Is Buying Really Better?
by Brad Barker

Some parents see their newborn child as a future president, movie star, or a pro-fessional athlete. No matter the dream however, every parent sees their child in a nice house. It’s drilled into our heads from a young age that we’ll have a piece of property to call our own someday.

My wife and I got past the mortgage process when we purchased a new home last November. It’s an older place, but it’s in a quiet neighborhood and set back into the woods. What we liked about the house was its “vacation-like” atmosphere. We felt that living there would be like being on vacation every day.

Well, after living there for a year, we’ve had enough vacation—we just want to go home.

We feel like we signed up for one of those vacations where you “visit two countries every day!” It’s amazing how our expectations have changed. When we were buying the house, we talked excitedly about the house’s “potential.” Watch out for that word. “Potential” is the term that homebuyers use when they really mean to say, “Oh my goodness, this house will be a lot of work! Let’s get out of here!”

We’ve been remodeling and redecorating every weekend since we’ve moved in. You’ve heard of Feng Shui? This is the ancient Chinese philosophy of arranging elements of your house to achieve harmony, balance, and serenity. Well, I’m going to start my own philosophy. I’m calling it “Friends Sway.” The concept behind this philosophy is how to per-suade your friends to help you around your house. It starts before you move in. “Hi Alex. It’s Brad. We bought that house I told you about. I was wondering if you could help us move our stuff this weekend. You can? Great!”

Your friends bend over backwards to help you move. However, a while later, you need to call them again. “Hi Greg. It’s Brad. I have a favor to ask. Judy doesn’t like where we placed the furniture when we moved a couple of weeks ago. We need to move the couch to the front of the house and the piano to the back. Can you give me a hand?”

A month later, you’re putting in a new floor or lugging 10 yards of mulch around. Just this past weekend, I built a new retaining wall for the garden. “Hey, Joe, it’s Brad. Brad. Brad, your best friend! Very funny. How about giving me a hand placing the timbers in Judy’s new garden? You’re busy. Visiting relatives. They’re staying a year? Sure, I under-stand. Maybe next time. Give my regards to your wife’s brother-in-law’s 3rd cousin visiting from Romania.” We are all busy these days, but I’m surprised at how much busier my friends have become since last November.

After a year of homeownership, I’m not sure my parents did me a favor by selling me on the “American Dream” idea. My savings account is drained. My paycheck is spent before I receive it. My weekends are consumed with “homework.” My friends are letting my calls go to their answering machines, and my wife is comparing my handyman skills to her father’s. So tell me again…why is renting so bad?