Reading Chris’s post of late have brought me back to something that was a strong position I hold personally that I’ve lost touch with a little. Houses are for living and enjoying. They are not and should not be financial instruments. I figured that of anyone here, he would be the one to time the bottom. But he’s much wiser than I would have thought. He found exactly what he wanted, at a price he could afford and I’ll bet he’s enjoying the heck out of his life these days.
There is a great irony on this board to me. Many of you are genuinely pissed off that people viewed homes as financial instruments and drove the prices up through speculation. However, when you look at housing all you want to focus on is the price and buying at the bottom.
I’m not advocating everyone to buy right now but the real decision point should be can I afford it, do I love it, is this the place I can reside for the next 10+ years and yes, is the price reasonable by some metric. There is way too much focus on the last point around here IMO. I have clients looking right now and I can tell you definitively what is out for sale right now are not dream homes. They are the ugly red headed step children for the most part.
