The Most Annoying Parts of Homeownership (Solved)

You’ve heard it from the blogs. You’ve heard it from your family. You’ve heard it from your friends.

“Ugh. The JOYS of homeownership.” (Heavily scare-quoted.) Followed by a list up to but not including:

1. Repairs.

Did the inspection report miss something? Have the gutters been stuffed with leaves since the day it was put on the market? And was that sump pump set at juuuust the right height? Theoretically, there’s no end to the list. But kept in perspective, cosmetics and functional fixes (combined with handy lending tools like the HELOC) are simply part of the gig. And as long as you have the budget and the can-do, there’s a list of benefits that’s just as long.

2. Neighbors.

You can’t choose ‘em. You can’t change ‘em. All you can do is hope to contain ‘em. Neighbor squabbles date all the way back to our earliest known civilizations, but if you think home ownership makes much of a difference in the matter… talk to your renter friends about their neighbors. No matter what type of contract you sign, you can’t control whose right over the property line. In fact, if it comes to it, being a homeowner could benefit you in the worst case scenarios, as you won’t need a landlord’s blessing to build a fence.

3. Taxes.

Property taxes don’t feel great. We know the feeling of that big, ever-shifting lump of a bill that shows up at just the wrong moment in your financial timeline. (Woof. There goes the new driveway.) But consider this: Property taxes are among the largest sources of funding for the public resources you rely on: Schools, fire stations, road repairs: all the things that make a town go. Not to mention, as a renter, your rent is largely informed by property taxes—and completely at the landlord’s discretion, not necessarily market forces.

If there’s one thing we know how to keep off this list, it’s the lending process. For anyone rolling their eyes at homeownership, there’s a fighting chance it’s been a downer from the start. Because whether it’s your first time buying a home or you’re a seasoned pro, securing a loan should be one of the simplest, most straightforward parts of the process. And if your last lender made it feel any other way?

You know who to call.