Why NonGC Holders Buy Houses? -Slumdog

[Slumdog]

I wrote this keeping in mind to all people who bought houses by Mid 2008 or before

Based on comments I read on previous blog I have written “Pace of mind – do you have?” made me write this post on why Non GC holders buy houses in USA. I want to point out & clarify certain things on why & for what reasons people (Again NON GC Holders) buy houses. Below are some of categories of people who buy houses & here is why. I also pointed out “ Why Non GC Holders DONOT want to buy houses” Read through & decide which category you belong to.

Category 1 : Equity

Though I do not have any data to prove my statistics I believe there are few percentage of people who buy houses only to gain Equity. These people do not care about quality of life style. They only want to target good neighborhoods or places which have good market Value & read market trends on house equity for several years. These are most of people who went with Adjustable interest back in housing market boom even though they could not afford. Their intention was only to gain profit from Equity & make some fast money. I sincerely believe most of them haven’t even cared for their Children’s career or interests. Their motto was “Buy a house now gain equity in few years before the adjustable rate ends & move on”. They do not want to think how this is going to affect their children’s life style as they have to move to new neighborhood & make new friends & get adjusted to life. I personally have known several of my friends who fall under this category & I also believe these are some of people who are partially responsible (I am saying partially because I believe Banks are the main culprits & not the individuals) for current economic crisis. A lot can be said about this category but it’s not worth my energy typing.

Categrory 2 : Affordability, Stability, Quality of life

My gut feeling says that atleast 80% or more non GC holders who bought houses fall into this category. These are people who are smart; make wise decisions, Calculate their risks before they buy the house. These are the people who do not just go & buy houses because they want it. They first look at their affordability; they even go to extent of calculating what if one of spouse looses Job & if they can still make payments. They calculate every expense & then they make a move. This is where down payment dilemma comes into picture for most. For some they go to extra mile in putting large chunk of their savings in as down payment, not because they are desperate of buying a house. Because they want to lead a good quality life style. At the same time they like everyone else they cannot predict that market will tumble in near future & that they may loose their down payments. Some choose to take this risk of paying huge chunk because they have other things in their mind. That’s is they are thinking of childrens career, stability in their life, good neighbourhood & also have to come to decision on what place / neighbourhood they want to call home going forward. That’s is one of the reason you see lot of family who has children & who are gonna have children very soon make this decision & also who are sure they are going to be able to find job in same city & not relocate incase of job lost. They also think of backup plans incase of immigration problems. These are people who are already here for several years & then decide that it is time. I believe these catergory people are victims of current market situation & somehow there is a notion out there the people who bought houses ( non GC holders ) are actually culprits of current housing market. I sincerely believe that these category people are not culprits but in fact victims of greedy bankers & some individuals who fall under category1. All these people were doing was trying to live a good quality life style for them & their family.Again I also believe these are the same smart group of people who have waited or on hold of buying a house since Mid2008 & later because of current crisis.

Remember the Quality of life style is the most important factor to be considered here. For some they get a good quality of life style in rented communities & for some in buying a house in good community. It very much depends on individual decision & quality of life style they choose to live & be able to take some calculated risks.

PS: I have seen lot of outrage & anger among the people (Non GC Holders) who bought houses . While I understand the reason behind it & I am really surprised that these category people who were just trying to lead a good life did not come to their defense when lot of people on forums blasting on why people buy houses without a GC?


Category 3 : Stupidity

Not many people but these people have no plans or action plans. They just go & buy because all of their friends are buying. They do not do any research or think about future consequences. They just want to go with flow. Actually the name of category says a lot. Do I need to say more?


Why NON GC holders DONOT want to buy houses ?


Category 1: Undecided & Playing safe

These are people who want to play Safe. Fair enough!! But at the same time I want to say that they should not assume that they are no more intelligent or smarter than people who bought houses. They just want to be playing safe until they make sure that they have some kind of assurances / stability in their life. In this case Green Card. I agree with all the points these categories people make but they have to realize that most the people who bought houses have passed this Category & have come to a decision because they already lost valuable time in their part of life. It’s easy to play safe when you are in 20’s but my question is for how long & at what price? Does any know when & if they will get their actually green cards? There are some who has the time & energy who can play safe but not many people has that quality time in their life to keep playing safe. Most of them are here 8 years or more & still waiting & they are already in Mid 30’s. Yes these people will certainly wait if the govt says that you will get green in so & so year. If you look back if a family who immigrated in 2000 with a 5 year old kid almost killed their children’s career because we still haven’t come to conclusion where to settle. Satyam Employees who lost/loosing a job didn’t need a GC but so many are in the verge of loosing their homes. It’s the market conditions which is leading into these discussions. I have never heard people talking about this topic when the housing market was booming.
Just as people who bought houses respect your decision, you should also respect them on decisions they make because they chose to live a life which might be different than yours but most of them put their family first when they make these decisions & not for any material benefits.

One also has to understand that the people who bought the houses were in this category for a long time before they decided to buy a house.

Category 2: Money Money Money
These people do not want to buy houses not because they cannot afford or they want to play safe. They just don’t want to spend. All they care is Saving, Saving, saving their entire life & keep filling their bank balances. Often strangely both couples are working. These are people who want to live in cheapest rent (even with double income) in single bedroom & they don’t mind children sleeping in their bed room. They don’t mind sending their children to low grade schools. They don’t mind their in-Laws or parents when they visit sleeping in living room on the floor. Their intention to come into this country is only for earning money & because they don’t have high ambitions & all they care is saving & not spending, they just think of saving in all possible ways. They call themselves rich because of bank balances but in my view they are poor than most of homeless guys who live out streets.

Category 3: Unaffordable

They simply cannot afford due to multiple reasons like single Income, financial obligations etc.

Continuation..... Next Page...

[Slumdog]

Coming to point, in my previous blog “Peace of mind – Do you have?” the whole purpose of writing that story detailing every minute & every hour is I want people to come out of comfort zone & see the reality. There are lot of people who live in comfort zone & when I say comfort zone all they care is they have a job, paying bills on time, enjoying weekends with family, vacation etc. I want them to come out of this comfort zone & see the reality out there & that is the reason I tried my best to put out my story in detail so I want people to imagine in my shoes for 1 min & think of what they would be doing if they have to face this situation tomorrow so they can better prioritize & plan accordingly. I have written this “Peace of mind topic” keeping in mind for both who bought houses & also those who did not buy house because not having a house will not put anyone in comfortable position when a job is lost.

I was under assumption after I finished & posted my article that people will take my experience & take a quick look at their priorities & be prepared but instead I have seen some comments like “bullshitting, Bollywood Melodrama, Cribbing, loan defaulter’s, fools, pretent to be shell shocked, overly optimistic etc but I failed to understand that how these comments are going help others ( I know your intentions were good ) instead my whole point of writing has become useless because some wants to target only the original poster & neglecting the actual content. To clarify few things let me explain on some serious concerns raised by others on why I bought a house in first place & as I said in this article this belongs to people who bought houses by mid 2008 & before. My simple answer would be “good quality of life” & I know that this wont suffice you & it might lead to another negative debate. So let me explain in detail.

I have been in this country Since 2000 & I have seen & survived previous recession so I know what it’s like. I was also present in NY city when 9/11 happened & I have to go through what every asian looking went through those tough period & believe me it was not easy. I also survived NY Blackout spending the whole night at port autority. The reason I am saying all this I am not a new comer to this country & I have seen both good times & worst so I know deep inside that whatever decisions I take I am not just taking for sake of it & neither did I buy house as soon as I came so I can gain equity. Now after all this 8 years & moving two Jobs & shifted to California in 2005 on a full time job my priority date is still now 2007 EB3 after so many years. When I shifted to California in 2005 on fulltime job I would have bought a house but I didn’t because of several reasons like many of you 1) i was not able to afford 2) My wife moved to H4(worked on H1 in NY) at that time. It is only after my wife got EAD in july fiasco & after she got a Job we started looking for house in beginning of 2008. My H1 was approved & stamped on January 2008 & I know for sure that I will be in this country for next years & we also have a EAD . Now that we have Dual Income & market has come down slow low & no one can predict when it will reach bottom we started looking for bargain foreclosures houses.

The only reason we want to buy a affordable house is to give a good quality of Life, stability & good neighbourhood for my daughter ( actually born in September ). So here you have two options either you choose to be in rented place & pay almost same amount in good neighborhoods for what you pay in mortage or you start looking for a house for affordable house & mortgage in good neighbourhood. I chose the later as the only downside is I have to pay that 10-15% downpayment & I was willing to take the risk as I knew I am here for sometime. Now for the current 30 yr fixed mortage payment is only 300$ more than what I used to pay for rent. Little did anyone know during early January that major financial companies will file for bankruptcy. It is only in late 2008 when Lehman failed & the actual crash started to happen & market collapsed which lead into recession.

So imagine even if I did not buy a house & had that down payment with me, the fact that loosing a job will not put me into comfortable position even if I had a GC. The least it would help is pay bills for few months without a job & I am sure all those people who did not buy houses didn’t plan to live on their savings until market gets back. I also mentioned in previous article “is it easy to leave everything behind? Yes if you want & No if you want to fight” & I said No, I want to fight. I mentioned that I did have some reserves & I have many backup plans even incase of worst scenario. I was merely pointing out that it was one of my worry but I did not mention anywhere that I am bankrupt. Also since my wife was on EAD now we were confident that atleast one of us will find Job sooner than later

So the notion that people who bought houses without a GC are dumb, fools, morons & all other filthy language against these people should change. As every individual is different & everyone has their own priorities & life style they chose to Live. Also people who came here ( highly skilled ) know what they are doing & some take calculate risks & some chose to lead simple life. No one should dictate others life on how they should live their life. Again I read somewhere interesting that there is very thin line between stupidity & guts & ultimately it is the person who take decisions will have to face the consequences (good or bad). So guys’ buying a house is not choosing happiness for material things, at least not for me. You need not associate all the people who bought a house are trying to live American dream at whatever cost.

So guys/gals I sincerely believe that you did nothing wrong & should not be ashamed if you have bought a house because that is the quality of life you chose to live. The worst anything could happen is you will sell all this & go back to your country but not empty handed. You will go back with your assets ( lovely wife, children & skills you gained ) & these assets will help you shine wherever you are. You can also proudly tell your children & grand children that you never had to live pathetic life in America & you have always lived American dream in America.

I will end this by telling a very short story.

Back in 2002 one of my colleagues daughter who was 10 yrs at that time immigrated to USA. After living for few days one day she asked her mother “Mama have we become poor” The reason the girl was asking was back in home country in their village they used to live in big bungalow with 4 bedrooms, big backyard, two cars, so many friends, maids etc” but when she came here she was living in Single bedroom, No backyard, No Car at that time & no friends sadly. The answer to her daughter question can be given in two ways, 1) no baby we are richer than before as we now have more bank balance or 2) give her a good quality life style which you can afford & that means nice community, friends, decent house etc what ever makes you & your family happy. ( it is also possible in rented community ) but again that’s what I meant by choosing their own lifestyle.


Finally I did not buy a house because of material benefit, ego, equity etc. Home Owners should be ashamed if they don’t have proper justification on why they bought the house in first place & I know deep in my heart that I did nothing wrong & I am still & always be happy as long as I am in my own house.

Thank You ……. Slumdog

[gcisadawg]

dude,

I believe you have poured your heart out there! Wonderful job! I believe most of the sane members here totally respect your decision to buy a home without GC.

Having said that, although your description of half-a-day's work gave me goosebumps, I'm not too carried away. If it happens, it happens! I'd go back to my home country with the fond memory of 10 years of life here! As you said, we wont go back empty handed. Came to US with just $200 in the pocket!

Relax and enjoy your home,
GCisaDawg

[crazyghoda]

Wow! That was one fantastic blog post. Kudos to you Slumdog!!

As I mentioned on your previous thread too, I got laid off while on vacation in India, I have a mortgage and my wife is pregnant. And I bought my house long before I even started my GC process. Do I regret it? Absolutely not!

I live in an amazing high rise condo with fantastic views, I pretty much walk to everywhere even though I do own a car and live a pretty nice life. Despite that, I have decent savings. Would I have had more savings if I didnt have this condo? Sure, no doubt. But I didnt move to the US of A to live like a bhangi. I came here to live a life I couldnt possibly have back in India (and mind you I had a very good life back home too). Last year I learnt sailing and its a pretty expensive sport, but where else will you be able to sail if not here. This year I had planned to learn skiing, but given the fact that I am now laid off, maybe next year. I fully intend to fight too. If it means I take a substantial paycut, I will. If it means I need to do work that I used to do 4 years ago, fine. You gotta roll with the punches bro.

I am just grateful that the July fiasco happened and I have an EAD. I am grateful my wife still has a job. And above all I am grateful that I will soon be a father. Like my parents I fully intend to give my kid the best that I can afford. If s/he wants to goto Harvard, s/he will. I dont want my kid ever growing up believing that something is not possible. That is one thing I have learned from this November's election. This country's ability to embrace change is phenomenal and the generosity of its people is amazing.

I remember on 9/11, my manager came up to me and gave me a letter on the company's letterhead that stated that I was working there and he can be called on to vouch for my character at anytime. Rather naively, I asked him why I needed this and he said, "Keep it. I hope you never do, but just in case." I never forgot that gesture.

[saggi13]

Slumdog, ANOTHER GOOD POST. just my good 2 cents to add for readers...

I posted my experience of last 9 months on your peace of mind blog, and i agree with you on all accounts (on both blogs). But what resonates from your post is, how people could/will/would/shall/should perceive and think....it is the perception of life that is becoming scarier than the life itself.

What rings my mind is, why is being happy all the time so hard? Or, is it again the perception of what should be done to be happy - anyways, below is what stuck my mind after reading yours...

Ultimately at the end and very basis we are human beings and we are allowed to commit mistakes. Each person/individual will have to decide what "mistake", "risk", "issue", "reality" is. For some its thinking through the heart and for some its thinking through the brain. If its heart then its risky and if its mind, its calculated. There are instances when both heart & mind have been right, and also where both have been wrong.

Folks, keep your head high. You have lived so far and will in the future. Dont let a right fly you away and a mistake drop you. It is hard to live a life as-is, and with aspirations dont make it harder. Dream but dont hope.

At least try to be happy, and pray for all the needy and help as much as you can.

[nixstor]

Slumdog,

You have really taken pains to put this in such an articulated fashion. Even though I do not feel great right now, I cannot stop dropping my 2 cents here.

While we know that all NON GC Holders will stop buying houses for the correct reasons I want to underscore some subtle reasons that influenced this buying spree. It is not my intention to put any one on pedestal. I am just writing what I observed. Not intended at any one in person.

Greed and lack of understanding

Want to make easy money. People think that Real estate value does not fall, just like in the places where they come from, where property has two values, Market value and government value with a huge differential. In the US, the county property assessments are purely based on market value. So thinking that the gains are not going to evaporate is lack of understanding of the system coupled with greed.


Do I/We really need a house?

Not many of the troubled home owners might have asked this Q. Had if they asked this Q, things would have been a lot better. The discussion of buying vs renting was almost gone. Every one held the opinion that buying trumps renting.


Save money on Taxes

This IMO, is the biggest myth. One needs to keep changing the house every 5 years to have the itemized deduction more than the standard deduction.B T W, If you live in one of the states that do not have state tax, your itemized deduction might not be so big that you will really benefit a lot every year. Hey! It does not matter where you are paying. Either you pay your taxes to uncle sam directly so that the govt can run fine or buy a home and contribute to the economy. In the end Govt gets the money. Biggest lie propagated by Realtors. Look at the amortization tables of your mortgage to find out.


Bad Realtor

Giving cash back to the buyers and trying to sell every damn home. When I buy a home, I will refuse to take the money from the Realtor off the bat. I will make him/her work and find the right home I want and would not just buy a home in a day. Easy money for the Realtor and a bad home with a bad loan for buyers. There are people who went out on the weekend and signed a home and told me at work on Monday.


DINKS So we are good

DINKS=Double income no kids. So what? That is now. what about six months from now? Are there going to be any life changing events? We cant predict every thing but it is NOT difficult to forecast whether a family is going to have a kid or not and what kind of financial implications will such events have?

Peer pressure

Lets take fictitious families R & S living in the same rented community with similar back ground. Mr and Mrs R decide to buy a home and they buy one. Mr S does not think it is right for them to do so. How ever, Mrs S pressures Mr S into doing so. Believe me this happens all the time.

Down payment

There is a reason why 20% down payment was a norm in the mortgage industry for a long time. 20% down payment keeps PMI and the high interest rates on your secondary loan away. I know people who are burned because of PMI and interest rate on second loan. Such down payment will keep the monthly EMI affordable and leaves out gimmicks.

I can understand taking a second loan on the 10% down payment, but people were let go with 0% down payment leaving them with a bad loan and a bad home. Some people bought the home they wanted, but the price was too high. Thats all they are left with.

As President O said, we collectively failed to take difficult and correct decisions even though the greed and deception can be attributed to some people on the wall street.

[xyzgc]

Originally Posted by gcisadawg

dude,

I believe you have poured your heart out there! Wonderful job! I believe most of the sane members here totally respect your decision to buy a home without GC.

Having said that, although your description of half-a-day's work gave me goosebumps, I'm not too carried away. If it happens, it happens! I'd go back to my home country with the fond memory of 10 years of life here! As you said, we wont go back empty handed. Came to US with just $200 in the pocket!

Relax and enjoy your home,
GCisaDawg

No issues if you go back. That can happen to anybody. Nobody is safe in this country.

Make sure you pay off your mortgages if you do and cover all your liabilities.

There should be criminal action against loan defaulters, otherwise lessons won't be learnt.
And if you don't want to persecute these sons of bitches, give a portion of my tax money back, which I paid for last 9 frigging years, which has gone into these bailouts. I'm not even asking for the loss of revenue my company has endured due to our customers (high profile banks) slashing their IT expenditure. I cannot. Don't compensate me for the ripple effect but at least compensate me for the prospect of job losses me and thousands like me face this HISTORIC year of 2009, when a white president has entered the black house ..oops a black president has entered the white house.

(I'm not making anything up, everything I wrote about my company's customers is true).

Immigrants who don't pay off and run away should be extradited and put behind bars.

Yes, we can. Yes, we can change. Yes, we can. And folks, if you don't like my language, consider me insane and leave it at that but give my tax money back not in IOU and promissary notes but in checks.

[shree772000]

Slumdog...I totally agree with your view point and in fact share the same. I believe you cannot put your life on hold waiting for GC or something unpredictable. I also agree with you that buying a house is a life style decision. You can live ur life hoarding cash living cheaply or you can live your life well. Also each has its advantages and its a personal choice.

Also on another note I have become a fan of your blogs. I encourage you to write more and I am sure there are other people like me.

[gapala]

I can imagine what was going through Slumdog's mind. But believe me, I was in similar situations twice in 2001 and 2003, well, not exactly, I should say, our entire department of 89 were wipped off keeping just our big boss on board. 100 guys came from India and looked over our shoulders for couple of weeks, we were asked to train counterparts and ensure the success on everything that we used to do on a daily basis. At the end of the month all of us were out of work. Jobs were shifted to outsourcing company in india.

I was feeling terrible for couple of days but found a job after 2 weeks and the history repeated again after 14 months. Similar situation but different faces. This time the pain was not as bad as it was during the first time. Ofcourse, I had to move to west coast leaving my cherished home and live in a rented apratment..

But my friends, looking back at the events, I can see that those situations solidified my convictions and made me much stronger. I truely believe, well, I know now that what ever happened in the past was for my good.

If you really think, all our worries are either the things that has happened in the past or anxiety about future. Past is gone and future is unknown. Do not think too much about future or past... we all want to be happy and happiness is available only in the present moment as some one said. We miss very easily as constantly present is turning into past.

Its one thing to know what is going on around us and other to be fearful and feeling defeated... we have to walk that thin line.

I agree with Nixtor on his points

Originally Posted by nixstor

Slumdog,
Greed and lack of understanding

Want to make easy money. People think that Real estate value does not fall, just like in the places where they come from, where property has two values, Market value and government value with a huge differential.



Do I/We really need a house?


Save money on Taxes


Bad Realtor


DINKS So we are good

Peer pressure


Down payment

As President O said, we collectively failed to take difficult and correct decisions even though the greed and deception can be attributed to some people on the wall street.

[nojoke]

Originally Posted by shree772000

Slumdog...I totally agree with your view point and in fact share the same. I believe you cannot put your life on hold waiting for GC or something unpredictable. I also agree with you that buying a house is a life style decision. You can live ur life hoarding cash living cheaply or you can live your life well. Also each has its advantages and its a personal choice.

Also on another note I have become a fan of your blogs. I encourage you to write more and I am sure there are other people like me.

That is a cheap shot.
Let me try - Or beg the bank to lower your mortgage.

[tjayant]

I believe Indians want to enjoy life too much after coming to US, the only way to succeed is to work hard and with sincerity . Based on the observation i see very few Indians fully committing themselves to work. not sure why

[gcisadawg]

Originally Posted by xyzgc

No issues if you go back. That can happen to anybody. Nobody is safe in this country.

Make sure you pay off your mortgages if you do and cover all your liabilities.

There should be criminal action against loan defaulters, otherwise lessons won't be learnt.
And if you don't want to persecute these sons of bitches, give a portion of my tax money back, which I paid for last 9 frigging years, which has gone into these bailouts. I'm not even asking for the loss of revenue my company has endured due to our customers (high profile banks) slashing their IT expenditure. I cannot. Don't compensate me for the ripple effect but at least compensate me for the prospect of job losses me and thousands like me face this HISTORIC year of 2009, when a white president has entered the black house ..oops a black president has entered the white house.

(I'm not making anything up, everything I wrote about my company's customers is true).

Immigrants who don't pay off and run away should be extradited and put behind bars.

Yes, we can. Yes, we can change. Yes, we can. And folks, if you don't like my language, consider me insane and leave it at that but give my tax money back not in IOU and promissary notes but in checks.

Alright buddy, The only loan I've is few hundred dollars on my credit card which I pay every month though! Car is paid and no home! Sorry, no money from me to you! You have to find another person! I can buy you a cup of coffee though so that you can relax a bit!
But I do respect if any non GC holder go and buy a home.
I agree with your point about defaulters. But take your argument elsewhere.
In California, a musician who claimed 100K income/year was asked to stand in front of his home with his musical instrument and photographed. That photograph went into Washington Mutual's file as income proof. If you think, the housing crisis is because of defaulters, you are partially wrong! Prices went very high and people couldnt buy and that is the reason home prices went down. Since it went down, loans backed up by those very assets lost value. And people defaulted because what they owe was higher than the value of home!
You are really delusional if you think non GC home-owners are to be blamed for this mess!

You really need a good tax refund from the government! File your taxes soon!

[gcisadawg]

Originally Posted by xyzgc

No issues if you go back. That can happen to anybody. Nobody is safe in this country.

Make sure you pay off your mortgages if you do and cover all your liabilities.

There should be criminal action against loan defaulters, otherwise lessons won't be learnt.
And if you don't want to persecute these sons of bitches, give a portion of my tax money back, which I paid for last 9 frigging years, which has gone into these bailouts. I'm not even asking for the loss of revenue my company has endured due to our customers (high profile banks) slashing their IT expenditure. I cannot. Don't compensate me for the ripple effect but at least compensate me for the prospect of job losses me and thousands like me face this HISTORIC year of 2009, when a white president has entered the black house ..oops a black president has entered the white house.

(I'm not making anything up, everything I wrote about my company's customers is true).

Immigrants who don't pay off and run away should be extradited and put behind bars.

Yes, we can. Yes, we can change. Yes, we can. And folks, if you don't like my language, consider me insane and leave it at that but give my tax money back not in IOU and promissary notes but in checks.

You should be really fighting these guys...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/bu...wamu.html?_r=1

"Yet even by WaMu’s relaxed standards, one mortgage four years ago raised eyebrows. The borrower was claiming a six-figure income and an unusual profession: mariachi singer.

Mr. Parsons could not verify the singer’s income, so he had him photographed in front of his home dressed in his mariachi outfit. The photo went into a WaMu file. Approved."

[nojoke]

Originally Posted by gcisadawg

Alright buddy, The only loan I've is few hundred dollars on my credit card which I pay every month though! Car is paid and no home! Sorry, no money from me to you! You have to find another person! I can buy you a cup of coffee though so that you can relax a bit!
But I do respect if any non GC holder go and buy a home.
I agree with your point about defaulters. But take your argument elsewhere.
In California, a musician who claimed 100K income/year was asked to stand in front of his home with his musical instrument and photographed. That photograph went into Washington Mutual's file as income proof. If you think, the housing crisis is because of defaulters, you are partially wrong! Prices went very high and people couldnt buy and that is the reason home prices went down. Since it went down, loans backed up by those very assets lost value. And people defaulted because what they owe was higher than the value of home!
You are really delusional if you think non GC home-owners are to be blamed for this mess!

You really need a good tax refund from the government! File your taxes soon!

His gripe is not about non-gc holder buying house, but the general mentality of abandoning commitment that homeowners signed and that someone else has to clean up their mess.

[aachoo]

Why are you equating quality of life to owning a house?
- Because you are an "owner"? No you are not! You are renting the house from the bank
- Because you have a backyard?- go out and rent a house. They are a dime a dozen, will cost you half the cost of your monthly mortgage payment
- Because you have peace of mind? Really. Read your other post on people getting laid off
- Because your (ok someone else's) kid asked if you are poor? Really? A kid's innocent question is going to make you gamble (that's what investing in an immovable asset is in your situation) away a decade of savings?
- Because you want to give your child the best possible childhood? Think about it, if things turn for the worse either in your economy/company/job (absolutely do not wish it on anyone), and you are forced to move/sell the house/get foreclosed upon etc., how much more have you hurt your family and traumatized them in your effort to give them a great childhood?
- How many nights of peaceful sleep have you lost lying awake wondering what you would do if you/your spouse lost a job, had to move etc.?

I still cannot understand how/why someone would buy a house in the bay area ($700K+ for a SFH in a minimally liveable area) and $1M+ in places like Cupertino.

I will enjoy my quality of life in my rented condo (with a rent 1/3rd of the monthly mortgage payment it would take to buy it) and take my 2 year old to the park if he feels like he needs a back yard. Dont need to mow the lawn either!