After the Financial Turmoil

Introduction

After the financial turmoil hits United States of America in 2008, a lot of people arguing whether they should buy a home or just rent it. The burst of housing bubbles proved that good things never last forever and left scars in most of Americans that bought at least a house during that period. What left right now in the heart of regular or moderate American citizen is fear, doubt and skeptical towards owning a home. Some said real estate industry is rapidly recovering from the damages in 2008, but does it means it’s a green light for American to invest their money in this industry? Some said it is better to play safe and keep renting a home, but does it really safe? There are a lot of statements and arguments regarding on this issue. The main goal of this research is to find out the strong arguments and ideas on each particular decision: rent or buy, to ensure that one’s make the best decision for himself or herself.

Analysis

It depends! That’s the best line to start the analysis on housing options. There are no solid answers whether should buy or rent a home. It is really depends a lot of factors such as age, necessity, geographic location and a lot more. It’s interesting to start this analysis with the factor brought up by Geoff Williams in his article entitled “Renting vs. Buying a Home: Which is Smarter?” He argued that a person in his or her 20s or early 30s shouldn’t buy a house because in this range of age, people are still trying to find a job that will satisfy them at the most. He then cited the study done by Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and University of Warwick, United Kingdom stated that the unemployment rate increase as the homeownership increase in a country. (Williams, 2013) This happen because people don’t want to find job somewhere else as they feel that they are already settle down once they bought a house, but the truth is they are not happy with the job, quit the job and stay in the house.

The next interesting points that need to be brought up necessity. Is it necessary for us to buy the house? Is it really a good investment for your future especially for people who live in a metropolitan area such as San Francisco, Las Vegas, or Los Angeles? The low-interest rates policies and low mortgage rates, particularly in San Francisco area might lead to the overvalued housing markets. (Irwin, 2014) This bring us to a quotation by Morris Davis, “you can’t buy now and expect a big gain.” (Light, 2014) Logically, when the value of a house is overpriced, one’s investment towards that house