All indicators show that Now is a bad time to buy a new house

June 28, 2007

 I own a condo, but have been thinking about upgrading it for a while. I’d like to give my kids a yard so they can run, have a place where my family can visit us (without spending half an hour looking for a parking spot) and also a place where I don’t have to alert my neighbors every time I shut the building’s water off for some repairs.

 Here’s another article telling us that this is not a good time to buy a house. House sales are slowing down, prices are dropping and increased inventory - pretty much what every article out there says. But this article also touches on the psychological factor that Americans are raised with the idea that you only become an adult after you buy your own house. That’s what your parents, your spouse and your uncle Rico keep telling you. That’s what their parents and their uncles told them and that’s what they’re telling us now. We have all been brainwashed with this concept and thus there’s a pressure for us to own a house.

 I remember my mom pressuring me to buy a house just a few years after I graduated. It does feel good to own a house and not pay for rent, but I purchased this home under pressure without thinking thoroughly about the true cost of ownership.

 Five years later, I don’t have that first-time-home-owner pressure anymore. But the pressure’s still on. The pressure to upgrade, to step up, to be able to buy a house with a yard for my kids. The problem is that the time is wrong and I have to deal with this pressure better than I did 5 years ago.

All indicators show that we are in the middle of a downturn. Anyone who says differently is either deluded, in the industry, or your Uncle Rico.

 The only ones that think you should jump in this market, besides your brainwashed relatives, are lenders and real estate agents (people that gain nothing if you rent).

 I’ll have to wait a bit more before I start looking into buying a new house again and make sure I don’t pressure my kids the way I was pressured. Sorry kids!

Posted in Finances, Lifestyle, Real State