Your home: Practicality counts more than status

If a silver lining can be found from the last decade’s foreclosure crisis, it’s that many learned that a home isn’t right for them unless they can comfortably afford it.

The Mcmansion era, when buyers bought big because a man’s home is his castle, his statement to the world, is so over, right? Not quite.

A recent survey conducted by Bankrate.com found that 12 percent of the 2,700 American adults surveyed said they felt pressured to spend more than they were comfortable with in order to appear successful in the eyes of others.

Indeed, an unscientific poll we conducted shows that we make judgments about people based upon the value of their home.

“It’s pretty taboo to ask someone how much money they make, but when you know their address you can get a little bit of a peek into their finances and get an idea of how much money they make,” shares Matt Casady, marketing manager for Stor-n-lock.

The Internet also generates pressure to keep up appearances. “Millennials are about 3.5 times as likely as older adults to feel pressure to overspend due to social media,” shares Ted Rossman, Bankrate. com spokesperson. “Don’t pay too much for a house because of Instagram or Pinterest,” he warns.

Kit Yarrow, consumer psychologist with Golden Gate University, agrees with that point: “Social media and the popularity of home-related programming have played a strong role in giving people psychological permission to consider buying and perhaps stretching their budgets.”

“Today we just get part of the story when we learn through what we see on social media,” she adds.

Yes, it’s human nature to be proud of your home, but if people are “thinking more about what someone else will think of their purchase than what they think about it, they are buying for approval or status.”

Luckily, “just recognizing this tendency should be enough to manage the urge to overspend,” Yarrow concludes.