Your Survival Guy wants you to own your home and live debt-free. Sure, there are ways to “play” the market, but that’s not my interest. When you think about the idea of “Survival,” shelter is high up on the list. I don’t buy with the idea of selling. I buy to hold forever. Don’t make the same mistake as Gio Navarro, who rushed to buy a house in 2022 because his friends were buying and he had FOMO (fear of missing out). Now he no longer wants to be a homeowner, but can’t sell at a price he likes. He’s trapped in his debt. Veronica Dagher explains in The Wall Street Journal:
Navarro is among the Americans who rushed to buy during the pandemic’s housing-market frenzy, when mortgage rates were lower than anybody could remember and people were embracing a radical new work-from-home era.
Many of Navarro’s friends were buying around that time, and after sharing an apartment with a roommate, he liked the idea of having a place to himself. The home he found had a kitchen with granite countertops and a waterfall island. But he bought at the tail end of the boom, which set him up for disappointment.
Atlanta had become a symbol of the pandemic-era boom, with a flood of new residents driving an ultracompetitive market that left many buyers feeling they had to act with a sense of urgency. But homes in the area are sitting on the market much longer now. Atlanta-area home prices have risen around 5% from when Navarro bought through July, after soaring 51% in the three years prior, according to Redfin, though growth has varied by neighborhood.
Action Line: You shouldn’t make buying decisions for emotional reasons. And when you’re buying a home, whether financed or with cash, you want to be sure you’re buying in the best part of America for your family. If you’re planning a move, start your search with my 2025 Super States. When you decide where you’re moving, email me at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com. And click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter and be among the first to receive updates to my Super States rankings.
