I get it. People move here and think, I should buy a home. They look at prices and say, ouch, I’ll wait. After a few more years, they say, I really need to buy a home. By then, it’s too late, but – oh, exciting. There’s a one-bedroom flat in Wiltz for only half a million. Okay, it’s in the north, and yes, it needs work, but I must buy it. That is the way.
Believe me, I know what it’s like. Just last year, I was about to blow €1.2 million on a duplex in a place called Biwer. I still don’t even know if Biwer really exists. Anyway, I changed my mind after I had an epiphany. I realized that I don’t need to waste money on a place made of bricks and stone when I can have a mansion in my very own mind.
Sure, owning a physical structure sounds nice, and it would feel good to be able to paint the bathroom walls neon purple or plant a mango tree in your bedroom without first having to ask your landlord. But consider all the paperwork and maintenance of owning a home. Now think of having a property that only exists in your imagination. No papers. No fixing leaks. Just luxury and fun.
Give it a try. Find a quiet corner in your rental flat, and zone out the sound of the couple upstairs arguing about how to cook pasta alla norcina and the guy downstairs watching “Jumanji” at full volume. Now, close your eyes and imagine you’re standing in the entrance of your very own mansion. Is it a townhouse in Limpertsberg? A chateau on the Moselle? A manor house near Contern? Your creativity is the limit.
In your mind, walk around your enormous home and look at the marble floors and the chandelier with the spiral staircase that seems to wrap around it. Amazing, there is a zebra in the living room. And wow, all this space! How will you ever fill all 12 bedrooms? I’m sure you’ll find a way.
Is that the doorbell ringing? It is. Your friends and colleagues are here to visit your new mind mansion. You give them a tour and take them up to the 150-square-meter attic that you’ve converted into a giant showroom for your collection of National Geographic exotic birds jigsaw puzzles. Wait, do you show them your puzzles? Maybe not. It’s admittedly a strange hobby. Do you tell them that they are figments of your imagination? It’s entirely up to you. It’s your mind.
Now open your eyes. Wasn’t that a nice afternoon? You got all of the benefits of owning a real house without any of the troubles. Next time, you can even have your friends stay a whole weekend – as long as they don’t mind sharing a house with a zebra!
So, the next time someone asks you when you’re going to take the plunge and become a Luxembourg homeowner, tell them never and invite them into the mansion of your mind. Once they see it for themselves, they’ll understand.
Gaurav S. is a long-time renter from Howald
***
Originally published by RTL Today on May 5, 2022
