Circa 1995-1996:
I grew up in a relatively quiet neighbourhood in Diego Martin in a house tucked very neatly from the sight of passers-by.
I went through a phase where I was embarrassed about where I lived because our house didn't sit on the main road with a front gate, mailbox or even house number. I didn't like saying that ours was the third house, in the yard, by the shop. I just wanted to be part of the cookie-cutter crew.
Every time I got a ride home, I will tell the person to drop me off by the corner of the street instead of in the front of our yard because I didn't want anyone to see where I lived so I walked the rest. The strange thing is that I had friends who lived in houses and areas even less structured than mine and I never even paid attention to that or saw a problem with it. Somehow, I just saw our house as too hidden and looking back now, it seems so stupid. Oh well, teenagers, go figure.
In standard four as I started Technical Drawing for CXC, I began to pay attention to architecture and began to envision myself as a homeowner one day. I began to doodle floor plans, a lot. I probably can still find some old book or sketch pad with what I wanted in my dream house. I would draw that same floor plan over and over and over and began making some goals for myself.
1. Have a child by the age of 25 (husband, optional)
2. Have my dream house by the age of 30 on no less that two lots of land (10,000 sq ft)
Turns out these goals were not as realistic as I thought for a girl who (some may disagree with limiting my possibilities here) didn't come from a wealthy family or had money of my own. I also lacked the social skills needed for effective networking that may have propelled me into a more glamourous and well-paid field of work from a young age.
I wish now though that I could go back in time and buy property then. I remember looking through the classifieds for property and seeing prices of land at $15.00 per square foot, sometimes less, in some really desirable and well-established areas. Now, a lot of land in many areas can start at around $100.00 per sq ft. I actually used to think that buying that house or land was a simple process. My 15 year-old self seriously thought I could just find a property I liked, divide the price by say thirty years and pay the owner whatever figure I got as monthly installments. I was so, so wrong. Why did I even think someone selling their home would take $2,000.00, not even including interest, from a complete stranger for thirty years! lol. Most of the general adult population in the Caribbean live at home until... forever in many cases or build overtime with cash. I guess that pretty much made me oblivious to the world of finance and real estate at the time but it made me believe that buying property would never be possible unless I ventured into some very rural and underdeveloped areas... or won the lottery.
Interesting.
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