Two Part Series: Why People Buy Houses

Fire and fear … why people buy houses, and why the media is failing its responsibility to home buyers

Smoke choking Sydney. A month of catastrophic bushfires.

Fire and the climate change that underlies it definitely puts our possessions like homes into perspective.

But the tenacity of the firefighters, residents and volunteers fighting to save properties on top of people, pets and wildlife reminds us just how important homes are to us.

And how quickly we can lose everything we own in an instant.

There was a touching story about a firie’s humble note to a rural property owner. He expressed how sorry his team were they saved the main house “but could not save your sheds”.

Properties aren’t just our homes. As that firefighter knew, they can be our sources of livelihood. Bricks and mortar carry a wealth of meaning for us.

I work as a buyers' agent in real estate. It got to me that in the same week we held our breaths, hearts racing as the fire poised to spread further, the media started amping up people’s property panic.

The week of the fires we saw yet another spin of the fear cycle with articles on how new First Home Owners’ Grants will drive up property prices.

This kinda ignored the fact that without a habitable planet there won’t be houses to buy. And that with the number of grants capped at 10,000, there’s hardly going to be a huge house price spike across Australia.

But also … talk about déjà vu. I didn’t buy this hype the first time around – or the second or third. I thought we had a 24 hour news cycle these days – not recycle.

As a buyers' agent – or buyers' advocate – my expertise is based on a thorough understanding of the market, and my formal studies in psychology. These mean I stay rational, logical, weighing up information before reaching a considered position.

But I’m increasingly eyes-incessantly-rolling at the misinformation sent out by the media and parts of my industry on the state of the housing sector.

One day, house prices are skyrocketing and 90% of millennials are panicking they’ll never afford a home.

Next day, the market is slowing and real estate agents are anxious about uncleared auction rates. Millennials? Better buy ASAP or risk missing a good deal.

If the media isn’t fear-mongering about future generations locked out of home ownership, it’s stirring up FOMO: fear of missing out.

How is it helpful to have people slammed and scammed with inconsistent and sometimes downright misleading information on a topic so vital to them?

In the human hierarchy of basic needs, shelter is right up the top along with food and water.

Housing is a primal need. If you look at Abraham Maslow’s famous pyramid of human needs, houses tick other boxes than survival.

In my experience, people buy homes because:

• It is intimately connected to their sense of belonging and being part of a family or partnership;
• It is linked to their self-esteem and self-identity;
• They are motivated by self-actualisation: wanting to build positive futures for themselves and their families;

There’s enough drama in our day-to-day lives. I don’t think the media should fuel anxiety by stirring up Last-Day-Closing-Down-One-Chance-To-Buy panic. 

People are buying a dream home, not a cheap rug.

I find some of the headlines I’ve seen over the past year irresponsible. 

They tell us people have given up on buying homes. 

They’re frozen out of the property market by overseas investment. 

The “Great Australian Dream” of home ownership is over.

As a buyers' agent, my job, my passion, is helping people find property that meets their needs.

We’re living in complex times. Let’s find constructive ways to help people navigate that complexity. Not strike fear into their souls when some weeks they have more primal worries to deal with.

@Kitty Parker

Buyer's Agent : Statistics Nerd : Geeky Media Commentator

www.kittyandmiles.com.au