Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Odd House Out?
I've gotten some interesting reactions from many of my law school friends and acquaintances when I answer the question, "What did you do over spring break?" with, "I bought a house."
A surprising number of people seem surprised. They say "Oh wow!" as though they'd never heard of anyone buying a house, or at least never expected to meet such a person. They're all impressed--they express support and sometimes even want to see pictures--but for some reason it comes across at the very least as an unusual thing to do. I don't know of anyone else who has bought a house, so I guess it is unusual.
I'm a little confused as to why that is, though. I mean, I can understand that those people who have clerkships still have one more year till they land in the place where they'll be long term. And I suppose those going to New York or San Francisco or Los Angeles (a large portion of the HLS population) honestly don't have the means to buy a house in those markets, even on a law firm salary. Probably the number one thing that's holding most people back from buying a house after graduating from law school, though, is the fact that they're young and single. I'm a lot older than most of my classmates--what with a two-year mission and a two-year working stint that many people don't have. Plus I'm married, which is conducive to settling down.
If I were 24 and single and going to a place where houses were relatively available and affordable, I guess I might not necessarily buy one. So I guess that's one more thing to feel like an old codger about.
A surprising number of people seem surprised. They say "Oh wow!" as though they'd never heard of anyone buying a house, or at least never expected to meet such a person. They're all impressed--they express support and sometimes even want to see pictures--but for some reason it comes across at the very least as an unusual thing to do. I don't know of anyone else who has bought a house, so I guess it is unusual.
I'm a little confused as to why that is, though. I mean, I can understand that those people who have clerkships still have one more year till they land in the place where they'll be long term. And I suppose those going to New York or San Francisco or Los Angeles (a large portion of the HLS population) honestly don't have the means to buy a house in those markets, even on a law firm salary. Probably the number one thing that's holding most people back from buying a house after graduating from law school, though, is the fact that they're young and single. I'm a lot older than most of my classmates--what with a two-year mission and a two-year working stint that many people don't have. Plus I'm married, which is conducive to settling down.
If I were 24 and single and going to a place where houses were relatively available and affordable, I guess I might not necessarily buy one. So I guess that's one more thing to feel like an old codger about.
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