Buying a House, Taxes and Gratitude

I've really enjoyed reading the blog Ask Uncle Bill. I like his optimistic attitude and his no non-sense approach to investing. He is obviously quite generous in freely sharing the wisdom gained through experience. And now comes the "but"... But I had what I'll say is a lukewarm reception to the article about saving money on buying a house. Specifically I was a bit concerned about suggestion 2:

2-There are always people in trouble and trouble usually means divorce, loss of job, or transfer. We found all three in our house search and in one house. People in trouble need to get out of trouble and pricing suffers accordingly, for them but in favor of you.

Maybe it's because I'm someone who has some experience with financial and personal trouble that I find it a bit disconcerting to take advantage financially of someone else's trouble. It reminded me for some reason of the famous Wallstreet Journal Article about Lucky Duckies. Lucky Duckies are people who benefit from exemptions targeted for low income individuals and therefore pay little or no federal income tax. It's amazing to me how money can make people loose perspective so quickly. It's as if the higher your income becomes the more obsessed you become with taxes and taking home every last cent.

I've been told that as I become more financially secure, my perspective on taxes will change. It really hasn't yet. I'm now in the 25% tax bracket myself, but I started out as one of the Lucky Duckies. I had a difficult time making ends meet and resorted to things such as selling blood plasma to pay the bills. Sure I tend to support lower taxes in general. In that sense I'm a Richardson Democrat. However I certainly don't resent having to pay higher taxes than I did five to ten years ago, and I feel much more like a Lucky Ducky today. The fact that I am likely to buy my first house in the next few years makes me feel only luckier.

Perhaps getting a good deal on a house is only sound business. However I think what both these writers are displaying is a lack of gratitude. My suggestion would be to buy the house that you can afford without trying to take advantage of someone's situation. And next time you jump a tax bracket, just smile, pay your taxes and be grateful that you have the money to do it.