"They might have to sell the house"

 the Reserve Bank Governor has warned.

As someone who is still hunting for accommodation within my budget I am, yet again, wondering what sort of stress people with families must be under.

"It's all about interest rates," someone told me a few months back. Really?

I think it is about much more than that. There is still a widespread belief in this country that you should be able to buy your own home. Within that belief there are many people who believe you should be able to buy a free standing dwelling on a fair sized block of land. That dwelling should also have at least three bedrooms, a family room, a lounge, a bathroom, an ensuite for the parents as well as a kitchen and laundry. There should be a "patio" for outdoor entertaining and the garden should already be landscaped to be as "easy care" as possible. That dwelling should also have parking for at least two cars. 

Phew! That is going to cost a bit. 

People are complaining it is harder to do this now even though both parents are working. Where people once managed on one income and one, almost always the wife and mother, stayed at home this is no longer considered possible. Why?

I know there is no easy answer to this but I do believe that part of the problem is people now believe they "have to have" and this causes them to over-extend themselves financially. They want a house which has everything they think they need and they want it now. It is not the basic structure their parents and grandparents were prepared to accept and then work on. 

A young man I know is severely dyslexic. He really struggles with reading and writing but he has always had a job. He has been prepared to do anything to earn money. While at school he had the usual sort of jobs students get but he was happy to do the less attractive jobs. When he left school he went to work for a company which unfortunately failed. Was he out of a job? He was unemployed for three days before being interviewed for another low level job. When could he start? This afternoon if they needed him. He now has a responsible position in the same firm because he was prepared to travel to work and make early starts. 

Through all this he saved. He saved all he could. He found out about what sort of home loans he might be able to get and how he might be able to pay them back. When he went to the bank he was able to show them exactly how much he thought he needed and how he could pay it back. He got the loan because he had done two things. He had, with his grandmother's help, worked out what he would do if the interest rates rose and he had shown them plans for a very modest dwelling but a dwelling he can add to later if he so wishes. All this has also been done with his relationship with a very lovely girl in mind. They will marry late next year when she has finished her course and can work full time. Like him she is prepared to wait for some of the things that others consider essential. They are prepared to put the work in. 

One of his more distant relatives commented to me, "It's terribly old fashioned of them. They could just go ahead and get it all now and save themselves all that hassle." Yes, they could but they would be in much more debt. They would be struggling to pay their debts off. This way they are managing. 

I can't help admiring them. They are resisting the pressure to have "everything" now and it seems to be working for them. I think of them when I look at yet another place...and another. I know I won't get everything I want either - even though I believe it would be nice to have it and have it now.