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1. Stay away from condos!!!!!
2. Don't buy a home unless you are married, have a family, and fully intend to settle down in an area for at least a decade. If you have kids, you should own a home since apartments are no place to raise kids.
3. Don't buy a home that is over 20 years old. The repair bills aren't worth it.
4. If you are single, keep renting cheap apartments, cook your own food, drive an old car, and stick what's left over in your 401k and IRA. Renting provides you with a lot of flexibility career-wise since you can easily move. A home is a ball and chain. That kind of goes with #2, wait until you are married and settled down before considering homeownership.
5. Never EVER listen to realtors who tell you that renting is "throwing money away" and that owning a home is an "investment." Stocks are investments. A home is just something you live in. You throw money away on realtor's commissions, HOA fees, maintenance costs, property taxes, insurance, etc. on a home and should you need to sell when the housing market stinks, you'll throw a ton of money away.
i would have bought the condo in nyc that i liked back in the 80's and sold blood to get it.....
because that 100K back then was a lot, but the same condos go for 2 million, or more today.
1. Stay away from condos!!!!! Agree
2. Don't buy a home unless you are married, have a family, and fully intend to settle down in an area for at least a decade. If you have kids, you should own a home since apartments are no place to raise kids. Disagree. Not having kids is not a reason not to have a home in the form of a house
3. Don't buy a home that is over 20 years old. The repair bills aren't worth it. Disagree, it depends on the house and the cost of the house.
4. If you are single, keep renting cheap apartments, cook your own food, drive an old car, and stick what's left over in your 401k and IRA. Renting provides you with a lot of flexibility career-wise since you can easily move. A home is a ball and chain. That kind of goes with #2, wait until you are married and settled down before considering homeownership. Disagree, having a house allows for options. I would never have had a place for my four cars, tools, and lots of personal belongings I have collected over the years if I didn't have a house.
5. Never EVER listen to realtors who tell you that renting is "throwing money away" and that owning a home is an "investment." Stocks are investments. A home is just something you live in. You throw money away on realtor's commissions, HOA fees, maintenance costs, property taxes, insurance, etc. on a home and should you need to sell when the housing market stinks, you'll throw a ton of money away. Disagree, having or not having a house depends on who you are and your own personal situation. It is not a one size fits all proposition.
Also... If I had it to do again:
I am in a neighborhood where the covenants are not too restrictive, the HOA is relatively weak, and it would be had for them to change and provisions. I like that. But I sometimes wish I had bought a property that has more land so I could house more toys.
My husband and I sold our house a few months ago and have taken up slow-travel full time with our two kids. We don't regret buying our house in the least (lived in for 7 years and loved the memories we made with our kids and family gatherings), but I would tell my former self that there is no end to a "house to-do list" and no such thing as finishing a house. We've (society) put our houses on a pedestal. Trying to hit these unattainable never-ending goals that are painful to reach, and once we reach them realize we didn't need all of that up-do and who-ha in the house to make the house look just-so to begin with. We are fed messages from HGTV, houzz.com, Home depot "More saving, more doing", Lowes "Never stop improving", IKEA, and every other home retail store out there trying to sell you a look or a dream of what it might feel like to live in a finished home. Guess what. It's a bunch of consumerist nonsense.
It's nice to do away with that house pressure, at least for now. We will likely buy again at some point in the future, but will enjoy the lack of a house-to-do list in the meantime and put our energy elsewhere. Hopefully more into family and friendships and spending time living life a little different than before.
Nope. No regrets when it comes to owning a home. I've been a homeowner, both singly and jointly, for over 20 years. There's no way I'd return to renting. And yes, if I had rented I'd be throwing money away. I was blessed and sold the properties at a nice profit, money I'd never see had I been a renter. Homeownership is not for everyone, but I was the type of person who wasnt flighty and was willing to put in the work to save for the downpayment.
My advice to myself if I could go back in time:
Save EVERY dang dime. It's to buy yourself freedom, not stuff.
Do NOT believe your neighborhood mortgage guy when he says it'll "Improve your investment" if you refinance and use the money to remodel. The market tanked 6 months later so our move is finally going to happen next year...10 years late. (we live in a very rural, not in demand area).
Set a time frame for how long adult children can live at home rent free.
Going way back in time:
Save EVERY dime.
Buy a small house in Seattle and hang onto it...it'll pay off big time in 15 to 20 years. Rent it out if you can.
You know that guy who says he'll make all your dreams come true? He did...it'll turn out they were nightmares though.
Rent until you know exactly what area feels like a forever home.
You will regret letting anyone pick baby blue as a house color.
There is no such thing as too much space when it comes to a yard.
Two words about where to move and buy. "Urban sprawl". That'll make sense in the coming years.
Random advice:
In our coming house search I have studied everything I can possibly get my hands on about homes where we want to move. My husband works what seems like a thousand hours so he is trusting me to walk him through the info once we move in 9 months. So my advice? educate yourself, knowledge is power. Know what the interest rates are, scores necessary, financing options. Don't trust your fate to a broker or realtor to completely lead you, you need to know the basics on your own so you don't make a bad deal. Last piece of advice? Trust your gut. It's that inner voice that you know is correct but you sometimes ignore, on real estate it's a good idea to listen to it.
Don't buy lots more house (and yard) than you need.
No, it's not just a cosmetic fixer upper. It's a money pit.
Every home improvement project will cost much more than you estimated and will be more complicated than you imagined.
No, you will not get used to the noise from the nearby busy street and park. It will bother you for the next 20 years or more.
I love my older single family home and my neighborhood. I would not like renting or living in a condo or apartment. But the house has cost much more than I expected to maintain and improve it. And real estate in my city and state has not appreciated significantly so my home has been an okay investment but not a great investment. More of a forced savings plan than an investment.
1. Stay away from condos!!!!!
2. Don't buy a home unless you are married, have a family, and fully intend to settle down in an area for at least a decade. If you have kids, you should own a home since apartments are no place to raise kids.
3. Don't buy a home that is over 20 years old. The repair bills aren't worth it.
4. If you are single, keep renting cheap apartments, cook your own food, drive an old car, and stick what's left over in your 401k and IRA. Renting provides you with a lot of flexibility career-wise since you can easily move. A home is a ball and chain. That kind of goes with #2, wait until you are married and settled down before considering homeownership.
5. Never EVER listen to realtors who tell you that renting is "throwing money away" and that owning a home is an "investment." Stocks are investments. A home is just something you live in. You throw money away on realtor's commissions, HOA fees, maintenance costs, property taxes, insurance, etc. on a home and should you need to sell when the housing market stinks, you'll throw a ton of money away.
I strongly disagree with all of your points except the first one. I simply don't like condos--or HOAs--but they still work for some people. Everything else would be terrible advice from my perspective.
In retrospect, the "advice" I would give myself regarding real estate would be mainly:
1. Don't hold on to investment real estate as long. Fix it up, rent for a while (at least long enough to qualify for capital gains), and then sell it and invest the proceeds again. I made money as a landlord but I made much more from the appreciation gained from rehab--and from buying low, of course. I would have been better off if I had sold and bought other houses to rehab instead of just renting out a number of houses. Besides, some tenants were a real pain.
2. Buy more acreage, preferably with a lake (or at least on one), and build a small cabin--not as an investment, but just for fun. It still would have appreciated nicely.
3. Don't buy quite as much real estate--primarily because it is not a passive investment! It's work! Instead, buy more stock--especially in dividend paying companies with dividend reinvestment. Real estate is a good investment, but it's not the only game in town. Just ask Warren Buffett.
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