I don’t know homeownership happens any easier than it did for me.
But it’s not that I didn’t struggle to find a apartment for the longest time.
In fact, I’ve been saving for a apartment for a dozen years while living in apartments. That’s a lot of time to spend sharing walls plus wishing for more air conditioner. Living in the south requires replaced Heating plus A/C unit which I never had in any of my apartments. The cooling was meager the hotter it got. Still I saved but I just couldn’t seem to get enough for a downpayment on a home. So when my Grandmother gave me his apartment when he died, I was beyond grateful, however nobody wants to lose their Grandmother that’s for sure. But the fact that I can honor his by turning his venue into a apartment she’d be proud of has been my mission. The apartment is great but it was certainly dated. Grandmother lived on a fixed income for a long time. But he was able to manage with the outdate central air conditioner unit. It was pretty clear when the Heating plus A/C contractor came out to inspect that the air duct wasn’t going to work either. That meant a huge chunk of more money. So instead, I opted to go with a series of ductless heat pumps. This meant that I could leave the air duct alone plus just have the outdated heat pump removed. The ductless heat pump are super efficient since they don’t have HVAC ducts. I have four of them throughout the apartment plus I cherish being able to dial them in independently. It’s almost a sort of zone controlled Heating plus A/C situation.