We are wrapping up all the work we plan to do to the house before moving in, and I have to admit that I am pretty excited about how quickly things are coming along so far. We are having carpet installed the next two days, after which I will post some before and after pictures for comparison.

Its amazing how quickly you notice the difference from living in an apartment to owning a home. While at the house on the first day we had the opportunity to meet two of our neighbors. I have lived at the apartments for almost two years and don’t know any of my neighbor’s names, with the exception of the guy in my building who has the license plate “jtmoney” (I can only assume his name is JT). Sure you will get the occasional “hi” at the apartments, but no greetings as friendly as what we received not even one day into owning our first home.

There is also a general pride in ownership that accompanies owning a home. Since we have been at the apartments, we have done only the bare minimum in decorating and maintenance. There is no point in making improvements or changing wall colors because you do not see a return on your investment. In fact, we would probably lose whatever portion of our security deposit we have left. Now that we own a home, the list of things we want to do around the house seems to get longer by the day. Whats more is that we are eager to do all of these things. What may have seemed like a chore in an apartment turns into an opportunity in a home.