Inman News today featured a column by Tara-Nicholle Nelson suggesting that foreclosure, debt and even people selling their homes, was contagious. The theory stems from others, like that your friends influence everything from your income to your weight.
Maybe it isn't the foreclosures themselves that are contagious, though. Maybe everyone bought houses at the same time because their friends got good deals, told them they were throwing away money on rent and convince other friends to get the same good deals. And now those good deals don't look as great.
I'm interested in Tara-Nicholle's theory that the influence of other may actually keep you down. Even if you were doingfine, if you see someone else making bad financial decisions you may not feel as bad about it yourself. Does this mean we should purposely not hang out with those people?
I think most people are independent enough to make their own choices, for better or for worse, but after reading this column I'm going to be more wary about making financial choices in housing. Just because some of my friends are starting to buy doesn't mean now is the right time for me.
1 Comment
TheCondoist said:
It is an interesting point to think about, in fact, I'm not sure what I really think. I'm sure social groups make similar economic decisions based on their way of thinking-- kind of like a group mentality. Nevertheless, let's hope they all start thinking they've got some extra cash and perhaps the market will rebound! (Can't knock me for thinking positively!)
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