A few of my fellow personal finance bloggers have either recently bought a house or are in the process of trying to buy one. That spurred me to think about when I bought my current house two years ago and the thought process I’ve gone through while debating whether to finish my basement. What has occurred to me is that people are getting a lot of sound, but unreasonable advice from a number of places.
I’ve heard time and again about how buying a house can be one’s largest investment and they’re correct. And, like all investments, they say one should check their emotions at the door and look hard at the numbers. That is where we start to disagree.
Unless you are buying investment property that you will never live in, buying a house is far more than numbers on paper. Yes, you still have to ensure that you can afford the house and be mindful of its value relative to the houses around it, but those numbers only tell you part of the story.
If you are buying a house to live in, that house suddenly becomes a home and it begins to take on a life of its own. Your house is an important component of your family and will play a role in many of your decisions, quarrels, blessings, and joys in the years you live there. In that light, your house isn’t just a shelter, it’s a companion and a family member.
Looking beyond the numbers, you have to ask yourself if you have faith that this house can provide you what you need and provide well enough to burden yourself with the risk to acquire it? As with all investments, there is some risk involved so you have to weigh it against the rewards. Even with buying property with a 30-year fixed interest mortgage, you risk being injured and being unable to work, you risk losing your job, you risk losing your principal due to downturns in the housing market. Does the house provide you with the space, tools, and future to justify risking your hard-earned money?
When we were looking for a new house, we were looking for one that would serve our needs for as long as we lived there – a house that we wouldn’t have to move from because our lives changed. For our house, the price was right, the location was right, but the exterior and interior needed work. After we determined that we could afford the house and the changes that would need to be made, we sat down and began the emotional process of deciding if the house was a good fit to join our family. In the end, we decided that it would accommodate us well and it was worth the effort to do what was needed to make it our home.
With the upheaval in the financial markets, people are keeping a closer eye on their money and where it goes. (And that’s something they should have been doing all along…) Likewise, you should be money-smart when shopping for a new home. When deciding on whether you can afford a house, you must decide with your wallet and not your heart; but don’t check your emotions at the door. Once your wallet has had its say, listen to your heart and see what it thinks as well.
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Great perspective and exactly how I feel about buying a home.
This is great advice. I own two properties. One is a cabin in the woods – I looked at over 30 of them before I found the one that fit all my criteria AND that felt like home. It was the only place I saw that when I walked in I knew it was the place for me.
My other property is a house my ex husband picked out. It also fit all the criteria, but it never felt like home. It was a component in our relationship problems even. It is very hard to feel happy, safe, relaxed in a place that makes you uncomfortable. If I had to do it again I would have waited until my then husband and I found a place that felt like home to both of us.