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Why owning a home may no longer make economic sense??? Time Magazine Sept 6

I now know why I no longer read any newsprint nor listen to the news. Have you seen the Time Magazine Cover for September 6??? RETHINKING HOMEOWNERSHIP Why Owning a Home may no longer make Economic Sense!!! The Article starts out with "Homeownership has let us down" What kind of thinking is this?? This is the time to make a buy of a lifetime with low prices and low interest rates. Buy low, Sell high?? Right!!! Time should be telling people this is the best time to buy.

Have these people lost their minds?? Our country was built on Freedom one of which was private, not government Time Magazine Paper Boy ownership, of property. Real Estate represents one of our greatest freedoms. We are in an economic downturn, hello Time, everything is down.

Will the cover next week say "Why owning a business will no longer make economic sense?" "Why working for Yourself will no longer make economic sense?" Should we give up all our freedom, all of our incomes and all just become government dependent??? A lot of things don't make sense right now, one of which is a lot of the media having no understanding whatsoever of economic cycles and not understanding the opportunities that lie in being a contrarian!!! This is one of the best times to buy a home at these historic low prices and low interest rates. People who follow the crowd are left with that just following and never leading.

Time Magazine Cover

Oh, wait a minute, this is the same TIME Magazine that made Obama Person of the Year!!! and Now less than 2 years later they are writing articles that he is cold and arrogant!!! This too should pass!!!!

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Posted by Mary Macy - Top Agents Atlanta Metro on 09/05/2010 01:59 PM

Comments (15)

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15 Comments on Why owning a home may no longer make economic sense??? Time Magazine Sept 6

SEP

2010

Mary - AMEN! Great thoughts.

Stop paying attention to the media!!! It is one person's perception that just happens to make it into print. Only you can control what input is allowed into your brain - take control before it is too late!

It brings a new meaning to the phrase: No news is good news!

Oh the media.... Thanks for the post

What does Time know??? Bet the author of the article is a homeowner. Give the writer a call and see if they want to sell their home being "It no longer makes economic sense to be a home owner"

I don't think Time was suggesting that the government become the only landlord in America. Maybe I misunderstood your comment about government ownership of property.

Fact is that it may not make economic sense to own a home. If you use the same numbers we are accustomed to repeating, the average home owner moves every seven years. If you are an average home owner, it may make economic sense that your next home belong to a landlord. That said, it never makes economic sense to own a new car.

We don't buy homes or new cars just because they make economic sense. We own a home because it makes our lives better. We own stock and investment property if it makes economic sense. We own a home because it enhances every facet of our quality of life.

Time was probably right, but only partly right.

Ilona - When will the press get it right, huh?

Krista and Susan, you are right, no news is good news

Doug - You are right, they probably own their home

E J - I thought the rule was to buy low and sell high. When it did not make sense to buy was 2006. That was the height of the market. We are at new lows in interest rates and prices. What makes sense is to buy when it is low, Time magazine should be telling people this is the time to make a buy of a lifetime on your biggest investment your home. My comment about government ownership has to do with the government now taking over ownership through bank shutdowns and foreclosures through FNMA and Freddie. If ownership does not make sense for homeowners, and you follow Time Magazines thought line, why would it make sense for investors. Who is going to be the landlord if ownership of private property makes no sense??? Who will be left to own, private or government??? Think about it!!!

Mary, I have thought about it and my still think my comments are sound. As I said, if you are going to live in your home for seven years like we have been told is average, acquisition and selling costs will make it extremely expensive compared to renting. That is economic reality. Investment property is purchased for a completely different set of reasons than owner occupied residential property. This may be a good time to purchase income property, but the Time piece compared owning to renting, didn't it?

I have to sit here and wonder why this article now. This might have been useful a few years ago when prices were high and most sane people were concerned about the eventual "what goes up, must come down."

I'll try not to let the cynic in me run amok. There are always going to be some people who are not ready to be homeowners YET. That does not mean that it should not be a goal. They may need more time to save and get acclimated with the responsibilities, but in the long run once they do this, homeownership is usually a better scenario than renting.

Prices AND interest rates are now so low that homeownership is a more real possibility now for many than it has been in a long time. People who are able to can take advantage of this and be in a much better position once the prices start to climb again.

Mary: Hope this makes it as a Feature. I'd say let's just ignore Time Magazine and move along, nicely. The problem with that is most people will grab the Headline and either not read the full article, or they simply won't put it into such in-depth reasoning. Then, we'll all be hearing that the almighty, all-knowing Time Magazine has some secret, inside information.

So, as for me -- you won't see me buying that magazine, nor supporting any of their other endeavors!

E.J. - Hey, that is the great thing about AR, we are all allowed our own opinion. I think it is a great time to buy period, when will buyers get these interest rates again whether they are an owner or investor?? Renters get no tax break. Don't you think the market will go up again at some point??

Thanks Kristen - People who wait for the Perfect Market will be buying higher and paying higher interest rates.

The media are really sheep hurders trying to heard the masses to think and believe how they want them to. It is ridiculous!

Mary, there are a lot of things that don't make sense these days! And I think it's hard to get people to excited about owning a home when they are concerned about jobs and the overall economy. At times like this, it's hard to remember that what goes down eventually goes up.

Thanks Patricia, I also truly believe that Jobs are the problem, this would be a much better topic for everyone to focus on. We have our work cut out for us.

SEP

2010

I saw the article this weekend and bought the magazine myself. What I wanted to see people talk about is the non-financial reasons that people want to own their own homes. Pride of Ownership, no mortgage to worry about later in life, life without dealing with a landlord, customization of your home, etc. are all great reasons to want to own rather than rent. What happened in the last several years was that people didn't take into consideration the true costs of homeownership and many of them took on more home than they could afford. Now in this economic downturn, those individuals are losing their homes. If they didn't have any equity going into their homes (i.e. down payments) during the boom years, they certainly don't have equity now or in the foreseeable future. Thanks for your post Mary.

FEB

I am sick of hearing what a great time to buy, This is true for a very small percentage of people. Most people have to sell to buy and selling is the problem, Most of us unless your are a first time buyer or cash rich are frozen. Yes you can sell for less and take advantage of buying at lower prices if you stay in the same market, But if you want to move to a better market or state or you will sell low buy high! Mike

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Mary Macy - Top Agents Atlanta Metro

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