Where have all the homeowners gone?

According to this CNN MONEY article, Home ownership hits lowest level since 1965, we are becoming a nation of renters. This shouldn't be too surprising today. But, think about that a few years ago. 2006, for example. We never would have seen this coming.

Actually, Bob and I had a friend who did sell his condo in 2006 at the height of the market. We thought he was insane. Why? Why would you get out of the home owning game and go back to being a renter? Why?! Well, the answer was exactly what you would expect.

The answer was...

BIRD FLU.

Of course. Bird flu.

The most commonly sited reason for selling your property at the height of the housing bubble.

Our friend's mom was the co-owner of the condo and she was convinced that bird flu was going to be so devastating that it would crash the housing economy. I don't quite remember the logic. But, I'm telling you. She was convinced. Thoroughly.

So they sold. And made money. And people thought they were crazy.

In 2006.

Now. In 2011?

They kind of look like geniuses, right?

Well, I think they're geniuses. Or incredibly lucky. Or she has some kind of tricked out ESP. She clearly felt the impending crash.

Take bird flu out of the equation for a second. She knew the bubble would burst and that it would be terrible. So it wasn't because of bird flu. But who cares. She was right.

We've since lost touch, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were back in the home owning game and bought something at a bird flu bargain price. We'll just have to guess.

So, home ownership is the lowest it has been since 1965.

A show of hands, please. How many of you were home owners and are now renting?

Uh huh. Same here.

Now... how many of you are home owners (currently) with rental income?

Have you noticed a significant difference in the market? Has it been easier to get quality renters?

I imagine that the renters that are former home owners make for really good renters. Am I right? We're used to keeping a place up. Pride of ownership and all of that. If you're a landlord, I'd love to here what changes you've seen since the crash.

And if you're a born-again renter, how is it for you?

This article brings up so many points. It's too much to write about in just one post. But, in light of my last post about the American Dream today, I have to point to this excerpt from the piece:

In a February housing finance report, the Obama administration stated that its goal was to "ensure that Americans have access to an adequate range of affordable housing options. This does not mean our goal is for all Americans to be homeowners."

Did you see that? "This does not mean our goal is for all Americans to be homeowners."

Interesting, right? There's a deeper level of responsibility in that rhetoric that I appreciate. It reminds me of the quote from President Ford:

“My goal is homeownership for every American family that wants to own a home and is willing to work for and save for it.” – President Gerald Ford, 1976

 

For every family that wants to own a home and is willing to work for and save for it.

Fair enough, Mr. President. Fair enough.


-Home Ownership Hits Lowest Level Since 1965: CNN MONEY

The American Dream today

In 2006, almost 69% of Americans owned their own homes. This percentage is the highest in American history and among the highest worldwide.
 

“To possess one’s own home, however small, is the hope of every family in our country. That is the American ideal, born of an exquisite sentiment, nurtured by a long national tradition, and proved right by its innumerable practical advantages.” – President Herbert Hoover, 1932

“My goal is homeownership for every American family that wants to own a home and is willing to work for and save for it.” – President Gerald Ford, 1976

“Homeownership is not just a symbol, it represents the American way of life.”

– President Ronald Reagan, 1982

“…for what is the American dream if it isn't wanting to be part of something larger than ourselves? … For most people, these aspirations means enjoying the blessings of good health or having a home to call one's own…”

– President George H.W. Bush, 1991

“Owning a home is central to the American dream.”

 – President William J. Clinton, 1996

“I believe when somebody owns their own home, they’re realizing the American Dream. They can say it’s my home, it’s nobody else’s home.”

 – President George W. Bush, 2002

“One in ten families who owns a home is now in some form of distress, the most ever recorded. This is deeply troubling. It not only shakes the foundation of our economy, but the foundation of the American Dream. There is nothing more fundamental than having a home to call your own.” – President Barack Obama, 2009

  

Every president since Herbert Hoover has made home ownership a cornerstone of the ideal that is the American Dream. The American Dream has become inextricably linked to homeownership and that idea is driven the hardest by our government. In order to realize the American Dream, you must own a home. 

The question that most people curiously do not ask is: Why?

             

Why do we need to be homeowners? 

Why is our experience of the American Dream incomplete without a mortgage? 

Why do we accept this as our guiding principal without question? 

I don’t know. But I did. 

This is not an argument against homeownership. It’s more a referendum on an inherited ideal that doesn’t seem to hold the water it used to.

            

Our government has economic motivations to encourage homeownership. Now, I am not an economist. Not in the least. (Our debt and recent financial history should speak volumes to that.) I can’t speak with any authority on the far-reaching economical implications of homeownership. I can speak, however, to my changing feelings on the subject.

             

I agree with President George H. W. Bush in that the American Dream is the idea of “wanting to be part of something larger than ourselves.” And my whole life I accepted without much thought, that this would include owning my own home. 

I never considered that once I owned a home I would ever go back to renting. So, in that sense, in losing our house we did lose our foothold in the American Dream. This is true.  But this, we discovered, wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

             

President George W. Bush said that when you realize the American Dream you can say “it’s my home, it’s nobody else’s home.” That sentiment is a fallacy in actuality. What is clearer to me than anything is that the real owner of our home was Countrywide- our lender. The banks own the mortgages. You don’t own your home until you’ve paid off your mortgage. And how many Americans are actually able to do that? Not many. I think it’s around 1 in 10. 

What was once widely seen as a pathway to independence has become a form of imprisonment. We Americans don’t own our own homes; they own us. And yet, according to a recent Trulia survey, 70% of Americans still consider homeownership a part of the American Dream.

            

Again, I ask: Why? 

And is that true for me? 

I do still want to own a house again in the future. Once we’re back on our feet. But we’ll be smarter. We’ll have a lot more savings. We won’t invest so much in a remodel. We won’t bank on an upward trend.

It’s still in me- this inherent desire to own property. 

Why am I still attached to the idea? 

Why can’t I just let it go?

I do enjoy being a renter and the freedom that it gives us. I especially enjoy it when something goes wrong with the plumbing, for example, and I realize that I don’t have to foot the bill as the homeowner. But I notice that as much as I love our apartment, I haven’t truly made it our own. I fear putting too much into decorating because it’s not actually ours. We hung our art and planted tomatoes in the garden, but I still haven’t painted the bathroom or found a table and chairs for the kitchen.

Perhaps that’s just the result of new priorities, no budget for decorating and no time for it anyway. Or is it because deep down I’m waiting for a space that’s all my own again?

As President Obama said, “There is nothing more fundamental than having a home to call your own.” But perhaps “having a home” doesn’t have to mean, “owning a home.”

What is your idea of the American Dream? 

Does it include home ownership? 

If so, what sort of home is your dream? (Please share in the comments below)

On a related note, I really enjoyed this post from Apartment Therapy about the American Dream... especially the Frank Lloyd Wright house built in 1937 for only $5,000!  

The Ever Evolving American Dream: Size, Style & Amenities - Apartment Therapy

Houseless not Homeless

A View from the Road: This is a picture of Spotted Wolf Canyon on I70 in Utah about 60 miles West of the Colorado border.

Good morning from Grand Junction, Colorado!

We rolled into town yesterday at about 5 PM (we're on Mountain Time now.)

Ah, there's so much to say. I don't know how to do it in just one post. So maybe I'll write several.

Okay, first of all... I think I will begin with the actual closing day. That was Tuesday. Two days ago. At 3:30 PM as we were driving East on the 210, we got a text from our Realtor that the sale of our house had finally recorded. It was done.

The day began in a frenzy as was expected. I was operating on 3 hours of sleep. But we had to get out of the house, so sleep was secondary. If you saw the last post, you saw the junkyard that was our driveway in the middle of the night. Well, we really didn't want to leave that for the new owners so we called 1-800-Gotjunk to haul it away. It cost us $300 to do that. It's really not fun to pay to get rid of junk, but when you're looking at a matter of hours to get rid of it, you do what you can.

Slowly the money we made on our Estate sale was disappearing. Shipping a few boxes here, a few more there. Paying $300 to have our junk hauled away. Shipping yet more boxes as we realize they won't fit in the car... in total we spent about $1,700 on this move (not including gas money to get us to Illinois.) So that $1,500 from the Making Home Affordable plan would really come in handy right about now. But I've given up on that. All there is now is looking forward.

We finally pulled out of our driveway at about 2:30 PM. I think. I didn't check the clock, I'm just estimating. It was hot. We were sweaty. Gross. Ready to be done. I had this experience of feeling too tired to even be sad. The move had taken so much out of us that we were just ready to get the hell out!

As we drove away it felt sort of anti-climactic. All this work and here we are. Driving away. I thought I'd cry tears of relief. We avoided foreclosure! Success! A celebration, right? Of course we're relieved about that. I actually acknowledged it to Bob as we were battling traffic on the 210. "Hey," I said with the little energy I could muster, "We avoided foreclosure. High five." And I held up my hand and Bob touched it. High five. It was pretty lackluster. There was no whoop of victory. Just an acknowledgement. I guess I had expected to feel anything ranging from euphoria to despair, but more than anything what I felt was peace.

And when the tears snuck up on me as we were passing Fontana, they weren't because we were leaving the house, but our community. We will miss you greatly, L.A. We will miss you more, friends. We love you.

So we are without a house. No longer homeowners. We've lifted the anchor and are setting out into the open sea. Uncharted waters. Making it up as we go. For now.

The interesting thing is this, I feel at home right here. No, not here as in Grand Junction. Here as in my own skin next to Bob. The two of us setting out together like this. We are headed to the town where I grew up. To my family... where we will feel home. If feeling at home is nothing more than a feeling, then you don't really need a piece of land to feel that way. Make sense? Yes, I know the cliche "Home is where the heart lies." I guess this is that.

So you can be houseless but not homeless. We are vagabonds. Wanderers. Transients. Well, I guess the distinction is that we are employed vagabonds, transients and wanderers (and grateful for that distinction!) Anyway, all of this is to say that it feels good. And weird. All at once. We are living what I once thought would be the worst case scenario and we're embracing it. It's not nearly as bad as we thought it would be. It's not bad at all. We're actually excited. Liberated. And how perfect that Saturday is our nation's Independence Day.

I told Bob yesterday that I kind of felt like a kid again. Is this how starting over always feels? I guess we finally found the 'reset' button.

A RECAP OF THE LAST TWO DAYS

TUESDAY: Departed L.A. and drove as far as Vegas. Saw a drug deal in the parking lot of the Motel 6 on Tropicana, quickly pulled out of the parking lot and looked for a, well, less seedy place to stay. Finally found a dog-friendly and decent accommodation at La Quinta Inn for $69 (didn't get much sleep as the people across the hall left their dog alone in the room all night while they went out gambling. Poor dog barked all night.) Highest temp: 111 degrees

WEDNESDAY: Drove north and east to cooler climates through Nevada, Arizona, Utah and stopped just over the border in Grand Junction, Colorado. We found a dog-friendly hotel on Main Street downtown called the Hawthorn Suites. $99 a night. But worth the extra money because we actually slept. Didn't see even one drug deal. And we have working wifi in the room so I can blog and Bob can work. We'll be here until we have to check out. Which is, ah, in only one hour! (no time to edit this post because I still have to shower- yikes!)

Last night we took Pablo for a walk down Main Street and ended up at a little pizza place with outdoor seating for a glass of wine and some grub. The place was appropriately called Pablo's Pizza, and yes, he acted like he owned the joint. While waiting for our pie, we paged through the local paper and came across this fascinating story about a Grand Junction native who spent the entire winter on his raft exploring Lake Powell with his dog Pepper.

There truly are all sorts of ways to live a life. Here's one:

GJ man spends winter rafting, exploring Lake Powell - Grand Junction Free Press

And this is a chalk drawing on the sidewalk across from our hotel. It's a little hard to make out, but it just seemed fitting since we are reinventing the American Dream for ourselves.

So how are you guys? What's up? Have you been following us on Twitter? I've been pretty chatty there from the road.

Oh- does anyone have any good road trip game suggestions?

Next stop: Denver! (It feels great to be back in Colorado after soooooo long! We can breathe. Fresh mountain air.)