Summer in the House

It’s crazy to think it has officially been three months since I moved into this house. I feel that when I moved in, I was ‘wide-eyed and bushy-tailed,’ as they call it. I believed that a house would surpass any and all issues I previously had with apartment living; however, I have learned that renting in general would always provide new or different obstacles. Moving from what was labeled a ‘luxury’ apartment four minutes away from downtown Dallas to a duplex in a suburb has surprisingly only posed minimal challenges, but I want to share with you the changes I have noticed between my living experiences.

There are so many pros to renting a house compared to an apartment:
1. No upstairs neighbors
2. No street or tenant noise
3. No garage door, gate, or key fob glitches
4. No delivery issues with packages or food
5. Having a front and backyard!
6. No stairs or elevators
7. Having a garage
8. Having a full-sized kitchen
9. Not having to pay an additional fee for valet trash (despite its value within complexes)

There are also some cons to renting a house:
1. Leaks, cracks, impractical design due to being older
2. Lack of storage
3. Low chance of walk-in closet
4. Restrictions on individual room designs due to outlet and window placements
5. Longer response time on maintenance requests
6. Usually have to configure your own alarm system
7. Lower chance of all appliances (refrigerator, washer/dryer, dishwasher) included
8. Outdated or lower quality ‘upgrades’ in certain areas of the home
9. Higher electricity bill

These are just a handful of pros and cons I can think of off the top of my head, but obviously not everything applies to every apartment complex or house. I think the common denominator around not finding the ‘perfect’ place is obviously that you are renting. Still, these varied living experiences (living alone, living with a roommate, living in a house with my boyfriend) have all taught me what I am and am not looking for in the future home I will own: flooring, storage options, closet design, living/family room size, how many bedrooms I will need, etc.

Since it has only been three months (a.k.a. one season), I figured I could do another update when I see how this house weathers through the colder months. To wrap this up though, I will answer some of the most common questions I’ve received since the move:

1. How is the house?
In general, I really like this house. It serves my current needs and I could not be more thankful to have a two-bedroom, two-bathroom home with a nice backyard and fridge, washer, and dryer included at the rent that we pay. There are some design flaws that have been super annoying to work around. We have also had a higher number of maintenance issues than I originally expected. We do, however, have a pretty responsive landlord that we don’t really have to chase down when we have an issue, and he is always polite and works well with us.

2. What has it been like living with your boyfriend?
This is my first time living with a boyfriend and it has been great. Much like anyone you live with, you learn people’s habits and when to give them space. Thankfully, we do have two bedrooms and a living room, so we are not on top of each other. With us being in the middle of a pandemic, it has obviously been a very different experience; there is not much to talk about day-to-day and you’re with each other all day, so the exciting parts of dating like going out to eat/drink, traveling, going to events, etc. are pretty much off the table. But I also think it is kind of a blessing because you are forced to be with another person all day and see all sides of them that won’t be a ‘surprise’ later down the road. We have been making it work and I have become more interested in videogames just as he has become more interested in reality TV. 🙂

3. How is it living outside of Dallas?
Dallas is a driving city anyway, so it’s not like my life has drastically changed. Downtown is only about 20 minutes away, but there are very few places that are a less-than-10-minute-drive to begin with unless you are living in the area I used to live in. Once again, we are in a pandemic, so I haven’t felt that annoyance of having to arrange Lyfts regularly for going out or getting to and from the airport which was previously a part of my budget. Additionally, I am working from home, so I am saving on gas altogether since I literally do not go anywhere, haha. It has been the best and worst thing to have moved out of the city during a time like this, but it does suck that I now have a space I could entertain in (especially the backyard!) and cannot have people over. Though I do miss being able to see the skyline and feeling like a city girl, I am happy to be in a house now.

4. Do you miss living in an apartment?
There are specific elements that I miss like my old closet, my old bathroom, and the additional freedoms I felt when I lived alone. A good and bad thing about this house is that it gets a lot of natural light, but the living area does not have a ceiling fan, so basically…it gets hot. This requires me to run A/C at the hottest times of the day. Further, even if quarantine were not a thing, my former roommate was rarely home whereas my boyfriend and I are home bodies, so between the A/C and the amount of electricity we use for our hobbies, the electricity bill is so much higher despite having a little less square footage (excluding the backyard and garage) than my previous apartment. But overall, no, I do not miss living in an apartment.

Did anybody else move during quarantine, or more specifically move in with a new person during quarantine? How has the adjustment been for you?
xx, AE