I really appreciate your point of view on this one. I was blessed to grow up in the country on 35 acres in an 1880s farmhouse and have some of my best memories at that home. Even through all my foolishness and not being raised in a Christian home. When they changed the highway next to us to 4 lanes instead of 2, they tore down the old farmhouse and took about 13 acres of the land. My dad built a new home on the property up on a hill about 15 years ago and about 4 years ago my wife and I had the opportunity to purchase 2 acres from him for next to nothing, rezoned it, and build a home with the intentions of raising a bigger family and a place to comfortably have extended family and our church family over to. It wasn’t easy to get to that point and I’m still working on completing projects. Something I didn’t think I’d have with new construction haha. But it’s our home and we love it. Our kids love it. We have our 6th child on the way and it has been an amazing blessing to watch my kids play in the woods where I used to play. It’s easy to take it for granted at times, but I praise God for the opportunity as it’s better than I realized it would be. Would we still be happy and grateful if we didn’t have it? Absolutely! But it’s a great joy to utilize what God has given us under the sun.
I live in a place where home ownership is literally impossible. 90% of the population lives in affordable public housing (good quality too!). But ultimately it's the people's property. You sign or takeover a lease for 99 years and then return the apartment. To get into the 10% is too difficult to consider, unless you intentionally sin by neglecting family, Church, and community; you'll never make enough money. Maybe the only way is a multi-generational project. "In 200 years, we will own a house." In any case, it would take a strong patriarch to embark on a journey like this.
Good points. Some things are bought for potential use or appreciation in value, but most things are bought to use, and it helps to be clear about that. A rental house is an investment, a primary residence is a home to be lived in.
One of the worst parts of Boomer culture has been this creeping sterility, which has come to affect so many things. We have yards, but kids aren't hardly allowed outside. We have sexual 'liberation', but is anyone having children anymore?
I wasn't into comics, but did collect stamps and coins as a kid, so I remember when the PCGS coin grading system came in. Unlike comics, you can still enjoy the beauty of a PCGS double eagle gold piece or a Morgan silver dollar, or even old Roman coins, I guess. They're protected, but you can see both sides, even feel the weight of the gold in your hand. But preserving comic books in slabs is sort of like the displays of dead butterflies, pinned to a board. It's not the same as seeing a live butterfly.
People should be smart about the financial aspects of buying a home, the location, many factors, but also need to be clear that its main value (to them) is its use. There are many big and fancy homes nowadays with almost no one living there, and even the folks who DO live there are hardly ever home.
But if you're going to use it, it is worth spending the money on a good house, especially for those hoping to build a family in it. In general, spending money on things that will get a lot of use makes sense, even if they're not that cheap: a good mattress, kitchen stuff, a professional's tools, a reliable commuter car, etc. Should be obvious, but I've discovered many folks don't know this.
I really appreciate your point of view on this one. I was blessed to grow up in the country on 35 acres in an 1880s farmhouse and have some of my best memories at that home. Even through all my foolishness and not being raised in a Christian home. When they changed the highway next to us to 4 lanes instead of 2, they tore down the old farmhouse and took about 13 acres of the land. My dad built a new home on the property up on a hill about 15 years ago and about 4 years ago my wife and I had the opportunity to purchase 2 acres from him for next to nothing, rezoned it, and build a home with the intentions of raising a bigger family and a place to comfortably have extended family and our church family over to. It wasn’t easy to get to that point and I’m still working on completing projects. Something I didn’t think I’d have with new construction haha. But it’s our home and we love it. Our kids love it. We have our 6th child on the way and it has been an amazing blessing to watch my kids play in the woods where I used to play. It’s easy to take it for granted at times, but I praise God for the opportunity as it’s better than I realized it would be. Would we still be happy and grateful if we didn’t have it? Absolutely! But it’s a great joy to utilize what God has given us under the sun.
I love the idea that a home is “the setting of the family story.”
I live in a place where home ownership is literally impossible. 90% of the population lives in affordable public housing (good quality too!). But ultimately it's the people's property. You sign or takeover a lease for 99 years and then return the apartment. To get into the 10% is too difficult to consider, unless you intentionally sin by neglecting family, Church, and community; you'll never make enough money. Maybe the only way is a multi-generational project. "In 200 years, we will own a house." In any case, it would take a strong patriarch to embark on a journey like this.
Good points. Some things are bought for potential use or appreciation in value, but most things are bought to use, and it helps to be clear about that. A rental house is an investment, a primary residence is a home to be lived in.
One of the worst parts of Boomer culture has been this creeping sterility, which has come to affect so many things. We have yards, but kids aren't hardly allowed outside. We have sexual 'liberation', but is anyone having children anymore?
I wasn't into comics, but did collect stamps and coins as a kid, so I remember when the PCGS coin grading system came in. Unlike comics, you can still enjoy the beauty of a PCGS double eagle gold piece or a Morgan silver dollar, or even old Roman coins, I guess. They're protected, but you can see both sides, even feel the weight of the gold in your hand. But preserving comic books in slabs is sort of like the displays of dead butterflies, pinned to a board. It's not the same as seeing a live butterfly.
People should be smart about the financial aspects of buying a home, the location, many factors, but also need to be clear that its main value (to them) is its use. There are many big and fancy homes nowadays with almost no one living there, and even the folks who DO live there are hardly ever home.
But if you're going to use it, it is worth spending the money on a good house, especially for those hoping to build a family in it. In general, spending money on things that will get a lot of use makes sense, even if they're not that cheap: a good mattress, kitchen stuff, a professional's tools, a reliable commuter car, etc. Should be obvious, but I've discovered many folks don't know this.