We saw the financial chaos coming when we were living in Dallas, Texas. The housing bubble had already started to pop a year before, though gently at first and only for areas that had the most dramatic rises, but we knew it would make its way to Dallas (and everywhere) soon. One reason for our certainty came from the frequent walks I took around our neighborhood. I liked to walk to work off the frustrations from my wage slave job, and after walking down one block after another, seeing house after identical house helped convince me that the suburbs are doomed. What an unnatural way to live! We knew that these endless tracts of suburban houses would drop substantially in value, but we also anticipated other problems like wide-spread layoffs and even interruptions in the supply of food, and we began to feel like remaining in our suburban house was a trap of sorts. So, we decided to sell it.
We put our house on the market in early 2007, and--because we were in a race with time--each month that went by we lowered our price by $10,000! (This caused some big arguments in our household, I should add.) We didn't have many showings, but after two months we received an offer, although it was so low-ball we refused it. Apparently, these buyers thought we were desperate, but we weren't desperate--just determined. Eventually, this person came up to our (low) price and so bought our house.
We sold at the last possible moment because immediately afterwards the housing market began to fall in earnest. When the press gave the phenomenon a lot of attention house sales plummeted. At the time of our closing we felt we were cheating ourselves of profits, but when we walked away from it and we were completely out of debt for the first time in many years, it felt good. And it still feels good!
Debt-free is the correct posture to be in for the period of economic chaos we are entering. If you do have money it is a good idea to put it into REAL things like land that can support a big garden and skills and tools that will help you make a living during hard times. We are entering a period of chaos that will be unlike anything any of us has ever experienced. You should try to join or build a local community of friends and family who will hang together. That's certainly what we are doing.
