Matters of Interest

Firstly, I am not trying to put myself out of business.

America, America. We have so much and we push each other for so much more. Not always in a good way.

Homeownership, of which I am a fan, has been turned into an exercise of Vanity for many. The goal is no longer to provide one adequate shelter and a hedge against inflation, but in the minds of many it is an outward display of one's success. More often it is an outward display of the success we want others to think we have, whether we actually do is another question.

So, for outward appearances, we strap ourselves into this asset that is not liquid, can (and does) lose value, and we form emotional attachments to it. We do this to the exclusion of our long term financial wellbeing and more immediate risk management (adequate emergency cash and life insurance); not to mention the ability to tithe to our church or give to those truly less fortunate than ourselves.

I believe the problem arose with the invention of the combustion engine.

This was the invention that began the era of personal mobility. Sure we had the wheel- but the engine that was small and economically feasible enough for an individual multiplied the impact of the wheel exponentially. Now we get get away. Way away. The traditional family structure's end; the disbursing of our moral and social accountability from the intimately familiar to the superficially seen.

Now we build and buy edifices to impress the hundreds of people who drive by our home and take notice. Or, they fly in for the weekend, and we pull it together long enough to entertain and showoff our success. Then Monday, it's back to the bills and trying to make ends meet.

We are an enabling society. "If I don't sell it to them, then someone else will". And yet, each individual is still accountable for their own actions, despite all the attempts to blame others.

It is a great time to buy a home. Declining values in much of the country are essentially a price rollback to the late '90's. Mortgage rates are at historical lows.

A Recession is an economic correction that can be quite useful in getting people's attention. Let's hope that gas prices approaching $4.00 per gallon can slow down our combustion engines enough to return some reason to the way we decide to spend the resources that come our way.

Personally, I believe it is a great time for a qualified buyer to work with responsible professionals to secure adequate, even comfortable, housing to hedge against inflation; while advising that buyer to have a working budget, sufficient savings, proper levels of insurance, and a long-term savings plan to assure a successful retirement.

That's just how I roll.