Homebuying becomes fraught with safety and logic

Wait!!! You mean I might have to save up a 15% down payment and have a good credit rating to get a mortgage?! What a terrible idea! This might lead to fiscal responsibility! The government better step in immediately and quench my thirst for credit fast, otherwise I might have no choice but to open a savings account and balance my checkbook!

Egad, I'm starting to sound like an adult! Quick, to Nebraska Furniture Mart for a flatscreen and xbox 360, a new couch and la-z-boy, all on a shiny new credit card with no payments for 5 years and 0% interest until 2028!

On a serious note: I argued for just this case in September, nearly a lifetime ago. I said that if my generation had any brains at all they'd save up 10 years and put 25% down on a house, rather than buying a 0% down ARM-loaned McMansion and then regretting it. Now some of my friends are regretting it. The good news is that TAE has been saving his pennies and if housing prices fall another 18%, homes around here will be so cheap I might just have to pull the trigger on a purchase, despite my nervousness about it.


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