"I think we should buy a house in Chicago," said my intelligent i-banker husband. "It would be a good business investment."
I just gave him 'the look.' The context of this discussion was: My elder sister has bought a villa, I call it a villa and you will hear soon why, in Chicago. The house (er, villa) has 4 bedrooms, a garage for 2 cars, a sprawling garden (with a serene view), a backyard area with an open swimming pool (for the kids, you know said my dear sister over an extended telephone international call), a driveway (a phenomenon which is unheard of in my town of Mumbai) and yes, all this at a price tag of $325,000.
"You know, going by the lower interest rates that your sister is paying in the US, even we can buy an apartment in the US," argued my husband. I continued giving him 'the look' while getting on with my Sunday house cleaning.
Mind you, I wasn't jealous that my sister had bought a house (she's a great home-maker with 2 lovely kids) and that my bro-in-law already has a spacious dwelling in India, but the audacity of my i-banker hubby who went on analysing the deal and breaking the nuances of its affordability to me.
"You know the real estate market in the US has crashed and I am sure that your bro-in-law [yes, my bro-in-law is just referred as if he is only my relation and Mr i-banker has nothing to do with him] has bagged a good deal on the estate and the bank's EMI," he said with flatulent confidence.
He cited this number for my understanding. A record one in 10 American homeowners with a mortgage were either at least a month behind on their payments or in foreclosure. Nine states had foreclosure start rates above the national average: California, Nevada, Florida, Arizona, Michigan, Rhode Island, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
He then decided...on his own, that we were best benefited to buy a house in Florida, which stands to recover smartly in 2-4 years. "You see, it would be a investment that will be best justified," he asserted. I nodded and went on with the cleaning.
PS: We haven't bought any house since then. Not even a measly studio-apartment in good old Mumbai
1 comment:
Darling, you are better off not buying one (unless it is a ready-to-move-in types) at times like these. Else, you will end up waiting for your builder to give "your" apartment forever. The one that we have booked in Chennai was supposed to be completed this year, but looking at the progress of the construction, I doubt if we will "ever" get to live in "our" apartment!!!
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