Asiannautica and SDRealtor- Yeah it’s obvious that you can’t eliminate all risk from anything you do in life and that is a given in any purchase/investment.
My cautionary post wasn’t meant to cause fear and in most any other period over the last 70-80 years wouldn’t be as relevant.
Over that time period fundamental price appreciation and fundamentals of borrowing and buying were in place (20% down, 36% DTI, etc.) In the past periods of decline you would never see more than a 15% price decline in given decade and regardless people had the equity to get out and at least break even in most cases.
Times and climates have changed and now with houses as depreciating assets these cautionary notes are 10x more important to consider when buying. It used to be you lost some or all of your 20% down payment if you had a short time of homeownership when forced to sell. Under today’s lending/economic circumstances and massive depreciation in housing the same person in a short time of ownership situation could very well become illiquid.
Times have changed quite a bit and the 5 situations of caution I gave mean a lot more today than they ever have as people in these situations could lose a lot more than just a house.
Still if you find your dream home have a long ownership horizon and these possible realities aren’t likely to affect you then why wouldn’t you buy it?
As for the “Life is short” argument… that’s the kind of mentality that got the bulk of this country into the mess it’s currently in. People buying cars, houses, trips and toys they didn’t need and couldn’t really afford and one small slip in the job market and families are toast. Never make a “life is short” argument for buying anything unless you are paying all cash.
