Read and respond to an article

The article that I chose this time is located at this link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080326/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy;_ylt=AjPGGjdsokTvUbwgvHpd1Qes0NUE There were actually quite a few topics covered in the article that I read for this entry. Some of which were the economic growth or lack thereof, orders for durable goods, and several other declines that I chose not to write about. The one from this article that I want to respond to is the housing decline. I really don’t know much about this, as I have never been interested in buying a home until now. Well, I was interested, but never able. We are hoping to buy our first home sometime within the next couple of years. As I continue to read about a possible recession, I get a little worried that maybe our timing is off, that maybe we should wait. The only problem is, I don’t want to wait. I’ve waited 10 years to be able to buy a home and now that I’m able to, it may not be a good time. Of course, the article did state that the prices may fall some more, meaning that we may be able to get the home we want for a fairly reasonable price. We’re not looking for something extravagant, just a home where we can raise our kids and be comfortable, not cramped.
Here’s what the article said about the slump: “Many analysts believe that the slump in housing, which began in 2006, could last into 2009.” I know this sounds like housing could possibly be affordable for someone like my husband and I, but what if we do buy and then he suddenly gets transferred to a new location, what then? Do we rent out our home or try to sell? And if we do sell, will we lose money because we got impatient and had to buy right now? The house next door to us was on the market for over a year and a half before it finally sold. Could this hurt new home buyers like us? I don’t know. All I know is that we have to do what is best for us and if that means waiting, then we will wait.
One thing that this article stated was that “Economic growth slowed to a barely discernible 0.6 percent in the final three months of last year, and many economists believe the gross domestic product will turn negative in the current quarter, signaling the start of a recession.” I know that there are those checks coming out in May to help the economy, but how many people are going to do as my husband and I? They say they want us to spend it back into the economy, to go out and buy “things”, but we aren’t. We want to buy our first home and the only way to do that is to pay off some bills. So, the check that we get will go to pay off part of what we owe on my van, because once that is paid off, we can buy a home. No, that may not be helping the economy in the way that the government had in mind, but won’t us paying off debt and buying a home also help the economy in some minute way?