I spent November debating the pro’s/con’s of buying a home now in the Bay Area. We hired a Realtor just in anticipation of beginning to view homes.
Then my head cleared, and this simple truth came to me:
It is STUPID to think, even for a second, of buying a home NOW, given economic data indicates a real possibility we are heading straight into an economic depression of once-in-a-lifetime proportions.
Note I didn’t write “an economic depression is probable” but the mere possibility of such a once-in-century economic depression means you must take drastic measures to prepare.
Fully realize THAT possibility is before us, and you’ll realize your prudent move is to prepare the worst, batten down the hatches. The one-in-lifetime economic storm is bearing down.
To fully understand that is to realize that a home bought today could possibly fall FIFTY percent over the next couple years…and you’ll want to assume you’ll be out of a job for several years. We could have deflation for twelve straight months. The stock market could crash another 50% lower. Who knows! This is relatively uncharted territory and so your primary family goal is to merely SURVIVE this economic tsunami with food on your table, and a (rented) roof over your head!
Let me tell you, you start by calculating IF your family can live for TWO YEARS on savings and unemployment assuming one or both parents lose their jobs. And you keep running similar worst-case scenarios and evaluating your preparation, and you take needed and drastic steps
