A Generation Of Insecurity In America's Children...Another Casualty Of the Housing Crisis

Look at this picture...do you remember from your own childhood? or the family you've already raised? I do! But more and more children are finding that the kitchen table is not a secure fixture in their own childhood.

Foreclosures
Short Sales
Divorce

These are common place terms in home listings these days, so much so that when we see "standard equity sale" we are delighted. It makes me wonder if a home purchase....or retention....should be considered only a financial decision.

I see question after question on public forums about whether it makes more sense to rent vs buy at this point in our economic life. It could be that the best financial decision is to rent. But if the consideration is for a family, consider the instability it can bring with it.

As a former single-mother, I can tell you that when children thrive in circumstances which are in flux, it's IN SPITE of these circumstances and not BECAUSEof it. Children adapt out of necessity, not because they are "resilient." They should not be placed in situations where they feel insecure, and a rental is just one aspect of this.

Rentals are not ideal....not permanent..and in this market often present their own form of trouble. How many times have you seen in a short sale listing "drive by only, tenant not cooperating"? Could it be that these tenants did not have any idea the home was about to be sold? or that the landlord was in financial trouble? How does this affect the children who come home from school to see a sign in the front yard which says "For Sale"?

Sadly...there are no reliable ways for a potential tenant to know if the landlord is about to go into default.

Even if the landlord is in financial health, there are many other factors which could cause the end of a solid rental situation.

Change of financial situation of landlord
Divorce of landlord
Death of landlord
Landlord's decision to sell...for any reason.

So when I see the question of whether it makes financial sense to rent or buy....I question whether the financial benefit should be the first one asked. A better question might be "how would home ownership enhance your life and family?" Of course I'm not advocating that being house-poor is the solution; in my own life I've created "homes" in small condos and in more spacious homes. It's not the size and cost that matters....especially to children. It's the comfort of knowing the kitchen table is going to be there at the end of each day.