I love my Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) shares. There, I’ve said it. Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a wild, stormy, amorous love. I’m not head over heels. But things have gone swimmingly since I committed to them last year.

Sometimes a stock just clicks. That was the case with the Taylor Wimpey share price. The more I examined it last year, the better it looked.

The shares seemed great value when I swooped, trading at around six times earnings. That was way below the average FTSE 100 valuation, which was closer to 15 times. I felt that gave them bags of growth potential, once the market mood picked up.

I heart Taylor Wimpey

They also offered a dizzying forecast yield of more than 7% a year. I simply couldn’t resist and bought Taylor Wimpey shares not once but twice in September last year, and once again in October.

Taylor Wimpey seemed the reliable type. The board clearly states that it will pay a dividend “throughout all stages of the housing cycle”. It aims to return around 7.5% of net assets to shareholders annually. I’m hoping to receive dividends through better and worse, in sickness and in health, and all that.

And that’s not all. Taylor Wimpey may also make “additional significant surplus cash returns to be made at appropriate times in the cycle”.

I invested £4,000 in total (wish I’d bought more!) and received my first dividend of £80 last November and another £158 in May. Naturally, I reinvested both straight back into Taylor Wimpey shares. No playing away here.

My next dividend is due on 15 November. I’ll get 4.8p for each share. Since I hold 3,425, it’ll be worth another £165. I do have one concern, though. The forecast yield remains attractive at 5.7% but earnings cover is down to 0.9. I hope that won’t be an issue as a earnings pick up, but there are no guarantees.

A long-term FTSE 100 relationship

The Taylor Wimpey share price has had a solid year, climbing 36.49% against an average return of 9.57% on the index as a whole.

My original £4k is now worth £5,619. That’s a total return of more than 40% in roughly a year.

When I buy FTSE 100 shares, I’m not after a quick fling. I aim to stand by them for years, decades, possibly even for life.

I know there will be ups and downs. Taylor Wimpey shares aren’t as cheap as when I bought them, now trading at 16.59 times earnings. This suggests growth may slow. That’s fine. I can’t expect another 40% total return over next year.

I suspect Labour’s planned housebuilding splurge may fall short, which could hit optimism in the sector. If the economy stutters, inflation proves sticky, and interest rate cuts slow, Taylor Wimpey could go through a rough patch. Every relationship does.

Yet I reckon this one could last the course. Crucially, Taylor Wimpey gives me the wow factor every successful, long-term relationship needs. A solid balance sheet. Love it.