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When you bought speaks volumes

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Has cocktail chatter about houses shifted to when you bought, not what or where in the downturn? ‘When did you buy your house?’ by Los Angeles-area writer Marcie Geffner at Inman News takes a look:

People have always asked where you live or where your house is because they want to pinpoint where you are in the world. ... During the housing boom, people asked another question, which was how much did you pay for your house? This query wasn’t so much about the cost of the house per se, though of course, that was part of it. Rather, the question was about the extraordinary rise in home prices. It was a way of saying, ‘Wow, aren’t houses expensive these days?’ And while how much might once have seemed an invasion of privacy, it became instead a way of asking an even more intrusive and incredulous question: How could you afford to buy this house? But now comes this intriguing new question: When did you buy your house? That’s not about location or affordability. Instead, it’s about timing.

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The piece goes on to talk about how ‘when’ is the current focus because it tells people something about how much financial distress you may be in. Interesting article, although I disagree with parts of it to some extent. At least in my experience, I’ve never heard people asking each other what they paid for houses over margaritas. Even in the boom, ‘when’ you bought told people a lot in terms of how much your home had gone up. It’s just the flip side now. I’ll start: 2002.

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

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