Where we ultimately chose to live was a surprise to us. We moved to a lovely suburb only to sell our house within months to move back to the city.

All the stuff that can go wrong/needs to be done.

Ditto to the previous comment. A house owns you! Feeling sentimental about being a renter!

That we bought a high-maintenance exterior home. I will never buy cedar again.

That our water well was dry.

Neighbors. Even in houses, you sometimes hear a LOT coming from their home.

The constant up keep. Whether it's mowing the grass, cleaning gutters or weeding it's never ending.

There is currently a small puddle of water coming up from the ground
behind the shed in my otherwise bone dry, sandy back yard. I am
mystified, as was my retired neighbor who has lived next door for close
to 40 years. He says there's never been anything back there like
sprinkler lines, the city water service comes into the front of my
house, and digging a hole to China back there has yielded nothing but
wet dirt so far.

I would call a professional in on this one but I'm not even sure who to call about a mysterious pool of water that suddenly emerged from the ground. I guess if it turns into a pond it's in a great location, so there's that.

That feeling of security. And pride. Being "home" vs. in an apartment.

The things I have done to or purchased for the house that were current at the time are the things I have changed or gotten rid of. Things I have done or purchased just because they are what I really like are still here and I still really like them.

That each home you own is a new adventure. Another chance to make a fresh start and change your decor, make new friends, connect with a new community or the same one, have your own space and belong to a neighbourhood. Big or small, it is all the same to me.

My mortgage was brought by another company 6 months in and the escrow division did not pay my home owner's insurance, which lapsed, and they had me down for flood insurance. I live in LA ??? One pleasant surprise is the neighbors; we have a very strong block club coalition and we look out for each other; very welcoming. The other pleasant surprise is our property values are skyrocketing due to the market in our area is super hot; in two and a half years my home value has increased about 35%.

Property taxes!

HI -- Fixing and changing everything the former owner did and replacing all the services - new furnace ,new water tank , plumbing ( they cracked the main stack ) and electric . Found live wires behind crappy old second hand panel board in the basement . One live switch box was just filled with drywall plaster and hidden behind the paneling.

Even though it's a lot of work and responsibility I would never go back to being a renter

That it has cost me $140,000 since Jan, 2012 to live in and remodel our home... and we live in a $150,000 970 sq ft house! Blows my mind.