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First off, CouponJack... ha!I should tell my husband..."Hey honey , quit your job! The housing market is horrible..we will find another job!" What kind of answer is that? You tell me how you have sacrificed for your family(which i am not arguing ..I am sure you have. I am not picking at your here).....But, would you "find something else" and lose a job that pays extremely well, pays the bills and takes care of your family...to be unemployed and looking for a new job..? I am sorry...but I don't get that sacrifice. The "don't move" solution is just ridiculous. I am worried about breaking even on my house..but I don't want to be homeless and unemployed. His job is moving us. That is that. I am confused...you talk about how you didn't chase the market...and how you listened to the "hard truth" from your realtor and sold your house. ..so basically that is what you tell others to do because it worked. But the fact is...you made a profit. So how can you tell me that I need to wake up and lower my price even after I said I can only lower it to a point or else I will not even break even? It wasn't a big deal too you..you made a profit. So who really cares that you were below all the comps?? You could afford too...If I was making a profit, I wouldn't care how far I had to lower.
Magellan, I understand what you are saying...But we aren't in a job where we were supposed to move around a lot. Things just happen and here we are getting moved. At least, this is a permanent move. My husband will be at corporate now and they have said this is it. Yes, the discrepancy is a little strange..and I think that was part of my main question.. Ha , after all this I forget! With the discrepancies ..it is hard to figure out where I should be. Like i said , the realtor who sold the house on the corner was shocked that we are at 467,000 and said it "was a steal". My realtor told her to "bring a buyer then!". Anyway the two that sold were sold by the same realtor who sells most of the homes in our development . In fact, she represented the seller who we bought our home from. Maybe that is an explanation?? She is the one who sold at 530,000<they had a beautiful home though that could have sold itself> and the one that got close to asking price at the corner. Also, the two that sold both had pools..sold in the summer months..could have something to do with it??
Ha yea...there are quite a few at 450,000 with one car garages in an older neighborhood..go figure.
So, if you weren't going to rent then you should've cut back on your champenge (sp?) tastes and looked in the 400K range, not 450K. Shouldn't of bought a house you couldn't afford a loss on. As I told these people here for the umpteenth time, a house is a LOUSY investment, it is not a GOOD financial investment. IT IS A ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD, PLAIN AND SIMPLE. You obv didn't understand that if you're worried about "breaking even" in two years. Give me a break! There are people that are losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in the Northeast because they are moving and bought at the peak. If you husband's salary is going up as much as you say it is, 50K extra on your new mortgage should'n't put you out on the street. You'll have to learn how to sacrifice and maybe not have those premium cable channels or brown bag it every once in a while. Things could be a LOT worse.
For the people who compare it to buying a stock. If theres a chance you can't hold it LONG TERM and you can't afford a loss, then you SHOULDN'T buy it, period! get it? And relocations just don't "happen", I'm sorry, probably most people don't buy it. If your husband is being relocated you and he should've known this was a possibility.
Don't blame outside forces for things you have control over.
Last edited by CouponJack; 09-08-2007 at 08:11 PM..
For the people who compare it to buying a stock. If theres a chance you can't hold it LONG TERM and you can't afford a loss, then you SHOULDN'T buy it, period! get it? And relocations just don't "happen", I'm sorry, probably most people don't buy it. If your husband is being relocated you and he should've known this was a possibility.
Don't blame outside forces for things you have control over.
I guess an education is in order here since I'm tired of repeating it,
in·vest·ment (n-vstmnt)
n.
1. The act of investing.
2. An amount invested.
3. Property or another possession acquired for future financial return or benefit.
4. A commitment, as of time or support
So I guess that just blows the "roof" off the idea that it's just a roof over your head.
Sometimes a person has to sell before they planned when they purchased the investment, that's just how it goes... We had planned to stay in ours for at least 5 years but life has a way of throwing the best plans out the window. If I followed your ideas I'd never buy a house because I couldn't be positive I would hold it long term, of course I can't be POSITIVE I'll be alive tomorrow either.
I think you have loss of profit confused with loss of principal. Who knew when the peak was? The answer, no one. Who knows that it will continue to go down for sure? No one! Who knows for sure that jenne won't have someone give her an offer next week? Again, no one. Should she sell it for less than she paid especially when the houses around hers are selling for close to what she's asking? Absolutely not unless there's no other choice.
Telling someone that when they buy a house to be prepared to lose principal is like telling someone who built a house they should prepare to sell lower than their cost. Who does that? Not any business that I've ever seen.
I guess an education is in order here since I'm tired of repeating it,
in·vest·ment (n-vstmnt)
n.
1. The act of investing.
2. An amount invested.
3. Property or another possession acquired for future financial return or benefit.
4. A commitment, as of time or support
So I guess that just blows the "roof" off the idea that it's just a roof over your head.
Sometimes a person has to sell before they planned when they purchased the investment, that's just how it goes... We had planned to stay in ours for at least 5 years but life has a way of throwing the best plans out the window. If I followed your ideas I'd never buy a house because I couldn't be positive I would hold it long term, of course I can't be POSITIVE I'll be alive tomorrow either.
I think you have loss of profit confused with loss of principal. Who knew when the peak was? The answer, no one. Who knows that it will continue to go down for sure? No one! Who knows for sure that jenne won't have someone give her an offer next week? Again, no one. Should she sell it for less than she paid especially when the houses around hers are selling for close to what she's asking? Absolutely not unless there's no other choice.
Telling someone that when they buy a house to be prepared to lose principal is like telling someone who built a house they should prepare to sell lower than their cost. Who does that? Not any business that I've ever seen.
Jim, since you are having trouble understanding basic resi real estate 101 that owning a home is not a GOOD financial investment, did you know that harvard came out w/a 40 year study that showed average returns for resi real estate to be at or just below T-Bills? I can provide a link but you probably already knew that information.
You are putting words in my mouth, I never said she shouldn't buy a house, she just bought more than she could afford to lose. Stop making up things and pay attention to detail please.
Your comment --> "No one knows when the peak was"....
my comment --> Are you working for the NAR? LOL, that is too funny.
Your comment --> Telling someone that when they buy a house to be prepared to lose principal is like telling someone who built a house they should prepare to sell lower than their cost. Who does that? Not any business that I've ever seen
my comment --> You're really not getting it unfortunately. RESI real estate in the short term unfortunately is very risky. She bought more than she could afford in a worst case scenerio (which we are currently in right now). I'm trying to explain that to her, but you go right ahead w/the rose colored glasses and tell her she'll sell it for 450K....
Hindsight is always 20/20. If Jenne and her family would have chosen to rent 2 years ago, and this terrific price run-up would have continued, you all would have said, "Well, how stupid that you rented instead of bought. Interest rates were low. You could have gotten the tax deductions. You could have made $$$$, but look at what an idiot you were for renting!" But instead the housing market is generally horrible right now.
IF Jenne would have known they were going to be moving so soon, and IF she would have known housing prices were going to drop, OF COURSE she would have rented. Duh!
On the practical side of things, if she wants to get her home sold, she's going to have to price it appropriately. It's immaterial to buyers how much she paid for it or how much she needs to get out of it. The buyers only care that they've purchased the best home at the best possible price. I see the same scenario over and over again. Every seller wants top dollar for their house, so they start out high to "test the water". As they get no bites, they start gradually dropping the price. The problem is, they're always a little bit behind the curve. Bottom line, if they'd just priced it competitively to begin with, they would have gotten it sold at a good price. Instead, by playing the (losing) game, they end up selling for far less than they could have gotten by pricing it right to begin with, and gotten it sold much more quickly. Oh . . . if only they'd listen . . .
Don't let 'em get you down buddy. Just keep paying the mortgage on someone else's house that you are renting and be happy. Us landlords still like you!
Jim, since you are having trouble understanding basic resi real estate 101 that owning a home is not a GOOD financial investment, did you know that harvard came out w/a 40 year study that showed average returns for resi real estate to be at or just below T-Bills? I can provide a link but you probably already knew that information.
As it was explained to me years ago by people who have degrees in finance, real estate is just one part of an investment strategy. Leveraging money and diversification of investments across a wide spectrum so your money is working in several places is the smartest way to go. As for real estate, as it has been explained to me, where else can you leverage so much at a reasonable cost and be able to use it while it appreciates? Now in my feeble mind even if you have to sell it for exactly what you paid you've still made money. You have lived in a place close to free since you will be getting your money back, unlike rent where you just walk away, and the government has actually paid for some of it via writeoffs and deductions.
Real estate can be more than a "good' investment, it can be great, but like anything else there's no guarentee of sucess.
I do have to agree that some kind of common sense needs to be used when buying it just like everything else but that's what good real estate agents and research are for.
Don't let 'em get you down buddy. Just keep paying the mortgage on someone else's house that you are renting and be happy. Us landlords still like you!
haha. I own, I don't rent.
Maybe pay attention to detail next time.
And maybe you should mention that people who've rented (and continue to rent) instead of bought in the past two years have in alot of cases saved boatloads of money.
Hindsight is always 20/20. If Jenne and her family would have chosen to rent 2 years ago, and this terrific price run-up would have continued, you all would have said, "Well, how stupid that you rented instead of bought. Interest rates were low. You could have gotten the tax deductions. You could have made $$$$, but look at what an idiot you were for renting!" But instead the housing market is generally horrible right now.
IF Jenne would have known they were going to be moving so soon, and IF she would have known housing prices were going to drop, OF COURSE she would have rented. Duh!
On the practical side of things, if she wants to get her home sold, she's going to have to price it appropriately. It's immaterial to buyers how much she paid for it or how much she needs to get out of it. The buyers only care that they've purchased the best home at the best possible price. I see the same scenario over and over again. Every seller wants top dollar for their house, so they start out high to "test the water". As they get no bites, they start gradually dropping the price. The problem is, they're always a little bit behind the curve. Bottom line, if they'd just priced it competitively to begin with, they would have gotten it sold at a good price. Instead, by playing the (losing) game, they end up selling for far less than they could have gotten by pricing it right to begin with, and gotten it sold much more quickly. Oh . . . if only they'd listen . . .
Gretchen. How do you know that Jenne's market had a "terrific run-up"?
If her market did have a run-up, then she knew home prices were overvalued and set for a fall back when she bought two years ago. It's like buying google at $500....it could goto $700 but most likely it'll crash back down. Pricing of that stock is WAY overvalued. Are you gonna jump on a runaway train so to speak?. Yeah, Yeah, I bet your gonna say "hindsight is 20-20". But you know back two years ago in markets where we had a rediculous run up that things couldn't continue. That's my point.
If there was an inking you couldn't stay long term, buying was a dangerous option. Most people "had" to buy because they were afraid prices were going to keep going up, however most didn't sit back and realize that it wasn't sustainable. Agree?
Regarding your quote about "pricing it appropriately" and "pricing it competitively to begin with"....BINGO, that's what I've been saying all along. Most buyers DON"T price things appropriately/competitively! they are behind and when the proverbial brown stuff hits the fan, they are chasing!
Last edited by CouponJack; 09-09-2007 at 07:33 AM..
As it was explained to me years ago by people who have degrees in finance, real estate is just one part of an investment strategy. Leveraging money and diversification of investments across a wide spectrum so your money is working in several places is the smartest way to go. As for real estate, as it has been explained to me, where else can you leverage so much at a reasonable cost and be able to use it while it appreciates? Now in my feeble mind even if you have to sell it for exactly what you paid you've still made money. You have lived in a place close to free since you will be getting your money back, unlike rent where you just walk away, and the government has actually paid for some of it via writeoffs and deductions.
Real estate can be more than a "good' investment, it can be great, but like anything else there's no guarentee of sucess.
I do have to agree that some kind of common sense needs to be used when buying it just like everything else but that's what good real estate agents and research are for.
Jim, the whole renting vs. owning thing is part of another argument.
I am for owning over renting. And over the long term I think it makes way more financial sense than renting (which is not saying much IMO).
Like you said you need to use common sense. I know several people in NJ who have been renting over the past year and sitting on the sidelines waiting for prices to come down closer to historical levels. These people did it right because they saved a boatload of money. However AT SOME POINT if you are looking long term, you do need to buy.
And maybe you should mention that people who've rented (and continue to rent) instead of bought in the past two years have in alot of cases saved boatloads of money.
Don't let 'em get you down!
I have no idea if they saved 'boatloads' of money. I just know they have made me 'boatloads' of money, that's all I care about.
And, I'm certainly not down, I'm in my 30's and don't ever have to work again because of the money I made in real estate the last few years.
Besides, I think we should be encouraging people in trouble or distress right now, not knocking their heads against the wall. I personally like to think of positive things not instantly go for the negative. My post to you was out of character for me, but your 'not sugarcoating' anything really gets people riled up. Since we have both made money in real estate we should try to help others not just get in a pi$$ing war on an internet board. I feel badly for people in these situations, in fact, I have paid a little more for properties than I could have gotten away with to help someone out. It's all about karma, life has been good to me, I can certainly afford to help out others. In fact, I am renting out my vacation house to a family I met on this board because they were moving in a hurry and had quite a few animals. Now, I hope they pay it forward when it is their turn, and, I have made a new family of friends in the process.
Karma.
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But instead the housing market is generally horrible right now.
