Psychology and the First Time Homebuyer’s Credit
Feb 26th, 2010 by Carlos
I wrote a piece over at Wisebread about how the $8,000 credit has made M and I a lot more comfortable buying our place.
To us, the credit isn’t what got us “over the hump,” we were going to buy anyway, but the article is all about how it gives us additional peace of mind because we can replenish our savings account. Which is going to feel damn near empty after we put all this money down.
Which makes us nervous.
Which is normal.
Anyway, a lot of the comments over there are focusing on the potential downside: people that can’t afford a home but use the credit as a down payment or in another way to “make it affordable.” They claim that this is why the mortgage bubble burst in the first place.
They are interesting comments, and you would expect it from a financially responsible group of people, but a lot of people lost focus on what I was trying to say.
Which is: money can buy you peace of mind. And the more of it you have, the more peaceful your mind will be.
If the homebuyer’s credit is what made the home affordable (not in your case, it just made you move faster) than it is the bank’s responsibility to turn down the loan.
Make sure your first buying experience is an educated buying experience by not making these mistakes. Buying a home is one of the largest investments you will make in your lifetime; make sure it is also a smart investment.