I just so badly wish I was in a position to buy but I am not yet. And whenever I'm renting I have this underlying anxiety constantly.
It's knowing that we can be kicked out with two months notice at any time for any reason.
It's that even though we always pay rent on time, our landlord is always determined to find a way either not to fix things, fix them cheaply or insist that we caused it.
It's that most times I've moved out of a property they have tried to take charges from the deposit. Even though the deposit protection agency has never sided with them, it seems like fair game for landlords to have a try at a bit of extra money and it's still stressful to have to have the fight.
It's that at the moment I'm studying and waiting to start a job in a new career in approx two to three months while my DH is a SAHP so we are living off savings for the time being. If we had to leave we would not find anyone to accept us without income and would need to move in with my parents, cramped in a house with four adults, an infant and their dog until I start my new job and then actually find a place.
It's house inspections and how intrusive they feel.
It's that any time the landlord does come around to assess a problem I've reported I feel I have to make it sparkling clean. I also feel like I have to prepare for him to blame us for causing the problem even when it would be ridiculous to. He's coming tomorrow and I'm already worrying and know it's going to be a big thing that's on my mind all morning.
It's that we purposely went for an agency managed property hoping that they would help with landlord issues and know about tenant rights but they have been useless and I suspect dishonest. Any time we report an issue it takes constant phone, email and even office visiting follow ups because they ignore us all the time. They clearly don't like the landlord either but just shrug and say that there's nothing they can do when he drags his feet on sorting things that he's contractually obliged to sort.
It's that the answer isn't ONLY to get a better landlord (although it does help) because I've had one or two decent ones and even then I just don't feel completely comfortable knowing that my home can be taken from me at any time and I would have to start again, move furniture, set up bills etc.
It's that you can't fully make it your own. Yes you could paint rooms and paint them back at the end but it's not the same as owning a house and saving up so that you can get a new kitchen put in exactly as you want it etc and over the years being able to build something you love.
It's that everything's always a bit rough around the edges. Stiff doors or wonky drawers or little things that aren't "repairs" as such but are just evidence of how everything is done in the cheapest possible way by the cheapest person available.
I've grown up with a family of tradesman and everything in the house was solid and robust and fitted well and so I suppose the rented places I've lived in have been quite noticeably different.
With this house particularly I've just never settled and so I suppose the feeling is even stronger than usual. I loved it when viewing but ever since moving in I've disliked the house and the vibe. It's just doesn't feel homely no matter what I do. Its very old and things are just constantly going wrong with it.
In a few months we will financially be in a position to move to another rented place but when we found this one there were waiting lists for viewings and people making renter CVs. I don't think the situation has improved - I look regularly and there's just hardly any properties for rent and they go so quickly. So it's finding somewhere suitable and actually being picked out of probably a lot of prospective tenants (let's face it, young professionals are going to be more popular than a couple with a baby).
I know that if you can't afford to buy then this is just how it is. And I know that the answer from a lot of people is that I need to earn more money so I can buy. I'm trying - hence the career change - but it will be a good few years until we can consider it I suppose.
I just really wish in the mean time that I felt comfortable and secure in my home instead of having that constant underlying anxiety. I think it's so important to feel safe and for home to feel like home.