What kind of home does a person need to be happy? The answers to this question will vary greatly. For some, this is a luxurious apartment in a New York penthouse, for some it is a spacious old house outside the city, and for some, just a small MIL suite surrounded by forest is enough for pure happiness.
Each of us has our own perception of a good home, and it very often does not coincide with others' point of view. Well, the more people, the more opinions - but sometimes it happens that they, these people around us, simply try to impose their own point of view, passing it off as "public opinion".
Just like a "public opinion" the author of this post in the AITA Reddit community once encountered. The story, told by user u/lovemycar66, garnered nearly 9.8K upvotes and over 1.2K mostly sympathetic and supportive comments. So, let's try to investigate this situation.
More info: Reddit
The author of the post once managed to buy a large land plot with a burned-out big house and a MIL suite
Image credits: John Coley (not the actual photo)
The author of the original post admits that they always wanted to live in a small, cozy house, and since they live alone, they do not have any desire to constantly clean up a large space. And then, one fine day, the Original Poster had a chance to buy something suitable at a more than affordable price.
Image credits: lovemycar66
The buildings were surrounded by about half an acre of real forest
It was a large plot of land, overgrown with trees, where a large house once stood. In fact, this house burned down some time ago, so that the buildings left on the site were a large garage for three cars, as well as the adjacent MIL suite, consisting of one bedroom, a bathroom and a small kitchen. And all this was surrounded by about half an acre of real forest!
Image credits: lovemycar66
The OP admits that they came to inspect the site and the house several times, and they really liked everything. Due to the fact that a large house in this area burned down, the price was low enough that our hero could really afford it. As a result, they bought it and moved in.
Image credits: lovemycar66
According to the OP, they liked nearly everything. The MIL suite was larger than any apartment the OP had ever lived in before, the garage was comfortable for cars and bikes, and the large yard with groves around was perfect for walking the dogs and barbecuing with friends. In general, the OP was completely satisfied, which can not be said about their neighbors...
Image credits: lovemycar66
The neighbors almost at once started asking the new landlord when they planned to re-build a big house
Literally after the first meeting, the neighbors began to pester the OP with questions about when they planned to rebuild the burned-out house. Hearing that our hero had no such plans, people were very surprised - they said how difficult it must be for them to live "in the garage."
Image credits: lovemycar66
People told the homeowner that their plot in its current state also hurt other houses' value
According to the neighbors, the undeveloped plot, firstly, stood out too much against the background of large and beautiful houses along the entire street, and secondly, it reduced both its own value and the eventual sale value of neighboring houses.
Image credits: lovemycar66
When the OP said that they didn't care, and that in any case, the fire happened during their "predecessors'" time, the neighbors became even more upset, saying that they were on very good terms with the previous owners. In general, the neighbors managed to shake our hero's self-confidence, and they started to seriously think - were they doing the right thing at all, refusing to build a more spacious house on their site?
Image credits: perthhdproductions (not the actual photo)
People in the comments claimed that the neighbors needed to just mind their own business
And yet, the people in the comments tried to dispel all the doubts that the OP had. According to the commenters, this isn't about property values at all, but about micromanaging neighbors who want to tell you what you can do with your own property. In any case, if the owner of the site does not violate any laws and local rules, the neighbors have absolutely no right to impose their point of view on them.
Moreover, professional realtors also came to the comments, who noted that the neighbors' property values aren't going to be hurt so badly they need to act like this. The most common piece of advice given to the original poster by commenters was to simply ignore unsolicited advice and live happily in their own sweet home.
Be that as it may, having your own house is much more convenient than renting an apartment - after all, a terrible landlord can always appear. For example, like it happened with this student from Singapore, who had to deal with unfair additional financial requirements after signing an agreement. Anyway, we, as always, look forward to your comments on this particular story.
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