The Sky Is Falling...Should I Buy a House?

Enter the real estate market in 2008. Things are crazy. The subprime fall out helped propel us into a violent spin cycle. The inventory rates hit an all time high. Now the credit crunch threatens to wipe out the available money supply. It's a brave new world!

For the past few years, real estate has been bathed in a white hot spotlight. It made sense, since the market was burning white hot. Open up any magazine or read any news site and you were bound to read about the wonders of real estate investing. Late night TV showed us all how to "get rich...with no money down!" Real estate was definitely the happening thing.

Everyone from savvy real estate investors to first time buyers could quote you their local appreciation rates. They could tell you the current rate for a 5/1 ARM vs a 30/yr Fixed. We all understood how owning a home would help us keep more of our hard-earned money through tax savings. And guess what, it was all true.

However, it's time to forget everything we learned. Or, more accurately, it's time to remember what we forgot. Lost in all the financial thinking and justifications for buying real estate was the personal reasons people buy homes. It's not all about appreciation rates and being able to refi into a HELOC. Those aren't the reasons we buy homes. They're simply financial benefits of doing so.

No, we buy homes, or at least we used to, for personal reasons. We buy homes because we've always wanted to raise our family in our home town. We buy homes because our employer transferred us to Portland, OR. We buy homes so we can paint the walls bright orange. We buy homes so we can stop paying rent to some nameless, faceless landlord. We buy homes for security and comfort. We buy homes because our family grew. We buy homes because of divorce. We buy homes because we sent our kids off to college. We buy homes because we retired. We buy homes to be home owners.

Listen, there are some very sound financial reasons to buy real estate. But there are other reasons, too.

When is a good time to buy a home? Whenever it's the right time for YOU!