Page 3 of 6 FirstFirst 12345 ... LastLast
Results 51 to 75 of 147

Thread: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

  1. #51
    God/dess Bridgette's Avatar
    Joined
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Gettin the fuck outta Dodge!
    Posts
    14,241
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    Theoretically any house can qualify for HUD money. I found info on a rehab loan program where one can buy an existing building, rehab it and/or convert it to up to 4 apts, all under one loan.

    ^^Also TONS of info about other programs and links on the HUD site.

    Quote Originally Posted by pheno View Post
    When you lead a nontraditional life don't try to measure it with traditional milestones.

  2. #52
    Veteran Member DJ_WuLf's Avatar
    Joined
    Jan 2003
    Location
    St Louis Mo.
    Posts
    341
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    Call HUD maybe? Seriously ... there is a local HUD office in every major city. Look in the blue pages of your phone book and call them and ask. Almost any Urban property that needs to be re-habbed before its liveable qualifies for HUD money. HUD money is what Habitat for Humanity works on. Prepare for paperwork though. (Ya didn't think this was gonna be EZ did ya?) I'm guessing from B's description that it would be better to re-hab an entire block than just 1 or 2 houses. Improve the Location along with the property.

    Negative is the Ground side of the battery Sparky .... I prefer to be called well grounded TYVM.
    14 years working in Strip Clubs. "What a long strange trip it's been"

  3. #53
    God/dess Bridgette's Avatar
    Joined
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Gettin the fuck outta Dodge!
    Posts
    14,241
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    Yes, I was thinking of buying a ROW to rehab rather than just one building. As I stated earlier you can pick up a row of houses in need of rehab for @ 10k. I was thinking of a particular group I know of just around the corner from me.

    Quote Originally Posted by pheno View Post
    When you lead a nontraditional life don't try to measure it with traditional milestones.

  4. #54
    Senior Member
    Joined
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Ontario,Canada
    Posts
    105
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    You are lucky in the US, for the most part you are able to deduct the mortgage interest on your tax return. That is not the case in Canada. You are only able to deduct the interest if you are operating a small business out of your home, otherewise the common taxpayer isn't able to claim this deduction. I would look at owning your principal residence not as an investment but as your escape from society. If you factor in how much you pay in mortgage interest, property taxes, and utilities, I think most people would be surprised at how little you are getting on your investment. But if you look at your home as your sanctuary away from everyone, the spot where you can relax, and eventually retire in, then it makes much more sense to own that to rent. The one problem in Canada is they have lowered the minimum down payment you need to as low as 5% so there may be a lot more home owners out there, but there are a lot more people going to go bankrupt because they cannot afford to make their mortgage payments.
    The first rule of Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club.

  5. #55
    madmaxine
    Guest

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    Miracles can happen in real estate purchasing, albeit down-to-earth-ones: 2 years ago I met a man who purchased a "crackhouse" in downtown Fresno CA for $20,000, to renovate. Due to mushrooming urban sprawl, the value on this property has shot sky-high. My cousin tried to buy a home in that area and was unable to, she had to move far southward, and that home was still over $300,000.

  6. #56
    Featured Member scorpio's Avatar
    Joined
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    868
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    Melonie, I know you are real smart and all, but I am so sick of you scaring people away from home ownership. real estate is the safest, fastest appreciateing investment you can get, and on top of it all...you can live there. Maybe out in the boonies or wherever you live property values are falling, but for 99% of Americans, home ownership is building wealth. I see it every day in the mortgage industry-people who bought homes for 100K 5 years ago are shocked to see how much their properties appreciate. I know people, dancers, who buy properties at the rate of one per month-and they are fast becoming asset wealthy. rates go up and down, and there are a variety of stratagies to combat this. I can tell you that with even marginal credit, getting payments that equal 2-3% isn't hard. Buy a home and rent it out and get cashflow while you gain equity. You can spew your stats and figures all you want, but the reality is that real estate is a winner. Sure, like anything, you have to educate yourself and buy right, but I guarantee you, without a shadow of a doubt, that I can go into any area of America, even yours, and find a property that will make me money. What people don't realise is that your home mortgage is not a bill-it is a tool. Your property is like your very own bank. You can extract money from it as the equity rises. With this money, you can invest in more property. As an example, I found a home where the owner is behind on the mortgage. The loan he owes is 280K, and after a quick appraisal check, I determined that his home is worth about 495K! That is 215K in equity! I could buy that now, pull 100K in cash immediately, buy 20 other houses with it, and make several thousand a month just on the rents-ALL FROM THAT FIRST HOUSE. Oh, and that 495K house? It will be worth 520K by this time next year.

    Maybe you made a bad purchase in the past. maybe you never educated yourself in the niceties of real estate. maybe you are just a naysayer-I don't know, but I really wish you would stop scaring people, and stop talking about subjects you don't understand.

  7. #57
    Featured Member scorpio's Avatar
    Joined
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    868
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    Also, to those who were asking about HUD or FHA-Don't. It's a waste of time, incredibly complicated, offers no better rates than market, has higher fees and add-ons, and restricts what kind of property you can buy. The only reason brokers steer people towards HUD/FHA is because they make twice as much in commissions.

    You can find much better programs with the majority of lenders out there-even if you don't have much down or have marginal credit.

  8. #58
    Banned Melonie's Avatar
    Joined
    Jul 2002
    Location
    way south of the border
    Posts
    25,932
    Thanks
    612
    Thanked 10,563 Times in 4,646 Posts
    Blog Entries
    3
    My Mood
    Cynical

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    Maybe you made a bad purchase in the past. maybe you never educated yourself in the niceties of real estate. maybe you are just a naysayer-I don't know, but I really wish you would stop scaring people, and stop talking about subjects you don't understand.
    Scorpio, I appreciate the fact that a few savvy and lucky investors have (emphasis on past tense) made incredible amounts of money speculating in real estate. However, the same sort of savvy and lucky investors had (definite emphasis on past tense) made incredible amounts of money in the 90's by speculating in tech stocks with the same techniques you mention (i.e. buying stocks on margin, pledging shares as collateral to purchase other shares). In both cases, accumulating highly leveraged assets is IMHO a "house of cards", subject to the whole "house of cards" collapsing with any serious market pullback. We all know the stories of highly leveraged stock market investors in the 2000 pullback. IMHO there's every reason to believe that the US housing market in many areas is approaching similar conditions.

    I'll again state that in terms of a 'primary residence', rent avoidance and deductibility of mortgage interest creates a situation where falling housing market prices in the future is a secondary consideration. In other words, buying the house you plan to live in makes a great deal of sense. However, investing in rental real estate or speculative real estate involves significant risks, and those risks should not be ignored simply because the "housing bubble" has created many more winners than losers over the past few years.

  9. #59
    Veteran Member DJ_WuLf's Avatar
    Joined
    Jan 2003
    Location
    St Louis Mo.
    Posts
    341
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    Sounds like somebody bought a Carlton Sheets course and couldnt get his money back. If it was sooo EZ to make money in Real Estate ya gotta wonder why EVERYBODY isnt a millionaire and why Scorpio doesn't own those 20 houses? Maybe because Talking and Typing about it is alot easier then actually DOING IT?

    Why would the housing market be ready to decline? Lets see .... Aging population, Trend to less children and smaller homes/apartments, rising interest rates, rising energy costs, rising material costs, FALLING wage rates, .... ect ect ect. I challange you to find ONE Solid reason that RE Values might rise in the future. NOT what they have done in the PAST .... The FUTURE condition that is conducive to RE prices continuing to rise.

    The thing I am SICK of is hearing people talk about APPRAISAL VALUE. Thats meaningless.
    My ex had a 1ct diamond ring that APPRAISED for $6,000 .... is Sold for $1,500
    I have a Car that APPRAISES for $30,000 ..... Sale value is less than $20,000.

    If Appraisers had to actually BUY the houses they value .... then quote me Appraisal value as a real selling price but otherwise it's just a borrowing value and guess what ... YA STILL OWE THAT MONEY!

    Its EZ to become a PAPER Real Estate Millionaire. Show me a Million in DEBT FREE cash and Ill be impressed. The quickest way to do that is STOCKS. Ask Warren Buffet.

    I wish Scorpio would UNDERSTAND the subjects he decides to Talk about but if wishes were wings .....
    14 years working in Strip Clubs. "What a long strange trip it's been"

  10. #60
    God/dess VenusGoddess's Avatar
    Joined
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Home
    Posts
    13,598
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 28 Times in 23 Posts

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    ^ Hmmmm...someone sounds a little jealous.

  11. #61
    madmaxine
    Guest

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    A word quickly about government home loan programs. In cynical truth, the government treats homeowners it has lent to like tenants until the mortgage is paid off. In fact, much of the Q&A literature explains that the houses available to to HUD/FHA qualified buyers ARE repossessed properties.....that could make you nervous, but hell, the government putting you out on the street is the same as a bank putting you out there too!
    I am a proponent of homeownership because it is an investment in your future; even if it doesn't appreciate much, you still have somewhere to live. If you want to raise children, letting them grow up in one place is healthier for them. Besides that, in my experience, landlords are never incredibly concerned about their tenant's welfare. Wouldn't you rather do things for yourself?
    PS Those of you in states other than California should count your lucky stars- you get more house for your dollar. Where I live, people are paying upwards of $250,000 for ugly tract houses with tiny yards. I'll be buying my first home OUTSIDE of this state.....

  12. #62
    God/dess Emily's Avatar
    Joined
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Las Vegas
    Posts
    11,302
    Thanks
    4
    Thanked 143 Times in 72 Posts

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    The population is not declining! Where did you get that? If people live longer, then they are holding on to their houses, not selling them. Children don't really factor into the equation since they won't be buying for another 20 years or so. Houses are getting bigger, not smaller. It's only recently has the number of bathrooms in a house matched the number of bedrooms. Children don't share bedrooms anymore. Old houses don't have family rooms and living rooms and dens and finished basements. People don't care about the cost of energy and materials. If they did, SUVs wouldn't be so popular. These days, bigger is better.

    There will always be people that want to live in a house they bought for themselves. The American dream isn't owning stocks. You cannot compare the tech bubble of the late 90s to real estate. People were buying stocks based on their perceived value, not actual value. Real estate isn't as much of a speculative market (people buy a primary residence for personal use first, investment second). People don't sell on a whim when the values start going down.

    I know it's not easy to be a real estate millionaire. I don't know any. But it's a safe bet there are many out there.

    I think there are two different types of real estate purchases being discussed here. I hope people don't interpret this thread to mean that they should not buy a house as a primary residence.

  13. #63
    God/dess Bridgette's Avatar
    Joined
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Gettin the fuck outta Dodge!
    Posts
    14,241
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    grabbing the puppy from Emily's hands

    Right on Em!

    running away with the puppy

    Quote Originally Posted by pheno View Post
    When you lead a nontraditional life don't try to measure it with traditional milestones.

  14. #64
    God/dess Emily's Avatar
    Joined
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Las Vegas
    Posts
    11,302
    Thanks
    4
    Thanked 143 Times in 72 Posts

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    heeee!

    That's my little man!

    Root Beer.
    Last edited by Emily; 01-12-2007 at 12:58 PM.

  15. #65
    Veteran Member DJ_WuLf's Avatar
    Joined
    Jan 2003
    Location
    St Louis Mo.
    Posts
    341
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    Save the puppy!

    First of all I didn't say DECLINING population ... I said AGING population.
    I also said less children .. 2 kids at 1 bdr per kid is less bedrooms than 4 kids at 1bdr per kid.
    It costs almost $100 per sq ft to build a new home today. That makes a 2500 sq ft house (not a huge house) cost a quater million dollars. even on a 40 year loan ....the AVERAGE American can't afford this house. Remember that the AVERAGE American makes $32,000 a year. Everybody isnt a stripper (or a DJ) who makes a grand or 2 a week.

    When houses become overpriced (priced higher than the target market can afford) Guess what HAPPENS? Prices HAVE to come down and the only way to do that is either SMALLER or OLDER.

    Cars (SUV's) are different. a 30-40 thousand investment is much easier to NOT Afford than a 250 thousand investment. Also on both cars and houses .....most people don't really BUY anyway because they never REALIZE (actually get) the equity. If you don't actually get the equity ..you may as well RENT.

    I agree ... BUYERS don't really care about materials and energy. BUILDERS DO because thats the area they can CUT prices. All most buyers care about is the monthly payment. Just like with cars. It doesn't matter what it COSTS in total .... just how much it costs per month. Well the creative finance boys are about out of ways to make payments cheaper so ........

    Im still waiting for ONE valid reason that pre-existing RE will continue to gain value in the future? Anybody?
    14 years working in Strip Clubs. "What a long strange trip it's been"

  16. #66
    God/dess Bridgette's Avatar
    Joined
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Gettin the fuck outta Dodge!
    Posts
    14,241
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...




    OMG this is just the CUTEST dog EVER! I might have to hold him for ransom.

    What kind is he?

    And Wulf I'm stealing your kitty too

    Quote Originally Posted by pheno View Post
    When you lead a nontraditional life don't try to measure it with traditional milestones.

  17. #67
    Featured Member scorpio's Avatar
    Joined
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    868
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    Quote Originally Posted by DJ_WuLf
    Sounds like somebody bought a Carlton Sheets course and couldnt get his money back. If it was sooo EZ to make money in Real Estate ya gotta wonder why EVERYBODY isnt a millionaire and why Scorpio doesn't own those 20 houses? Maybe because Talking and Typing about it is alot easier then actually DOING IT?

    Why would the housing market be ready to decline? Lets see .... Aging population, Trend to less children and smaller homes/apartments, rising interest rates, rising energy costs, rising material costs, FALLING wage rates, .... ect ect ect. I challange you to find ONE Solid reason that RE Values might rise in the future. NOT what they have done in the PAST .... The FUTURE condition that is conducive to RE prices continuing to rise.

    The thing I am SICK of is hearing people talk about APPRAISAL VALUE. Thats meaningless.
    My ex had a 1ct diamond ring that APPRAISED for $6,000 .... is Sold for $1,500
    I have a Car that APPRAISES for $30,000 ..... Sale value is less than $20,000.

    If Appraisers had to actually BUY the houses they value .... then quote me Appraisal value as a real selling price but otherwise it's just a borrowing value and guess what ... YA STILL OWE THAT MONEY!

    Its EZ to become a PAPER Real Estate Millionaire. Show me a Million in DEBT FREE cash and Ill be impressed. The quickest way to do that is STOCKS. Ask Warren Buffet.

    I wish Scorpio would UNDERSTAND the subjects he decides to Talk about but if wishes were wings .....
    ?????

    Sounds like someone hasn't bought a home, and therefore has nothing of value to show for all his hard work.

    Where, exactly did I say it was easy? Home ownership is a big responsibility. Melonie likes to point out that owning property carries responsibilities such as taxes, repair, maintinance, insurance, etc. etc. etc...

    ...aaaaand.

    She's right. BUT. at the end of the day. At the end of the year-99% of home owners are left with more value than they started with. 100% of renters are left with ZERO value, minus thousands of dollars in expense. Period. Full stop. End of story.

    as far as the "housing bubble" yes, in some areas of the country, homes are appreciating so rediculously rapidly, that some areas, and some properties, are bound for some sort of decline. That may be, but the VAST MAJORITY are not. The homes that are in danger of declining are the bigger custom homes. You have as much chance as a single family, 3 bedroom home declining as getting hit by lightening. You have as much chance as that same home appreciating as you do thinking Angelina Joli is hot-nearly 100%!

    Cars (SUV's) are different. a 30-40 thousand investment is much easier to NOT Afford than a 250 thousand investment. Also on both cars and houses .....most people don't really BUY anyway because they never REALIZE (actually get) the equity. If you don't actually get the equity ..you may as well RENT.
    By you trying to compare purchasing and SUV with a home, you just proved that you never passed an economics class, and that you probably went ahead and did something stupid as wasting all your financial leverage by purchasing said SUV instead of a home (A 100% certainty that that SUV is depreciateing rapidly) Sadly, I see it all the time. Joe Q Public, who makes 32,000/yr, Has a $500 a month payment on his Excursion that he just HAD to have, and now his debt to income ratio (debt divided by income) is so whacked, that he can't qualify for a mortage......Idiots.

    And....how can you say people never realise the equity in their homes? Are you daft? Do you own any property? For example, Venus and I bought a small, 2 bedroom condo in an average, suburban area of Chicago last year. Nothing special. Good investment. Our taxes, insurance, association, etc payments are around $1000/month. We bought the property with only $2,000 down. The going rent in the area is $1200/month. That is $200 in monthly cash-flow. Not great, but positive. Now, I am refinancing it on an interest only loan at 3% so my PITI payments are dropping to under $600, so now my casflow is increasing to $600 per month.The real cool thing was that as of July, only 10 months after we bought it, that it apprasied for $6,000 more than what we bought it for. See what I mean? Compare THAT with renting.

    As far as appraising..that you compare home appraisals with jewlery further illustrates your lack of education. In real estate, Agents freaquently over appraise, but the mortgage lenders will ALWAYS cut the appraisal down to reality. If your are successful in getting a loan on a property, you can bet your bottom dollar that the appraised value is real value-maybe even a bit under. I can't tell you how many times a day my appraiser reviewer chops appraisal values to conform to reality, so no, what you say, again, has no basis in truth.

    and stocks? Please. If you are going to waste money gambling, just go to Vagas. You will have more fun, and you have the same chance of winning.

  18. #68
    Featured Member exotica17's Avatar
    Joined
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Somewhere over the rainbow
    Posts
    884
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    Quote Originally Posted by Melonie
    Thanks, Katherine. The problem when attempting to do anything like this is credibility. My degree is in respiratory therapy not economics. I work as a big boob stripper not a banker or broker. Nobody in the publishing industry would give me the time of day if I submitted anything 'serious'.
    Get a pen name! Or write a humorous but infomative book, "Big Boobs, Big Brain." I am sure that if the publishers read your book, they wouldn't care if you had a degree in finance or not--good info is good info.

  19. #69
    Banned Melonie's Avatar
    Joined
    Jul 2002
    Location
    way south of the border
    Posts
    25,932
    Thanks
    612
    Thanked 10,563 Times in 4,646 Posts
    Blog Entries
    3
    My Mood
    Cynical

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    Get a pen name! Or write a humorous but infomative book, "Big Boobs, Big Brain." I am sure that if the publishers read your book, they wouldn't care if you had a degree in finance or not--good info is good info.
    Ah, if only it actually worked that way ! Like clubowners, publishers have their own personal preferences and favorites. I might look into on-demand internet publishing though.

    The population is not declining! Where did you get that? If people live longer, then they are holding on to their houses, not selling them. Children don't really factor into the equation since they won't be buying for another 20 years or so.
    Actually, population in specific states IS declining. Coincidentally LOL the US Census Bureau has just released new figures which show that people with good jobs = taxpayers = qualified buyers for houses are leaving California and NY and IN and PA etc. and moving to southern and western states by the thousand per day. True, the population of California and NY etc. does not decline overall because there are more (illegal) immigrants coming in to take their place than there are taxpayers leaving the state. More details at .

    At any rate, for those states where taxpayers are leaving by the droves, these people are selling their houses. Obviously the (illegal) immigrants coming into these states usually do not have the financial means or reported incomes to be able to afford to buy these houses, leaving the real estate markets in these states under pressure. When the taxpayers arrive in the southern and western states, they will need to buy another house and DO have the financial means and reported incomes to be qualified buyers, causing the housing market in these states to boom.

  20. #70
    Veteran Member
    Joined
    Oct 2004
    Posts
    357
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    I think scorpio understands what he is talking about dj wulf better than most. I love when people who dont even own a home try to make assumtions about something they know nothing about. The reason there arent tons of millionaire realestate investors out there is because alot of people dont know how to go about it. Or they dont have the credit or cash flow. I still say rental properies are a great investment. Or buying holding for a while and selling. If I sold the property I built 15 months ago for 126,000 I could easily get 249,000 for. Even if property values did fall say 10 % most values are so over inflated right now it wouldnt matter, there would still be tons of money to be made. Especially in florida were houses actually sell for over the asking price because of all the buyers here.

  21. #71
    Featured Member scorpio's Avatar
    Joined
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    868
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    At any rate, for those states where taxpayers are leaving by the droves, these people are selling their houses. Obviously the (illegal) immigrants coming into these states usually do not have the financial means or reported incomes to be able to afford to buy these houses, leaving the real estate markets in these states under pressure. When the taxpayers arrive in the southern and western states, they will need to buy another house and DO have the financial means and reported incomes to be qualified buyers, causing the housing market in these states to bo
    this would be an interesting story had it been tru. Public and corporate data are all showing that the California housing market is expanding at a fevered pace, NOT declining. So what gives? Mel forgets that for every thousand Cali native that moves away, 2 thousand others take their place....and the values are rising with no end in sight.

  22. #72
    Banned Melonie's Avatar
    Joined
    Jul 2002
    Location
    way south of the border
    Posts
    25,932
    Thanks
    612
    Thanked 10,563 Times in 4,646 Posts
    Blog Entries
    3
    My Mood
    Cynical

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    Washington Post today ...

    " Housing starts plummeted in November to 1.771 million residential units at an annual rate, from 2.039 million in October, the Commerce Department said. It marked the biggest decline since January 1994 and pulled starts down to their lowest level since May 2003. Construction declined in all four U.S. regions. Starts were down for both single-family and multi-family projects.

    "Housing is leveling off," said Michael Carliner, another economist at the home builders' group. "It's not going to be able to drive the economy like it has."

    At the same time that starts dropped so precipitously, though, building permits, a sign of future building activity, declined just 1.5 percent, to 1.988 million.

    "When you see this big of a gap between permits and starts, it almost always involves a weather problem," Seiders said. "The level of permits is still very, very good."

    Seiders said that builders were carrying more unsold houses in their inventories now than at any time since the beginning of the 1980s. But, he said, the pace of sales continued to be strong. He said the drop in construction in November could be the result of "builder caution about starting new units when they've got a sizable inventory on their hands already."

    The home builders' association predicts housing starts will decline in 2005. Economists there forecast a dip of 3 to 5 percent in starts for the year, compared with 2004, which is expected to be a record year for new home starts, new home sales and existing home sales.

    Builders in the Washington area, however, remain bullish about business prospects for the coming year.

    "The Washington, D.C., market is spectacular, one of the best in the country," said Robert Toll, chairman and chief executive of luxury builder Toll Brothers Inc.

    Cory DeSpain, Toll Brothers' division vice president for Maryland and Virginia, said the demand for new homes in the region is much stronger than the company's production capacity. DeSpain said that as a result, prices of his firm's houses went up more than 20 percent in 2004 in the Washington area and are expected to increase by a similar amount in 2005. "

    My own take on the situation is similar to the Toll Brothers comment, that the rich have money for expensive upscale houses in classy neighborhoods, but that the 'poor' do not have the income and can no longer get the credit to buy relatively inexpensive downscale houses.

    So what gives? Mel forgets that for every thousand Cali native that moves away, 2 thousand others take their place....and the values are rising with no end in sight.
    Granted that two thousand new residents may replace the one thousand that left. However, the vast majority of the one thousand that left were middle class, and the vast majority of new residents are not going to qualify for mortgages at California home price levels. IMHO if you're talking about UPSCALE housing then yes the California market will probably continue to rise (as many Californians have more money than they know what to do with!). However, if you're talking about 'average' or 'downscale' housing, speculating in the California market involves an increasing degree of risk.
    Last edited by Melonie; 12-23-2004 at 10:33 AM.

  23. #73
    Featured Member scorpio's Avatar
    Joined
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    868
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    new construction is not the only indiex of housing purchases. The mortgage application stats are not declining.

  24. #74
    Senior Member
    Joined
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Ontario,Canada
    Posts
    105
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    Quote Originally Posted by scorpio
    ?????


    She's right. BUT. at the end of the day. At the end of the year-99% of home owners are left with more value than they started with. 100% of renters are left with ZERO value, minus thousands of dollars in expense. Period. Full stop. End of story.

    .
    I was just wondering what other expenses renters would have. If you rent an apartment, other than the phone, and possibly cable, what other expenses could you have, with renting your costs are pretty set each month. With owning your own home, you have property taxes, utilities, repairs and maintenance. If you add on the interest paid on the life of the loan, I would be interested to see the actual difference between renting and buying. Scorpio, you are right, renters are left with zero value in their apartment/house, but if you include the expendable capital they have by not paying utilities, prop taxes, and repairs, with which they could invest in the markets, art, collectables, etc. they could end up with a higher rate of return on that money.
    I am not going to say that owning a home is bad, because it isn't, but unless you have a family and need the space, or don't want your neighbours above, below, and beside you, renting doesn't have to be bad either. And before you say anything, I have a University degree in Business/Politics, and have been preparing income tax returns for the past 12 years. So I know about investments, rate of returns, etc. And I have seen the problems that people have gotten themselves into by buying a house when the weren't financially capable of it.
    Purchasing a rental property is completely different, as there is definitely money to be made there, as long as you get good tenants, don't have to do too many repairs to the property, and enjoy taking care of the property. Me, I can think of many other ways to make money, that doesn't involve those headaches.
    The first rule of Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club.

  25. #75
    Featured Member scorpio's Avatar
    Joined
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    868
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts

    Default Re: Home Ownership may no longer be the best investment ...

    You are correct in that many people over purchase homes. I see it all the time, people make 80K and think they're wealthy, and try to pay for a 400K home. Stupid.

    remember, renters also pay most utilities. Mortgage interest and fees are deductable, and in many cases, your mortage payment will be lower than your rent payment.

Page 3 of 6 FirstFirst 12345 ... LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. dancing and home ownership
    By Farrah_Golden in forum Stripping (was Stripping General)
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 11-29-2011, 10:30 AM
  2. Husband/Wife Home Ownership
    By CC_Mist in forum Dollar Den
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 03-07-2007, 10:52 AM
  3. Home Ownership and the Lovely Winter Weather
    By MojoJojo in forum The Lounge
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 12-13-2005, 07:52 AM
  4. Stripping, Financial Solvency, & Home Ownership
    By 242_fair in forum Dollar Den
    Replies: 21
    Last Post: 01-13-2005, 09:36 AM
  5. Home Ownership
    By MojoJojo in forum The Lounge
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 09-12-2004, 10:37 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •