Ramblings of a Young Homeowner

There's so much to do when you own a home. We took down our old plastic gutters today, with the help of my in-laws, in preparation for new aluminum gutters. We're using Christmas gift cards and money to purchase the upgrade.

In the past week or so I've had a few conversations concerning the future of my living arrangements. A close friend pointed out that I seem to have more cons associated with my house than pros; she wondered aloud if I should look at buying a new house and moving down the road rather than "fixing" what I already have. Knowing there was wisdom in her words, I checked myself by creating a pros and cons list concerning my house. 

I found that I do have more pros than cons, however my first and most noteworthy con is an expensive fix. Given that information, I also checked the current housing market. While my husband and I can't afford to move at the moment, it seemed enlightening to check the market's progress since we bought our home. It seems there aren't very many homes like ours on the market: decently sized and relatively new while also being affordable. To buy the same house in another location would cost us $75k-$100k more than we bought our house for originally, or more.

Although the location we chose may have its pitfalls (we seem to own one of the nicest houses in the neighborhood already), overall I like it here and I like the house. Beyond the one major change I want to make to the structure of the house, all other projects are simply to make the house more personalized, more ours. The major renovation I want to make in the kitchen would allow our space to be used more efficiently, and I think it would make the house damn near perfect for us, just shy of building our own custom house.

I look forward to raising our children here, growing with this house, personalizing it, and making it a true home.