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R Patrick,
It sounds like your friends are getting their information from RE agents. You should point them to some good links..... I know some people do not have internet access and this is what happens:
They decide they want to own a house...... they go to a realtor. The realtor does a search based on where they want to live and how much per month they can afford.
Then, the realtor gives them a pep talk (they are good at this because they do it all the time, it's kind of like a well written form letter) about how buying a house is a long term investment and "there's no place like home"....and they will personalize this just for you like they are your friend and they're looking out for what is in your best interest....but really can you blame them....it is their job to sell....they will never say "it's not a good time to buy" because if they did, they would become very poor themselves (remember most are only paid by commisions)....so if they have to ruin someones life to survive, they will!
They will then work with a mortgage broker to see just how much blood they can suck out of you..... don't forget, the more you pay for the house, the more they make........ The motgage broker will ALWAYS say you can afford more than what you REALLY can because they make more and the RE agent will egg you on by saying....."just look what you can afford to buy"..... "Why throw away all that money on renting"? ...if they see any doubts in your expression they will shovel on more bullshit until your wearing that "confident happy buying (sucker)" smile. :)
Now they are standing there in fantasyland........ "wow...this is so exciting...we are going to be homeowners"........ What you have right here is a disaster waiting to happen! They are clueless as to what is REALLY going on in the market....The butterflys in their stomach have flown away due to the RE pep talk.....there is no stopping them! The little fear that they once had which would have stopped them from making the biggest mistake in their life has been removed due to the friendly neighborhood RE agent.
These people are hard to convince that they shouldn't buy now....but that's ok... you can't save the world. Don't forget, in order for someone to get rich another has to become poor........it's just a simple rule of nature, just like "survival of the fittest".......... some will be Darwinized! ....but that is a good thing because these people will not be around to drive the prices back up when they do fall.
I wonder how well the houses will be lit up this year on Christmas being that the energy bills will be significantly higher.
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Many of us have been here awhile, and while we think housing is an important topic (we wouldn't all gather her otherwise) we do digress quite a bit.
One topic that has come up time and time again is the issue of dual income families, and the rise in housing costs that have occured because so many familes now have two incomes instead of one.
We've discussed the role of the woman in the workplace and at home, so perhaps it's time to digress a little more.
-- Have dual incomes been a big factor in housing prices?
-- Do those of us who live on one income end up renters as a result?
--Are we better or worse off now that the majority of households have two incomes?
--Have the cost of other goods and services risen due to the extra income, or can that be blamed on inflation?
In other words, are we as a society in the same place economically as we would be if we stayed in a predominantly one income society?
#housing