I don’t think I’ve ever been “house proud” but houses are very, very important to me. Especially for my residence, where I prefer the privacy of a house not too close to neighbors. In addition, I haven’t been without a garage to park my vehicle in every night for at least 35 years. Having a garage is second in importance to me. I detested leaving my vehicle outside at night when I used to rent apts. Of course, vehicle thefts and break-ins were more common in SD and vehicles were easier to break into and “hotwire-start” back then. However, the “club” was available for your steering wheel, as well as primitive alarm systems with engine kill switches. Unfortunately, their on/off switches were mounted on the outside of the vehicle and the thieves knew exactly where to check for them to dismantle the alarm. I found my car pulled over down the street (up to four blocks away) several times when the engine died on the thieves and always with the dash (and doors) ripped out and my radio/cassette player gone, often along with 2 or more speakers. It got old replacing the stereo over and over again and getting seatcovers for vandalized (slashed) car seats as well as replacing slashed tires. Besides that, I don’t like loading and unloading my vehicle in front of neighbors. For example, I don’t need everyone around me to know I’m leaving on a road trip the next day … just a couple of “select” trusted individuals.
It is easy to tell the difference between a 20 yo vehicle which has always been garaged compared to one which has been parked outside most/all of its “life.”
I would give up 2 bdrms for a garage. In other words, I would rather have a 2 bdrm house with a garage than a 4 bdrm house without one. Especially with a house situated on a city lot where there is no room to build a (detached) garage.
Having a house is more important to me than having a newer vehicle, having my house “remodeled” all at once or having the latest appliances, electronics and furnishings in it. “House” ownership means everything to me and I won’t move without a house waiting for me to move into on the other end (whether leased or purchased) :=0
