[sonick]

Originally Posted by Carl Johnson

Parents should help their children better assess the market they are buying into and where rates are headed.

That's the thing though, I think many parents might not be fully aware of the market the kids are buying into and where the rates are headed. Especially if all they hear about the RE market is from the news and newspaper.

They bought decades ago and sure there may have been corrections along the way, but today their HOUSE values have double, triple in worth. It happened for their house, why wouldn't it happen to their kids with a one-in-a-thousand shoebox condo and no land?

A family friend of mine is a partner in his own business, when he was considering buying a home I sent him all the usual links. He perused them and went to his mom, who also owned her own business, for advice. She told him that buying a place is security, that if the business fails, you will always have a home to come home to and a roof over your head.

At that point he had already made a decision so I didn't debate it, but in that situation I think it would be far less ideal to own a place than to rent. From Garth's blog post today: "When the economy turns lousy and jobs are hard to find, houses usually go illiquid – at the precise moment you might need the most flexibility."