The other day, I heard some interesting words on the TV:

If you want to be happy for a day, buy a lottery ticket; if you want to be happy for a week, buy a new car; if you want to be happy for a year, (don’t remember exactly) buy a new house; if you want to be happy for the life, find your soul mate.

While I do not agree everything been said here, I do think house is a very important part of people’s lives. Recently the slowdown of US housing market, and subsequently the sub-prime loan crisis has burned many home buyers and investors. At the same time, I have seen my family member and good friend moving into brand new houses. It may not the perfect or best time in terms of the housing market, but I think the happiness of “owning the home” is not over rated. This is further validated by my mom’s happy voice when she told me the news of “home buying”.

(an open house I visited a while ago)

So what is my point? I am not saying everyone should go out and buy a home now. I think in the past few years, the rapid appreciation of home price (both US and China) make some people forget the fundamental value of house: that is to let people live and enjoy. In that sense, the new house does not have to be exactly “new”. The key is a sense of “ownership” and “attachment”.

For me I have been a home owner for more than 2 years. I did not realize that sense of attachment until I returned from Shanghai recently. One reason is in the last month we stayed in Shanghai, the apartment we rent changed ownership, and it appeared we needed to move. That reminds me the feeling when I renew the apartment lease in the US, the lease management raised the rent. I know living in my own home means more housing chores, but no more headache like the one I mentioned above

Happy home owner ship, mom, dad, bro, sister, niece and friends