[matwood]

> I just want to live somewhere

Same. Which is exactly why I bought a house in 2011. In hindsight it was the perfect time, but at the time the market was still bumpy. At the end of the day, I had a stable job and needed to live somewhere.

> I make enough money not to worry about rent, even if it should substantially increase

The house next door to me rents for 2.5x my mortgage.

My salary has continued to go up, while my cost to live has continued to go down (I refied at the rate bottom). If I want to take a year off I can either rent out my house or just carry the cost at this point. Buying this house gave my wife and I more flexibility because with some decent certainty (+/- small amounts for taxes/insurance fluctuations) I can tell you what my cost to live will be next month or 24 months from now.

Finally, buying a house with a mortgage is best way for a normal person to protect against inflation. Housing is typically a families #1 or #2 expense, and being able to mostly lock that cost is a huge win 3-5-10 years out.

[lotsofpulp]

>Same. Which is exactly why I bought a house in 2011. In hindsight it was the perfect time, but at the time the market was still bumpy. At the end of the day, I had a stable job and needed to live somewhere.

And you were more likely to be able to because it was 2011. Fewer people can do the same today, at least at a similar comfort level of cost of house to income ratio.

[matwood]

Sure, but what about 1-2-3 years ago? The person I responded to said they never saw the point of taking on 30 years of debt, so my response was in more general terms.

Also, 2011 was still very uncertain. Would the market continue to go down, and would I keep my job were all real questions.

Is today a questionable time to buy? Probably, but what type of correction is needed in a ~7% inflationary environment for it to shift into an ok time to buy? 10%? 20%?

The point is there is always uncertainty and only in hindsight did 2011 look like a great time.