>But, because the target audience was composed of low-income families, they
>are also careful to constantly talk about buying a house -- house=buying
>an investment; hoome=buying a place to live, buying the American Dream.
>It's one of the things that sparked my curiosity -- how real estate agents
>navigated the tension between the two ways of thinking of real estate--how
>they created a market. The used the word 'home' to talk about it in terms
>of use value and the word 'house' to talk about it in terms of its
>exchange value. Buyers, though, didn't naturally think of it that way.
>They had to be taught to think of buying a home in terms of buying an
>investment.
>
>So, I guess I'm wondering how many people actually think in terms of
>exchange value. Is the issue, sorta like Doug suggested, that while its
>just a few people, no problem. But, once even today's equivalent of a
>shoe-shine boy is talking about buying in terms of exchange value, then
>it's time to jump ship?
>
>
>kelley
I haven't ever attended a loan qualification training seminar so maybe people who generally attend these have a greater tendency to think this way than is the average for home buyers? Maybe because it was a few years ago this has changed?
I suggest this because with the two largest purchases most people make, home and auto, I have felt that there is a tendency to buy primarily with a thought to it's resale value. Almost everyone currently seems to speak of the value of their home and what they can do to enhance that value, not what they can do to enhance it's livability. In my neighbor hood in particular, older homes in a university district, people are buying homes from elderly residents and the demograph of the neighborhood is rapidly changing. Lots of young families with children when compared to 7 years ago when I moved here. They speak of their homes almost exclusively in terms of investment value. They wouldn't do anything to their homes to enhance livability if they though there was a chance it might harm it's resale value.
The same is less true of autos but still pronounced. The trend for many years now is neutral color schemes to broaden its appeal for resale. When deciding between two or three cars they like checking how well the vehicles in question hold their resale becomes very important. I know many who bought not the vehicle they liked most but the one they liked second or third most because it had a better resale record. It is oversimplifying more than just a bit to say that people are becoming temporary custodians of their property and are almost making these purchases not for themselves but for the next person who will acquire it but that trend does seem real to me. Not that everything becomes an actual investment but these purchases in particular seem to hold resale as a major concern equal to or exceeding its actual use value.
John Thornton
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