A Place to Call My Own

After I wrote about enjoying my ongoing trial run of remote work, my company announced that employees can work remotely for the rest of the year. It’s not a permanent switch to remote work like Twitter, Facebook and a few other companies (yet), but it’s making me think more about other potential places to live and how that fits with my otium goals.

Lifelong Renter (So Far)

I’ve been a renter my entire adult life, throughout college, law school and my working years so far. It’s generally been fine, even if not ideal.

But, for over two decades, where I live has been dictated by where the educational and professional opportunities have been, rather than where I might want to be. With remote work becoming a possibility at more and more companies, including my current one, a new world of possibilities has opened up.

Current Situation

My spouse and I currently rent in a large city, for better or worse.

Advantages include:

• Proximity: Since everything is relatively close by, it’s convenient to see friends and family, get groceries, eat out, do activities and go on a run or bike ride. It’s not far from an international airport, so traveling is convenient as well.
• Options and possibilities: New restaurants are popping up all of the time and there’s no shortage of things to do.
• Affordability: Our rent, while high compared to the rest of the country, is lower than what our mortgage would be if we bought a similarly sized place.

But, disadvantages include:

• Noise
• Traffic
• Hard to get any peace and quiet
• We’re not cramped, but we could use more space, including outdoors

Possibilities

If we could live anywhere, considerations include:

• Financial (buy vs. rent; mortgage, insurance, property taxes, income tax deductions, predictibility)
• Urban vs. suburban vs. rural
• Maintenance hassles
• Proximity to cities and airpots
• Potentially more space
• Pride of ownership

More to come, as we continue to noodle on this!