Homeowners of SF bayarea: do you regret or not? (foreclosure, to rent)

[Chuck5000]

If someone bought in 2006, at the top of the market, they haven't gotten ahead again until recently. It's easy to forget that you have to account for inflation (low these days) property taxes, maintenance, capital improvements you make, and broker fees etc in judging ROI.

In conversations I've seen, tons of people report making, say $500k on a house in appreciation, but they don't mention that they put 150k into the house, and they don't count the taxes or broker fees they paid as well.

If one stays long term, they should do at least OK here. If somebody wants to get in and buy and get out within a short time frame, say, less than 10 years, and are counting on big bucks from appreciation alone, I think it's a pretty huge gamble. Easy to lose money. Of course, you don't feel that way if you bought at the right time, and in that case it looks like it wasn't a gamble at all.

[JustCuriouss]

maybe i should have asked about just SF homeowners. SF has outrageous prices that it would take forever to pay off. If you lose your job or something, you lose everything you have paid for

[Perma Bear]

Originally Posted by JustCuriouss

maybe i should have asked about just SF homeowners. SF has outrageous prices that it would take forever to pay off. If you lose your job or something, you lose everything you have paid for

Depends heavily on how long ago you bought.

[bodyforlife99]

Originally Posted by JustCuriouss

maybe i should have asked about just SF homeowners. SF has outrageous prices that it would take forever to pay off. If you lose your job or something, you lose everything you have paid for

Shy of some extraordinary situations, you would be hard pressed to find a lot of people with regrets over that 15-20 year period since at least 1970. As long as you had at least some type of emergency fund (or a 401K which you can use in the event of possible foreclosure), you could just sell and profit (even with a job loss). You're talking about something major like structural damage. I've known people that lost a job and just relocated and rented their home out for a bit (especially if the timing wasn't the best on selling). They had 4-5 years of mortgage payments through their retirement fund if they needed it. Maintenance costs are often overestimated in this neck of the woods (for everything we've done over the last 20 years, I estimate $2500 a year). Most homeowners get the tax advantages of being able to itemize, and you would have had to pay rent anyway. Our mortgage payment right now is roughly $2500 less than the rent we would pay for our house.

[TR95]

Originally Posted by Chuck5000

If someone bought in 2006, at the top of the market, they haven't gotten ahead again until recently. It's easy to forget that you have to account for inflation (low these days) property taxes, maintenance, capital improvements you make, and broker fees etc in judging ROI.

In conversations I've seen, tons of people report making, say $500k on a house in appreciation, but they don't mention that they put 150k into the house, and they don't count the taxes or broker fees they paid as well.

If one stays long term, they should do at least OK here. If somebody wants to get in and buy and get out within a short time frame, say, less than 10 years, and are counting on big bucks from appreciation alone, I think it's a pretty huge gamble. Easy to lose money. Of course, you don't feel that way if you bought at the right time, and in that case it looks like it wasn't a gamble at all.

And how would that money have fared in the stock market if someone invested in 2006/2007? I'd take the bet on Bay Area real estate. Already 10%+ above the prior peak in most desirable areas. To each his own I guess.

[TR95]

Originally Posted by bodyforlife99

Shy of some extraordinary situations, you would be hard pressed to find a lot of people with regrets over that 15-20 year period since at least 1970. As long as you had at least some type of emergency fund (or a 401K which you can use in the event of possible foreclosure), you could just sell and profit (even with a job loss). You're talking about something major like structural damage. I've known people that lost a job and just relocated and rented their home out for a bit (especially if the timing wasn't the best on selling). They had 4-5 years of mortgage payments through their retirement fund if they needed it. Maintenance costs are often overestimated in this neck of the woods (for everything we've done over the last 20 years, I estimate $2500 a year). Most homeowners get the tax advantages of being able to itemize, and you would have had to pay rent anyway. Our mortgage payment right now is roughly $2500 less than the rent we would pay for our house.

No regrets and we bought in early 2015. Can now rent to more than cover the mortgage. And even say a major recession hits and I lose my job and can't find another job, then my kids suffer in a 2 br apartment for the last 3-4 years of high school and learn a little humility. You are so right such a silly thread, but always others that feel the need to feel better about their decisions I suppose.

[basehead617]

Bought in 2012 near market bottom.. tough to get a loan but glad I did. About 50% increase in value since then. I'm really worried about earthquakes though. I'm basically resigned to the fact that it will be destroyed one day and I'll lose it all. It's a couple miles from a fault.

Still, no regrets.

[jk88cal]

Regret? I'm so happy that I purchased home.

[bodyforlife99]

Originally Posted by TR95

No regrets and we bought in early 2015. Can now rent to more than cover the mortgage. And even say a major recession hits and I lose my job and can't find another job, then my kids suffer in a 2 br apartment for the last 3-4 years of high school and learn a little humility. You are so right such a silly thread, but always others that feel the need to feel better about their decisions I suppose.

And that decision being to rent (in most cases like these).

If we were to rewind the clock back to 2010, what I find sad is many of these internet posters that are upset at the appreciation of homes, were the very ones that were actually laughing at people and cheering their demise back then. I remember it well. All sorts of posts calling people stupid and how they deserved what they got, etc. I thought to myself, how sad that there are people that actually root for others to fail. In addition, it was clear that those posters were not the sharpest tools in the shed, since over 95% of those homeowners didn't experience foreclosure.

Me, I'll cheer for prosperity and having an unemployment rate that is roughly 1/3 of what it was back then (I like the fact that people can find jobs). I'll cheer to keep Prop 13 so that my retired neighbors on a fixed income don't get displaced when they can't afford a property tax like New Jersey. And I'll root for any structural changes (such as skyscrapers and the like) to only be made when the majority votes for it.

P.S. And the most pathetic people of all are those that actively root for an earthquake.

[bay2bay]

As someone who just bought in 2012 I thank God for Porp 13. If I had to pay taxes based on what I could sell my property for today, instead of where I started at in 2012 with the annual 1-2% increase with parcel taxes added, there is no way I could still afford my home.