THE US REPORT

Not long ago, a young couple we’re very close to decided to purchase a condo. Asked what we honestly thought about the deal, my husband explained their lender wasn’t doing them any favors because the loan had an adjustable rate. Asked what I honestly thought, I said, “Well, I wouldn’t lend you money for a barn.” Harsh maybe, but there was a lot of educational debt and these two are very young. They're doing good to pay their bills now because both of them are fairly new to the job market. Better, we told them to save for a few years, pay down the educational loans and then start with a small place and work your way up. Of course they didn’t listen. In all fairness, we never listened when we were young either.

When we bought our second home in South Carolina, we looked at a lot of houses. By then we had enough credit history and some money saved. We had good jobs and each of us had held the same job for close to 20 years. The real estate agent showed me some McMansions. “I don’t have a tennis skirt and really, I don’t play bridge,” I told her. I further explained that we like houses sort of in the middle of things. “Oh,” she said. “You really should buy more house than you think you can afford.”

Think about that statement. I know people buy into it, partly because mortgage interest is one of the few tax shelters available to the middle class.  Still the record number of foreclosures in the US says something about the potential homeowner’s mindset. At the Right Commentary website, there’s a post with a link to a map of US mortgage markets. That map is a real eye opener.

Maybe it’s because in the early years of our marriage we probably could’ve qualified for food stamps if we thought about it, but there’s no way I’m buying more of anything than I can afford. We ended up buying the worst house in an incredible neighborhood. We redid the floors and painted. We put a lot of sweat into making it into a beautiful home. When we sold it, we made a very nice profit. That helped us to buy a nice home after we moved to Florida. When we moved, we downsized because our older daughter had started college and our younger daughter wasn’t far behind her.

In Florida, we bought a little less house than we could afford. It’s a rule that’s served us well through some really hard times and some good times as well. You want a happy mortgage, peace of mind and disposable income without fear of foreclosure if a medical crisis arrives or you lose your job? Buy a little less house than you can afford. It’s not what’s on the outside of the house that counts. It’s who lives inside it.

[I brought a rosebush from my Carolina yard to Florida. It blooms year round down here. The photo is one of the new blooms now that our couple of weeks of cold has passed. Story & photo filed by Kay B. Day]