it right now.
It’s in a peaceful neighborhood with good neighbors. We love sitting out by our fire pit enjoying a glass of wine and listening to music. It’s only a third of an acre, but we now pay for yard maintenance with no regrets. There are no bedrooms on the first floor, so that may be a reason to move in a few years.

 

[LOL!]

I don't think we did badly on the home buying thing. We have bought only one home our entire lives and still live in it.

The location is superb, the neighborhood is superb, the neighbors are superb. It is walkable, bike-able, car-able. It is located between 2 ponds on a cul-de-sac, so is also relatively quiet and traffic free despite being able to walk to grocery store, drug store, vet, dentist, doctor, restaurants, high school, elementary school, middle school, fire station w/EMT, churches, job, etc. The home cost less than $200,000, too, for a McMansion of 4 br, 3.5 ba, 2 car garage.

Do we love it? No, not really, but is perfectly fine. We have minimal furniture, virtually no wall furnishings, a nice open kitchen plan, and a great site plan that makes the home very energy efficient because of trees and direction of sun.

But the home value has appreciated less than the rate of inflation over the years.

Thankfully, the neighbors don't sit outside with music blaring, smoke from a fire pit blowing into our faces, and making noise. We only hear the songs of the birds and chatter of the squirrels. OK, since the hawks moved in, it is more their high-pitched "cree! cree!" and less bird songs.

When we move, we will probably miss all the good stuff about this home, but for now I think we take it for granted. We will certainly want some of the same location features in any new home we move to.

 

[kcowan]

We have two homes and we have a list of what would make each of them better. We are very comfortable in them because they represent the best we could get at the time. Are we willing to move if a better match is found? You bet!

 

[athena53]

I love mine and it's very affordable, especially since the darn mortgage company wouldn't loan us the $150K I wanted and I had to ante up another $50K from savings. Mortgage P&I is only $700/month. We'd downsized from a McMansion with a pool. This house has an 1800 sf footprint but the walk-out basement includes two bedrooms and a large kitchen/living area (previous owners used it for wife's elderly parents).

This house is on a small (3-acre lake). I LOVE that feature even though the lake level has gone down because the ancient earthen dam has a leak and we can't find anyone to quote the necessary work to fix it (HOA- too small and too risky for every firm we've consulted).

I haven't gone nuts on the inside- just replaced leaky double-pane windows and added plantation shutters, and we enclosed the screened-in back porch and included an open-air extension for grilling. Counters are Corian, kitchen and bathroom floors a decent-quality plastic tile. I don't care. When I'm grilling I look out over the lake and if I'm really still, hummingbirds come up to the feeder about 6 feet away. I can't believe I live here- it's my favorite house of all the ones I've owned.

 

[RAE]

We do like our home. We've owned it for about 20 years now, and it has served us well. It's about 2000 sq. ft.. It's an older home, so it does have its quirks, but we've done several upgrades over the years, so it's in pretty good shape overall. We also have a nice big yard that has room for my big vegetable garden, along with all my fruit trees and shrubs. We have no intention of moving from here.......unless/until I eventually get so old and feeble that I can't navigate the walkway/stairway steps anymore. Hopefully, that is a long ways off yet.

 

[Bamaman]

We moved from ATL to get ready for ER knowing our Megacorp jobs were being eliminated. We chose an extreme low cost of living area that was my ancestoral home.

After 10 years living in a 3500 sq. ft. home in 4 acres, a 6600 sq. ft. McMansion on 5 acres w/pool down the street was foreclosed on. We could have bought it for $317k, but it would require $50k in reconditioning. We passed.

My wife found another foreclosure that was 5200 sq. ft w/5 BR, 5 full baths and a 26 x 48 foot man cave. Neighbor homes are substantial @ 7700 to 10,500 sq. ft. We bought the house right, and it was a cash deal.

We inherited half of a lake house across town--1800 sq. ft. with a 6 mile water sunset view. Two Robert Trent Jones golf courses are on our street. I later bought out my sister's share. We have a double boat house down 27 steps from the screen porch.

Life is extremely good, however keeping up two large yards is almost a full time job.

 

[MRG]

Love? No, but it's a really nice home. I picked this house out so I better. Its perfect size for us and it's a much better tax deal than our last place. Things I like best are the location, I can walk out the door and be in 3 million acres of national forest in 5 minutes. Deer, turkey, bear, and fox... are all around. Great fishing in 5 private lakes, fantastic gym and amenities.

 

[FIREd]

Affordable 2,500 sqft adobe. The house was cheap and the carrying costs are minimal.

I love the neighborhood (safe, quiet, established landscaping, close to everything, etc...). I like my neighbors. I rather like the mid-size city I live in (a bit small for my taste sometimes). But the house is older and quirky. It requires a lot of maintenance. It is too large for our needs. The floor plan is very fragmented. And it was not built to maximize natural light. That being said, it is comfortable and peaceful. And when I feel myself wanting more, I try to remember that this house already exceeds my needs. Plus I doubt that this will be my forever home.

Last week I saw a house that I would love: a modern construction in Nashville's Green Hills neighborhood. I have no idea how much it cost but it was probably $$$.

 

[Luvdogs]

Have lived in ours for 25 years. Kids are raised and out of the house. I'm actually tired of it. It is 2800 square feet on an acre.

Grass, WEEDS grow all year and I feel I'm glued to de-weeding unless I paid someone to do it (not doing it). Other than that, our yard is nice but it's a TON of upkeep and it's 90 degrees by 10 am. We seem to get a HOA letter if our grass is an inch too high or if our driveway is a little dirty. And we have a ton of grass and a huge circular driveway.

It's a nice neighborhood but many of the "first generation" homeowners have moved so I don't really know many of them any more.

We have deer and all sorts of other smaller animals in our yard almost every day which is nice. Had a bear here about a week ago which I love (yeah and I go follow him with my camera in hand!)

We've replaced/remodeled almost everything. Kitchen still looks ok but not completely updated. Fine with me.

I'd like a brand new house in a retirement-type with neighbors and lots to do but not sure if DH would go for it.

 

[Ronstar]

I don’t love it, but I like it a lot. Even though I’m in the beginning of a 1057 sf remodel. New cabinets, appliances, paint, trim/wainscoting, hardwood flooring in kitchen, living room, dining room, hallways, half bath, breakfast nook.

Good thing about a house that is too big - we still have 2800 sf of unmolested living space to occupy during remodeling.

The great thing about our home is location. An hour from Chicago, but out in the country with Nice bike trails, parks, and a lake in my back yard. And my detached workshop where I spend most of my time.

 

[FIREmenow]

Both.
~450sqft of exceptional waterfront where ever we choose......

 

[Souschef]

We love our home. This is the first home that DW and I have lived in. It is 1400 sq ft and just right for us.

Recently DW has turned the back of our carport into a lovely oasis.We have a table, 2 teak rockers, and are surrounded by lots of small succulents.