Yeah, I bought a house (okay, a single-wide trailer, but a nice one) when I was 23. Payments on a 3bed 2 bath brand new trailer (plus a big yard, garage, and my own water well) were cheaper than rent for any size apartment would have been. It's great because I still live on the ranch, but it's a couple miles away from my parents so I have privacy and can feel at least somewhat like an adult. (My mom still tells me to take out my trash or fold my laundry sometimes, but I'm pretty sure she'd do that wherever I lived.)

But it's weird for dating, because it's something I have to consider in a match. If he is invested in living somewhere other than on the ranch, or expects to move all over the place, it's doomed from the start.

There's also the fact that I'm a little fairly paranoid about bringing a date home (something I have yet to do [though one guy I went on a date with unexpectedly showed up at my housewarming party- after we'd talked on OKC but before he'd ever asked to meet, which made me feel very uncomfortable]). What if the relationship doesn't work out, then he gets pissed and decides to "get even" by stealing my dog, burning my house down, or breaking in and killing me in my sleep? How do people who bring randos they just met home not freak out about the fact that now some stranger knows where they live?