Anyone who thinks home ownership doesn’t come with a price, both to your checkbook and your sanity, has probably never owned a home. That, or they’re in an income bracket where they can afford to buy a home where things seldom break down, and stroke a check whenever they do. The extra expenses many fail to consider when buying that first home, such as taxes, homeowners insurance, utilities, and upkeep, may be a trifling matter to them.

For most of us, however, owning our first home comes with a few headaches we probably didn’t expect. Most of us anticipate having to do a little painting, or some light maintenance work, but the first time a pipe bursts, leaving the basement flooded (or worse, if you don’t have a basement) can be a real shock to the system.

And unless you’re name starts with Bob and ends with Villa or “the builder”, it can cause a certain strain on your checkbook as well. To make matters worse, these kinds of sudden and necessary repairs don’t generally give you the courtesy of any advance warning. When the sewer backs up or the roof starts to leak, they tend to do so at inopportune times.

Still, while you’re busy writing out checks or trying to repair the damage yourself, if you’re inclined, don’t be too hasty to want to run back to the apartment and the hassle free living you had when these kinds of repairs were someone else’s problem. As much of a hassle as home ownership can be, these really are good headaches.

In many parts of the world, and throughout most of history, land ownership was completely out of reach for all but a select few. In many places, you had to be born into land in order to own it. In other parts of the world, the government owns all of the land. Home ownership, complete with its secondary expenses such as maintenance, property taxes, and homeowners insurance is still a good concept, overall, allowing us to fully participate as co owners in this country of ours. Even those who don’t own land themselves benefit from the concept of ownership.

If you haven’t experienced the headaches of owning a home yet, get ready. They will come. But, while you’re dealing with them, remember this: even though home ownership is not always easy, you are making an investment in yourself and your family. And in the end, that feeling you get from having a little corner of this globe that belongs to you is well worth it.

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• Pros and Cons of Home Ownership
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• Home Insurance Issues
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