I am single, but my b/f moved in with me about 5 years ago.
I owned my own home prior to him moving in.
#1. REASON FOR OWNING MY OWN PLACE
I am an animal LOVER and when I first got single 10+ years ago I knew no one would rent to me with a horse, three dogs (2 lg and one small), 2 birds, fish. They were my family and I was NOT going to get rid of them.
But...as others have said -
I decorate as I want.. I paint as I want.. I do WHAT I want in the yards. I can have a party and make noise...lol
I did simplify my front yard. There is no lawn out there. It's just bark...and flowers. At times I got tired of mowing my back yard, but since my b/f moved in he took that over. PRIOR to him moving over here I would barter out some repair things. I looked at mowing as my exercise..lol
I have multiple male friends (coworkers) that were not boyfriends...just buddies. I would offer to help them paint or babysit their pets when they went out of town etc IF they would come over and fix this or that for me. It worked very well.
I don't think I'd EVER RENT. If I decide to downsize I'd go for a condo but one that didn't have ANAL CC&R's ("Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions"). There are a couple retirement communities here with decent sized places where they do all the exterior maintenance (and you can still have a dog)...but dang.. I've lived out of town for a long time and not sure I'd want someone THAT close to me.
It's looking like I'll be one of those folks who works until they are 70...so if that really happens I may go for a place where someone else does the outer maintenance, but hopefully that's not for a long time. I'm 59.
Good Luck...