My really great landlord has spent far more money on my apartment than we've paid in rent the last few months. Since we've moved in, we've had our carpets cleaned, our windows replaced, our walls painted, our shower drains snaked, and our furnaces cleaned. On top of that, we have the apartment managers to take out the trash cans, mow the lawns, rake the leaves, even change the light bulbs. Then last week, the main sewage line for the house ruptured, dumping, you know, sewage into the unfinished basement. So we had more inspectors, a flood repair company, and plumbers come check it all out, clean it all up, and replace all of the plumbing.
Mind you, it hasn't been a picnic dealing with all of this home improvement, but it has made me really glad that we are renters and not owners. While I can appreciate the many wonderful things that homeowners enjoy, I am also experienced enough to also appreciate all of the nastiness associated with owning a little piece of paradise with faulty plumbing. And I've read enough property law cases to appreciate all of the really horrible things that could happen to an otherwise savvy buyer. And I don't have any money. So there you have it. No real property for me. Not yet anyway.
Every couple of years of my adult life, I graduate into another phase of adult development. First I would see all of my friends going through it, and then I would go through it (I'm a bit of a late bloomer when it comes to development). First all of my friends got married (and I became an expert on bridal shower gifts), and then I got married. All of my friends started having babies (baby shower gifts), and then I had a baby. Now all of my friends are buying houses (house warming gifts (if I get around to it, what with the husband and the baby)), and I'm getting nervous that I might catch the bug.
I think it's kind of weird for people to never want to get married, or once they are married to never want to have children. I can understand not wanting to get married immediately, and I also happen to think that anyone can have a happy life if they don't get married and/or have children. But isn't it a basic human impulse to want a committed relationship? And have children? When I hear about someone wanting to never come near these things, I can't help thinking they're being more than a little immature. Because I used to feel that way, but, like I said, I moved on to the next phase.
That's what worries me. I never want to own a house. No picket fence, no swingset, no vegetable garden. Is it a sign of arrested development to want to rent forever?
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Marriage and children and eternal, so I'd say the desire is God-given. Owning a home? I don't know if our "mansions in heaven" are our own or if we are renting them. My guess is we own them because I think that you can probably paint the walls of your own heavenly mansion whatever color you want.
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