“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. ”
Is that another way of suggesting Rich should change the nature of this forum away from that of being the econo-almanac? Should we not still consider the current pricing structure to be horribly overpriced in relation to all reasonable measures of value?
It seems to me that this forum has thrived precisely because it represents to many of us a haven from the rampant emotionalism that contributed to these excesses. There are plenty of websites that promote the joys of owning home and hearth, but only a few that put that sentiment on the (way) back burner.
There’s nothing wrong with a person who decides they need those benefits more than they need the money, but there is a problem with people who want to have it both ways – they want to make the “wrong” choice from the financial perspective and at the same time be called financially wise for doing it. Pick one, pick the other, we really don’t care; just don’t try and have it both ways because that doesn’t work here.
FTR, I’m holding rather than selling, and from an occupational standpoint I make more money when lots of people are buying RE. It’s in my personal interests for everyone to think that now is a great time to buy real estate. However, I don’t allow my personal priorities to interfere with my rational thinking or my professional work. That’s how you can tell that while I do have problems, having a significant amount of confirmation bias isn’t one of them.