I bought recently. Mortgage lenders seem to be much more willing to work with people who can't make their mortgage than landlords are. Deferred plans, interest only payments, and more. In Texas, landlords can evict you within three days of missing a rent payment. THREE. DAYS! I got hit with this letter when auto pay screwed up. It's pretty scary.

I've found landlords both more auditable and flexible than jobs or even lenders, sadly. I'll buy something when I can afford it (in more than one sense, too). That frees me to pick a place not tied to financing or any particular location.

All roads lead to uncertainty, I'd rather travel it with a heavy purse. Good for smacking away problems or making trades on the way.

If it becomes less fashionable to force people to relocate, maybe I'd find it wise to invest. Until then autonomy is valuable. Days? Cute! Three hours is no problem with a could-be down payment in your pocket and no attachments.

With RTO/AI/Actually-Indians... it's an arms race for those of us who 'survive'. I'd rather buy when it dips or with less competition. Not directly contribute to building Company Town 3.0 while my peers and I try to outbid each other and suckle from the same teet.

Game theory is telling me either I'm getting laid off or someone else is, there may be advantage in waiting. Costs nothing but opportunity, funny: provides that too.

A couple more tropes to close: accounting tricks all the way down, money plays.

that sounds like a Texas and a "non-tenant-friendly" problem -- plenty of states ain't like that.

and as someone who owns and rents property, finding good renters is hard and costly. if one of my normally good tenant gets screwed and needs a little patience and wiggle room I'd rather work w/ them then roll the dice over some noob. e.g. if they're out of work for a longer than expected then they can help paint the place, finish up some landscaping, etc.

The ugly thing is that you're most likely to get laid off when the market is down. I've argued this with people so many times and I think some of them are finally starting to see what I was saying.

btw I don't think getting rid of at will employment will change that. These cycles are so long they'll certainly find a way to get rid of you during a down cycle if they want to.

Thank you, absolutely. Contrivances abound. I was wrong to stop with at-will employment; RTO policies are a notable miss.

Say I buy somewhere affordable and am now officially remote. No longer conveniently in the same city as the office, but at home... truly elsewhere. The calculus has changed!

Then we get into fuzzier topics like AI use. It's absolutely not just about productivity. The non-minded gap between my peers and I shows that to be irrelevant. I sandbag, they grind. It's a wash. In the end, a weird litmus/loyalty test that I can't quite articulate.

Well if you have to move to take a new job then you can always sell your home or rent it out. You'll take a hit on transaction costs or property management fees but you're unlikely to lose all of your equity.

> Well if you have to move to take a new job then you can always sell your home or rent it out.

Right, that's 'forced out' with extra steps :) I'm buying a home to live in (and if we're honest, die). Not employment. It may not even pay!

> unlikely

Hence the hesitation [for certainty]. This is half a statement about the market and half about my capacity for it. If I lost my job - the more likely case - I don't want this burden, too.

To your/OPs point: this can be an opportunity... but so is that fat down payment! Losing the position with savings/options: video games and burn-out recovery for the next three years. Comfortably trying on the next fad.

Without savings/options but a house/debt: panic, hot potato, and paperwork with a much more urgent job search.