Have you ever liked a house so much that you would do anything to keep it?

[Writer]

Just a random curiosity. :)

~Writer~

[billyskank]

1. Only had one dwelling of my own so far.

But I'm not particularly attached to it. :hi:

[Writer]

Aren't you renting your flat?

[billyskank]

5. No, I sort-of own it.

I'm a leaseholder, which means I get to pretend I own it, even though I don't really. It's a weird English thing. But it does mean that so long as I keep paying the mortgage, nobody can ever kick me out. Unless the lease expires, but that isn't due for another 92 years.

[Writer]

7. Okay now you have me all curious 'n stuff...

Does this mean that you've financed the value of the home? Do your mortgage payments go to a bank or into someone's pocket?

[billyskank]

10. Yes. I borrowed from a bank to buy the lease.

And, when I decide to move out, I can sell the lease just as you would sell a house. It even goes up and down in value just as a house does.

I don't own any land or bricks - somebody else owns the building, to whom I pay a nominal rent, fifty pounds a year. But as the leaseholder I have the exclusive right to dwell here and basically do whatever I like with it.

So long as the lease has a long time left to run, it's just like owning your own place (we call that freeholding) except that somebody else is responsible for the maintenance of the building on the outside. That is contracted out to a maintenance company, to whom I pay a maintenance charge. If I were a freeholder I would have buildings insurance instead, of course.

When you are looking to buy a leasehold property, your solicitor (lawyer) will advise against it if the lease has less than 60 years left to run.

[Writer]

11. That's very interesting.

So the person who collects your nominal rent payment owns that property for upwards of 100 years? Do I have that correct?

[billyskank]

12. Yes. Unless they sell it, of course.

Every time the bill comes for the 'ground rent,' the letter tells me that I have the option to buy my share of the property off them. My apartment is one out of four in the building. Not that I have the money or the inclination to do that.

[Writer]

13. And your share would be the number of years you've resided in it?

[billyskank]

14. I mean 1/4 of the property.

Or whatever proportion of the building my apartment represents. Actually I don't really know how it works - I'd have to ask a solicitor if I was going to do it. But it would be far too expensive.

It's an insane system. Presumably it's been handed down through the centuries as much of our common law has.

[Writer]

15. The right to "life, liberty, and property."

Blame John Locke. ;)

[billyskank]

16. And the pursuit of a penis.

Or something. :)

[Writer]

17. Now you're getting all Freudian on me.

[BarenakedLady]

2. I am

sort of.

Though it's just a house at the end of the day, I suppose.

[Writer]

3. You're in a nice area of the country.

I miss the Northeast.

Although Colorado is rather nice, too. ;)

[lost-in-nj]

4. I have

and I probably will feel that way for a while longer....
The house I live in now is the house I grew up in.
But as BNL said
its just a house at the end of the day.....



lost

[Writer]

9. "It's just a house at the end of the day..."

Yes, I agree with this sentiment.

However, Mr. Writer and I have owned our current home for almost five years, and we are not looking to leave anytime soon. We love the layout, the area, the backyard, the little upgrades we've made, the fact that we can entertain friends and house our relatives this Christmas.

It's not the newest house in the area, nor the largest, nor the fanciest. It's just right for us, and that is all.

It's a material possession, but the house possesses a soul that can be very balancing. And it's a difficult sensation that we would not wish to let go.

~Writer~

[AlCzervik]

6. i can't think of one thing i own that i would do anything to keep.

i like my house but i'm looking forward to selling it.

[supernova]

8. I would probably do the most to keep my house now

It's the one I grew up in so it has great sentimental value.

But, I could live somewhere else if another situation arose.

In the end, it's all just things and those can be replaced.

[lildreamer316]

18. Yes.

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[SPKrazy]

19. Nope

a house is a house of course of course

I like my house

but

I'm giving it up

:hi:

it's a house

[Guava Jelly]

20. I loved my last apartment

The assholes turned them into condo's.
So I had to move

[SmokingJacket]

21. I thought so. But when the time was right, I up and sold it.

I suddenly saw that it would never be worth as much as it was at that moment (last spring) and that one day I would want a bigger place, so slam bam thank you mam, six weeks later it was sold and we had put money down on our dream house.

I love love love this new place, but in my heart of hearts I know that I would be happy living in an RV, if that's where I was in life.

It was surprising how unattached I turned out to be...