[ft_chief]

Originally Posted by von949

No. We purchased because it would cost us more to rent for what we need. Like a posted before(still get comments from people not believing me), our mortgage is half what my neighbors are paying for rent.

We almost can't afford to rent in our own neighborhood, yet we can easily afford the mortgage. How insane is that?

Home value appreciation is just an added bonus. We are regular "Joes".




(╯°□°）╯ ︵ ┻━┻

I am in the same situation as Von. I refinanced our townhouse 2 weeks ago and our new mortgage payment is about 50% of comparable rentals in my gated community. Another bonus is we are no longer underwater.

[logline]

Originally Posted by marcowss

i can understand someone who bought a house for $60,000 but you could buy real estate most anywhere in the country for that money and you would get the same interest rate.
You are going to spend 25 years of your life in vegas?

absolutely!

[Exaday]

OP seems bitter.

I don't know anything about Real Estate. Just wanted a house. Purchased two years ago before whatever is happening now happened.

Is the Market up?

[tbill618]

Originally Posted by Kevin_nlv

I'm wondering if there are any real people, you know average Joe buyers, lately and what is your story?
Why would you buy a house today in this market, under this conditions?
Do you experience the same frenzy or urge to buy as those people back in 2004?
Are you experiencing pressure from wall street adds and tv pundits promoting this so called housing recovery?
Do you think is ok for you to sign up and pay for $80,000 more in debt then just 6 months ago?
Why would you assume $80,000 more in debt to enrich speculators who have created this phony and fake market together with their friends in real estate industry and banks?
Are you buying today because your house will keep appreciating forever in the future?
Are you buying in a hope of equity appreciation only and nothing else?
Do you think housing is like a stock market and analysts have a BUY rating on housing now?
Thank you

1) Moved from Illinois in July 2012, put an offer on a short sale in August. My wife and I discussed it and figured that if we were ever going to make this move then that was the time careerwise and due to relatively cheap real estate. (Real estate in our area of Illinois is still stagnant.)

2) I had an idea that the market was changing before we moved but no idea how things were until we put in our first offer. 23 bidders, ouch. That's when we decided to go for the short sale. We found out we got the house at the end of January. In retrospect, it wasn't that long of a wait considering what others have gone through but it sure was nerve racking at the time.

3) Sold a property in MI. in 2004 that had doubled from 1999. Have not owned real estate since. Got lucky. Also, bought a bunch of stock in May of 2009. That was luck, too. Just sold some of that stock to raise cash so that I can buy 10 and 30 year treasuries when they get to 4 and 6% respectively. That will be luck, also.

4) I knew there would be a housing recovery coming soon. Bear markets tend to last 3-5 years in the major asset classes; stocks, bonds, R.E. I watch and read financial news only to gauge public sentiment which moves to extremes when asset bubbles form.

5) We closed in March and paid $112/sq.ft. The cheapest house in Seven Hills right now is $131/sq.ft. Would you be a sucker to buy that house? Depends on your holding period. Anything less than five years and you might have trouble. We plan on being here minimum of 20 years. I might pay up to $131 to live in a really nice neighborhood with good schools for the next 20 years. Fortunately, I don't.

6) The buying decision if you have to borrow depends on price and interest rates. If someone got in ahead of you and paid cash and did a little work then you just have to pay them to get that house. Don't be angry about it. Look at the purchasing decision rationally. Does it make sense for you?

7) My house will keep appreciating over time probably for the next 50 years, which is all i care about. What happens over the next 1-10 years doesn't concern me. I know that my house will be worth more in 20 years. I also know the Dow will be at or above 30,000 in 2030. I am fairly bearish on stocks for the next 3-5 years but I still own a lot because I don't know for sure what will happen. I hope stocks drop back down to 6,000 so I can buy again.

8) Only speculators care about equity appreciation in R.E. Residential real estate has not been a good vehicle for investment other than the ability to leverage and the tax treatment. Make your decision accordingly.

9) Real estate will be ok even when the bond bubble pops. Today's buyers are strong hands that have the equity to weather an economic storm. So you missed the bottom. Be patient. There is always a blow out in one asset class once or twice a decade. Bulls make money, bears make money, but pigs get slaughtered. Don't sit on your cash, stocks, bonds, R.E. forever. Sell when it gets too high, buy when it gets too low and don't worry about catching the exact top or bottom. Almost no one does.