Sunday, January 28, 2007

why buying a house is stupid...

Got your attention? Well this is a major rant about people who think they will always make money on homes. It's about my parents. I love them dearly but sometimes they can be the dumbest people alive. Super brilliant book smart, savers, but impulsive spendthrifts.

They are moving next month, but are desperate to buy a home. Instead of looking and renting in the new city, they are impulsively trying to buy a "transition home." They think that they can buy a 1 bd condo, because it's cheap and they don't have to sell their other two homes, and if they don't like it sell it in 1 year or rent it out. My mom says she knows they will hate living in a 1 bd because of size, downsizing from a 5 bd/4500 sq ft home to a 600 sq ft/ 1 bd condo?

Can you see the stupidity of rushing to buy? They are buying because they think everyone makes money buy buying homes. They have made money on the two homes they own. However, they don't even know how long it will take to sell their other homes. They will have to take out a mortgage because they can't cash in their equity, whereas if they waited to sell they could choose to pay cash outright. A mortgage is not a bad thing, but I see it as renting whereas having cash in the bank is a different story.

They already know they won't be living there very long so why rush? I have no idea why, everytime I talk with them, they say it's their money which it is. I have lived 20 years in my family home (which my mom despises). She absolutely hated living there but couldn't move because financially it didn't make sense to sell and move. Well, here she is buying another house she's going to HATE. I have to listen to another 20 years of how she didn't get her dream house built for her, when everyone else did! Here's her chance. Of course instead they are impulsively trying to buy a condo in a sliding market.

Not only that...but they want to buy a fourth car. When does it ever stop?

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