We were fortunate to have all our children and their significant others home over the Labor Day weekend. It’s always a treat – catching up, watching Mr. Durango cook bountiful and delicious meals, drinking home brew brought by Patrick, our son-in-law. And since everyone is well-informed, well-read and eventually well-hydrated (see “home brew” reference above) conversations on timely issues usually ensue.
This past weekend, Patrick read through a Time magazine laying around and then asked if I had read the cover article, “Rethinking Homeownership“. I hadn’t yet. But this lead to a discussion of how the recent ‘unpleasantness’ has perhaps changed people’s perceptions on whether owning their own home makes sense.
My position is that things haven’t changed in respect to that question. Owning a home is a strong, deep-seated goal for many. It’s a terrible idea for some. The only thing that changed over the last 3 years or so was that many people who had never considered buying a home because in their hearts they knew they couldn’t afford it had a bunch of seemingly free money shoved at them.
Not everyone should own a home. Or be married. Or have a pet. This has always been the case. And it has also always been that there are marriages that end badly, rotten parents raising messed up kids and shelters full of animals that looked cute but proved too much to handle day in and day out. And it’s always been the case that some folks lost their houses to foreclosure.
The article in Time makes some weird connections – leaps, if you will – about how homeownership has driven the country into a ditch:
In the bubble years, lending standards slipped dramatically, allowing many Americans to put far too much of their income into paying for their housing. And we ignored longer-term phenomena too. Homeownership contributed to the hollowing out of cities and kept renters out of the best neighborhoods. It fed America’s overuse of energy and oil. It made it more difficult for those who had lost a job to find another. Perhaps worst of all, it helped us become casually self-deceiving: by telling ourselves that homeownership was a pathway to wealth and stable communities and better test scores, we avoided dealing with these formidable issues head-on.
Huh?
The first sentence from this excerpt I buy. The rest? Not so much.
Not sure how the increase in homeownership hollowed out cities. And why would renters be kept out of the best neighborhoods, whatever “best” is supposed to mean. Were these so-called best neighborhoods populated by tenants before 5 years ago?
Homeownership increased our use of energy and oil? You mean, homeowners drive more and take longer hot showers than renters?
Test scores? Really?? As a real estate agent I don’t recall ever counseling a prospective buyer that if they owned a home, their kids would test better. Let’s face it, there are some dumb as dirt kids in homes where mortgages are paid rather than rents.
Patrick, being a reliable devils advocate whenever we debate a topic, made the case that when people own their homes and the job market drops through the floor, it’s harder for that person to move to wherever the jobs may be. Technically, perhaps so. But let’s take that to the far end of the spectrum. Migrant workers, by definition, go where the job are. Shall we advocate that these hard-working folks are setting the standard for how communities are built? And I would bet a bottle of Patrick’s India Red Ale that many of those workers would dearly love to put down roots and – dare I write it? – buy a home.
No, when people can’t find work, that’s a jobs issue. Not a homeownership issue.
And at the other end of the spectrum, would if be better if property was owned by an ever shrinking pool of people? Let’s face it, someone is going to own the place you live. We all are paying mortgages. Some of us are just doing for someone else’s benefit.
Except of course, those who actually pay off their mortgages. And, yes, there are those who do so.
No, Time, you blew it with this one. Saying homeownership caused the issues in our economy is wrong. Rotten, greedy, no-oversight-in-sight lending caused it by opening a previously, correctly, shut door to people who were not in a position to handle the situation. It’s like saying that if we allowed anyone who wanted to drive the ladder trucks through the streets, wrecking everything in their path, would be justification for doing away with fire department. Minimum standards exist for a reason.
There used to be pretty strict guidelines in place for lending. There are again. And the same people who should be buying their own home are able to. Those who shouldn’t…. well, there are homes available in some of the best neighborhoods for rent these days.
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The thoughts & opinions are mine. The quips that fall flat are someone else’s. Please feel free to shoot me an email with a question or a good joke.
And remember, real estate agents aren’t bad. We’re just drawn that way.
