When my wife and I got together, she insisted on buying a house, forcing me out of the condo life. A house is cool in a lot of ways, but I put a hard condition on it that I was never going to mow the lawn. We have a guy that does it for $30/mow; it's a decent deal considering we have half an acre, which would take me probably an hour or slightly more to do on my own. Fuck all that shit. Lawn guy is well worth it. I outsource a few other things, too, because I'm 100% unwilling to give up weekends in service of spinning the wheels. The upside of buying a house is getting to do whatever you want. For example, I just remodeled most of the upstairs, which would require permits and approvals to do in any condo. Your house is yours to do with what you please, and that is fun if you're inclined to break/fix/make stuff (as I would expect an engineer to do). Like everything, there's ups and downs, but on the balance I like owning a house a lot more than I thought I would. Being physically separated from neighbors turns out to mean a lot more than I thought it would (e.g. loud music at night, not being careful and conscious all the time, etc.). That the best thing. Don't plant a lot of landscaping that takes time, and you'll be golden.
Thank you! Your experience sounds a lot like what I'm picturing for myself for moving to a house from a condo. I'm definitely imagining things I'd like to do to my own home, and while I'm not the handiest person in the world, I'm willing to learn and try. And thank you for this. It isn't that I have any actual problem with my neighbors, but I think I'd enjoy the separation. If you did, I probably will, too. It's even the little things like flushing the toilet at 3 am. It sounds mentally easier to not have to think about it.Being physically separated from neighbors turns out to mean a lot more than I thought it would (e.g. loud music at night, not being careful and conscious all the time, etc.). That the best thing.