There is no getting around the fact that home ownership is a big commitment. All of a sudden, you have to care about things like mortgage rates, and how to find the most reasonably priced plumber. You also have to pay a lot more attention to your neighbors when you are no longer limited to a 12-month rental contract. 

This is especially true if you live in an area with a homeowner’s association, an organization that many a person with property has fallen foul of in ways that may or may not be justified. This was the subject of a recent Twitter thread, in which homeowners pondered how useful the much-hated HOA could actually be. Spoiler alert: not many were positive about it, although some came to its defense. One of the benefits of renting for years is that you don’t usually have to care about how long the grass on the lawn gets.