My mother understood that owning your own home is the key to true freedom. Shortly after I graduated from High School, she bought a small home and lived there for the rest of her life. To say that it was “humble” would be kind, but many of her children and grandchildren would spend time there until they could afford something else or until she kindly but firmly asked them to move on. It was a tiny three-bedroom home with a small yard in the heart of the city, but it was hers. She flirted with selling it over the years but she never did. As long as she made the payments no one could take it away. I think she also understood that it was the best thing she could pass on to her children. When she passed last year, the house was paid for and it provided a little bit of money for her seven children, more than any of us would have guessed.

At age 51, I am on the verge of buying a home with my wife and it has been a challenge to say the least. We live in Colchester, Vermont, a town in the most urban county of the small state. Burlington and the surrounding area, of which Colchester is part, have the highest home prices. My wife and I don’t make as much money as some, but we did have some savings to put toward a down payment, even with that money, the monthly payment of even a small home or a condo would be 25% more than we were paying for rent. We’ve lived in one half of a duplex for five years and the money we pay every month is about 25% less than the landlords could be getting. But we’re good tenants and we put up with certain “allowances” so the symbiotic relationship has been mutually beneficial. 

That is until we had a tiff with our neighbor. Our neighbor is the property owner’s grandson and the property managers’ son and nephew respectively. Our neighbor (the grandson) objected to some lights we had up in the common area and took them down without discussing the matter with us first. To the managers’ credit, they didn’t get involved and took a relatively neutral stance on the issue, but rather than renew our yearly lease, they rewrote it to make it month-to-month. A perfectly legal move, but it said to us, “If you cause any problems, you’re out in 60 days.”

My wife and I debated our next move. “Now is not a good time to buy,” she said. I agreed, but I said, “It’s never a good time to buy.” When interest rates are down, people are looking and available properties get snapped up as soon as their listed. When interest rates are high, sellers hold back until they can get more for their homes thus making the supply limited. Keep in mind that in our area, (and in lots of places in the U.S.) supply is much less than demand. Even in the pandemic, properties were going sight unseen as people looked to relocate and work remotely. 

So we started looking, just to see what was out there, but we didn’t sign the new lease that our landlords presented us. Without a lease, we were still month to month but we didn’t want to agree to their new terms, whatever they might be. We considered commuting up to an hour to work, so we looked to the north and south of our current locale. We considered relocating and looked in the north and south of New York. Side note: properties in New York State seem more affordable. A $250,000 home would go for 350-400 in Chittenden County, Vermont, and after talking to people in the know- it comes down to supply and demand. There is less supply and as much or more demand here in Vermont, so prices are higher here.   

Back to the story; 

We were in trouble! Our previous rental ended when the landlord evicted us (a legal, but dickish move) to let their son and his family move in, so we were gun-shy about being forcibly relocated. With no legal standing, our landlord could sell the property or evict us if we had another issue with their relative/our neighbor, or if the price was right. We wanted the security of homeownership but was it worth the price?

Owning and renting both come with their perks and plugs. Renting is great when stuff breaks. Fridge dies? Fuck you, fix it. Pipes burst? Fuck you, fix it. Lawn needs mowing? Fuck you, mow it! But when you own, all those costs are yours. If you need or want to upgrade, or downgrade, or move out of state, all you have to do is wait for your lease to expire and you’re free like a tree! But when you own, you have to sell your house at the same time you find a new one to buy. 

Back to our story- we found a place! A house that was as beautiful on the website as it was in person, which is a whole other story Some places don’t show you all the little problem areas, why? I don’t know. It seems like that wastes everyone’s time like a dating profile that doesn’t show your hunchback. It’s gonna come up; why not get it out in the open? But I digress.

The house we passed on because it was at the high end of our affordability and also at the outer edge of our physical range was still on the market. But we would both have to commute 45 minutes to an hour and that was going to reduce our quality of life. Plus, the house had no property to speak of, and very limited parking, and was on the edge of a cliff. But, it was the street my wife grew up on (nostalgia points) and in a very desirable city that mixed city benefits with livability (lifestyle points). 

At the eureka moment, we were on an excursion to Plattsburgh, New York across the lake, and staying at a bed and breakfast to get a feel for the area. “Why were prices so much lower?” we wondered. The area was nice but after we saw everything we needed to see, including some nice properties, I asked my wife, “Is this worth it? Is it worth moving our lives, looking for new jobs, leaving our friends and family to save money? Would we be happier here than in that house we loved? Even if we paid an extra 100k?”

The answer was “probably not.” There were too many barriers to entry (to borrow a Microeconomics term) moving to New York. Things that could go wrong that would derail our lives. So, we went back and revisited that home we loved and amazingly it was still available. We had it professionally inspected top to bottom and the only thing wrong with it was its lack of land and parking. My wife wondered if those should be deal breakers for us, but I said, “Those problems are the reasons this place is still available!” We made an offer, lower than they wanted but the sellers had to be realistic. In the Ven diagram of people looking for homes in that town, who wanted to live on a cliff, didn’t want a yard, and only had two cars—we were the only ones left in the center. 

Take it or wait for the next pandemic.

They took it! We move in a few weeks. My mother would have been happy. Not really but that’s another story.

Stay tuned for more rants about my thoughts on the home-buying and renting experience. Including-

-Mortgages- Why Does Everyone Have to Wet Their Beaks?!

-My Plan to Make the American Dream Available to Everyone 🙂

-Why do ALL Landlords suck?

-If you’re buying, you need your own agent!