So, here we are in what many are calling a "recession," but I don't think that is correct. This is more like a correction, IMHO. Housing values are falling everywhere, even here in the over-priced Bay Area, and of course that is a bad thing for those who signed sub-prime mortgages without reading the fine print, and therefore now face losing their property, as their monthly payments progress upwards toward a market-appropriate interest level.
Excuse me, but I don't have all that much sympathy for the "victims" of this popping bubble. Nor, do I weep for the lenders who now face all kinds of problems, given their dubious role in signing up those hoping to attain the American Dream, even when they obviously did not have the assets to yet do so. Actually, both lenders and lendees now need to share the pain. None of the rest of us need be involved.
Let's be blunt. Buying houses is both an art and a science. You've got to do some research. It's no help to fall in love with a piece of property, which many consumers do, if "buying" it will place you and your family at more risk than is reasonable, given your present and likely future circumstances.
So, what I am saying is: Please do not be overly emotional when buying a house. This is probably the biggest cause of the eventual breakups of couples, as they quarrel over such a life-changing decision. (It has been so in my own life, twice.) So much seems to be at stake as to validate Karl Marx's observations oh so long ago.
But please don't ever place your marriage or partnership on the line in the name of acquiring custody of any piece of property, because property will always change hands, whereas love, once lost, can never be reclaimed.
That, simply, is not worth that cost.
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