Owning a house was more challenging than my wife and I had imagined.
Siobhan Ball
My partner and I fell in love with our first home — a two-story 1980s residence in Edinburgh — before we'd even gone inside.Sitting in a network of courtyards, each with a shared, central garden, we stepped through the wrought-iron gates to see its huge, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a patch of trees and immediately thought, "Oh, we've found our house."Even though it was just slightly over 950 square feet, it had everything on my wish list: a small private garden, an attic, a study, and even a conservatory I could fill with plants.Sure, it had its flaws, and it wasn't as close to the heart of the city, but we didn't have the finances for perfection, so we were willing to overlook any blemishes.Unfortunately, our dream did not match reality.Right away, the costs kept adding up
I was thrilled to have a conservatory to fill with plants, but it wasn't worth the cost of caring for an older home.
Siobhan Ball
