ChiKat

When we moved into this condo, we spent about three months making changes to ensure the space would work for us. After three months, we declared it "perfect enough" and haven't done major work since then.

One of my concerns with a house is that fixing up a house isn't as easy. The benefit of having more space means…there's more space. I'm not Martha Stewart, but I do like to make our home look nice. My husband and I both know enough about remodeling to be dangerous.

We don't have a ton of money. The spare money we do have, we like to spend on travel. I'm worried that if we buy a house, I'll get sucked into wanting to make it perfect. I'm worried I'll spend our spare money on housing repairs and not vacations.

This worry isn't keeping me up at night – I mean, what a great problem to have: how to spend spare money. But it's something I contemplate when I think about where I want us to live. I grew up in the suburbs and there is a huge part of me that loves the idea of having the house-picket-fence childhood for my son. But there's another part of me that is fairly convinced I'm a better person when I'm living in the city. I see more of the realities of life; I have to make due with fewer things; and I have a better sense of my priorities. I'm worried I'll lose that if I buy a house and throw myself into home-ownership.

With a condo, it's easier to end remodeling. You only have control over your small, interior space. With a house, it's much easier to continually find new areas to improve (Add a deck! Finish the basement! Plant an herb garden! Paint the exterior!). I can imagine myself enjoying that a great deal…so much so that I forget the other things I also enjoy.