Reply to Shelled out $16K in one week on home/life repairs

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[quote=Anonymous][quote]Op here - yes home repairs are expensive! We bought a $700k home that was built in the 1960s in Alexandria. So farour major repairs have been:

1) window and door replacement - $30k? 
2) new gutters and siding for garage (because it was rotting and letting in mice) - $10k 
3) French drain basement - we have done 2 sides but need to do the other 2 before we finish the basement - $7k so far 
4) drainage issues on the side of the house - $2k

We have only owned the house for 5 years. But we are planning on staying for a long time. [/quote]

30 year homeowner here . . . this does not sound unusual.  We bought a house with trees (and they just got bigger and bigger).  Finally one fell on the house, but that's another story.  We have probably spent 30K just on tree removal and pruning over the years (and, yeah, we were just about to take out the one that fell).  This is a quarter acre lot.  We have also had new windows, doors, gutters, roof, HVAC system, floors resanded, floors installed, carpeting, bathrooms remodeled, etc.  I am sure we have put in close to 80K on all of that.  So you can do the math.  The value of the house right now is 700K.  But we are not selling and we have to live somewhere and we are happy.  I think one of the major differences with renting is that you don't have to think about all of this, make choices, schedule it, etc.  If you value your freedom from upkeep, keep renting.  If you value having a nice place to live, buy.  But don't expect it to be a financial windfall at the end of the day.  And people do use loans and credit and whatever to get this stuff done (and they forgo vacations and other spending).  
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