“I read an article several years ago about a liberal couple in DC who got in a hole because they were too good to own a starter home and wanted “the home they deserve.””
When our family moved to California in 1992, the housing prices were seemingly astronomical. Small houses with a carport in San Jose were selling for $450k. We took the friendly advice of an executive of the company which transferred us here, which was to buy a house with which we could live for a long time. He said he had seen too many families buy an unsatisfactory “starter” home, only to get stuck with it. (I think the “stuck with it” situation came from making shortsighted decisions with their disposable income which precluded realistically buying a better home.) Anyway, he advised us to tighten our belts temporarily, buy a decent home and wait for the inevitable raises to come for the “extras”.
We went with that. We bought a new home for $245k in a decent exurban neighborhood near schools for our kids and with a great athletic program in the city. We didn’t install a pool. We had hand-me-down furnishings. We didn’t take fabulous vacations. We bided our time and bought only when we could do so with cash. We were never even tempted to tap our equity. We are still in that home and my husband still works for the same company and we are both as secure as you can be in these uncertain times in both home and jobs. Yes, I realize we were/are extremely lucky in many ways, and I don’t discount that blessing.
All of this is to say you can have a decent home if you are willing to make sacrifices in other areas of your life. We did. A lot of people make different choices and I don’t contend our choice was the right one for everyone. It worked for us. What is clear is that people starting out can’t usually have everything they want. In fact, rarely can we have everything we want at any point in our lives (at least until age limits our wants substantially). We face choices and tradeoffs all our lives and we learn by making those tradeoffs over and over and over, learning lessons along the way, unless the nanny parents or government steps in and stops that learning process as has happened here. Those who were bailed out, or who will walk away from their bad choices with little consequence will learn nothing and make the same mistake again.
Some kids are burdened with helicopter parents. Our nation is burdened with a helicopter government.
You did it the smart way. I reached for my first house too and it paid off. This liberal couple bought way too much home and kept their dog walkers, club memberships, European sedans, etc. And then complained that were struggling financially.
Great words!
I think we have made the same point: if long-term home ownership is important to you, there are things you will do to own that home. If it's not, you won't do these things, and the government certainly shouldn't be in there encouraging you to do something that will probably end up badly for you - not to mention skewing the entire market.