[Porsche-O-Phile]

I just bought my first place last month. Factors include my age and retirement objectives (I want to own free and clear by the time I'm 60), the fact I'm just sick of renting and dealing with stupid petty rules (I like being able to do my own thing), the fact that I'm at a point where I need more tax deductions now, my family's needs and the fact that rates were at or near historic lows - and that prices are not likely to do much anytime soon. While the last reason might be a disincentive to own, the second-to-last one is a HUGE one for me. I'm looking out onto the 20+ year horizon (i.e. Not a quick flip or "typical" 3-5 year window like most folks who don't plan on staying that long. I bought with the mindset that I might be here for a very long time - maybe even permanently. Stuff happens. If I end up moving I will likely look to rent this place out rather than sell, but it'll depend on a lot of unknowns right now...

Anyway looking at the 20+ year time frame, I absolutely believe the "plan" of our government to solve its deficit situation is partially to devalue the USD and use deflated money to "pay off" today's T-bills. I've done a lot of reading and speculating about this and frankly I think it's unavoidable. As such, it goes hand in hand with an expected jump (possibly an explosive jump) in inflation once the economy starts turning around... Therefore, inflationary hedges like houses make an awful lot of sense right now if you've got the stomach to sign on the dotted line. Why not buy as much as you can today if you expect to be able to pay it off (or even just a significant portion of it off) with dollars down the road that are worth a fraction of what today's are? Why wouldn't you? It's the exact same thing I expect the government to do with it's debt.

Also I looked at the first time buyer programs available through Fannie and Freddie, realized (correctly it turns out) that they might soon be on the chopping block and decided it made sense to take advantage while I still could. My timing was excellent on that one - a week after I closed the announcement was made that Fannie and Freddie would start being "wound down" though I think you could still go out and access one of their programs today if you were so inclined.

Perhaps the biggest personal reason to me was I wanted to stand strong against all the doubters, doom-and-gloomers, naysayers and pessimists out there. I strongly believe that fortune favors the bold and that we all have the choice of living paralyzed and beholden to our fears (which I'm sure we all have about the economy, employment prospects, our country's future, etc) or living in spite of those fears. For one, I refuse to let myself be made idle by the worry and despair that's out there for so many. At the end of the day it'd be better to have "loved and lost" (or I suppose "bought and been foreclosed upon") than to have never taken a shot when I had the chance. Doing nothing is a 100% guarantee of failure. Even if the chance of success is only 70% or 80% (and I think my odds are a lot better than that!) it's still a hell of a lot better than zero.

No guts, no glory. No risk, no reward.

YMMV