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m4a1mustang

This is definitely a tough market. Housing prices are only one of the reasons why it might not be a good time to buy. Are you sure that the market has bottomed? There's a glut of inventory on the market right now and they keep building new homes... are prices going to rise anytime soon? Might they even fall further?

And like in your situation, you don't want to be tied down to a certain area because you can't sell your house. There are a lot of people that would be able to get a job in another city or state but they can't because their home has anchored them and they can't afford to put it up for a firesale.

And there are people who might be fresh in their career and don't know if they are going to stay in their particular location for long. If I think I'm only going to be in DC for a few years buying a home might not be worth the risk.

Then of course there are people who are perfectly content with the apartment lifestyle. They don't want to be responsible for their own maintenance. Maybe they want to live close to where they work and buying a house that close to the city is just not in the cards financially. As an example, if I wanted to buy a house in the same area where I rent, my mortage would be double what my rent is. I don't want to take on that burden, especially if I am not comfortable with the housing market right now and if I am not even sure if I'll be in this area in the next 5 years.

There are plenty of reasons not to buy a house, just like there are plenty of reasons to buy one. So there's really no right or wrong answer and whether you own a home or not certainly lends nothing to your "credibility" as an "adult."

See what you did, ken? Epic derail. Now bring us some charburgers and cheese fries.

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- Steve

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