13 replies to this topic

[greenie]

Always remember, if home prices go up 70%, they need to go down only 40% to get back to the starting point. Keep in mind that there is an asymmetry built into these numbers, and it become disproportionately large at high values (1% gain is reversed by 1% drop).

[Chilidawgz]

Our house is off 9.8% since Oct 2005...and still declining

So...how much were you UP before the current pullback?

Fib

You sound like you are in the business with that question? Up is always good, down is always bad in my world. Down does no one any good, especially those late to the party. Bubblicious is only good until the flavor leaves.

We own our house free and clear.

[fib_1618]

Now if only my assessor will drop my real-estate tax by 10% next year I will be ecstatic. But knowing how government works it's not gonna happen.

So you do what we did here in California in 1978...you pass a proposition to change the way YOUR government works!

You sound like you are in the business with that question?

No, just trying to give some context in all of this.

We own our house free and clear.

Congratulations! So you bought your house for the intention given - to have a place of shelter and where the investment quotient is secondary - nice to have - but secondary.

Up is always good, down is always bad in my world. Down does no one any good, especially those late to the party.

That's what a free market society is all about. There will always be those who will be late to any party and "suffer" the consequences of their actions. We've all been there...it happens. Nothing goes up forever and nothing goes down forever either. To think otherwise is foolhardy.

And as far as doing any good, you only learn life lessons by the mistakes that are made in reaching a goal.

Fib

[OEXCHAOS]

Probably irrelevant, but this may be worth the perspective. Back in 1964, my parents bought a Hanz Knutzel contemporary on 2 acres in a nice suburb 15 minutes from the center of town. They added on in the 70's to bring the square footage to about 3000 square feet. The home was built with bricks from teh 1850 Mt. Zion Methodist church. It had several solid cherry beams running the witdth of two "cathedral" ceilings. It also had a 16' Edgar Tafur mural outside. Basically, a well built, kind of sexy home. Granted, in this area, tastes (if you can call them that) are rather traditional (read provincial and conformist), so a contemporary might not be a great housing example. In the 90's, my mom tried to sell the house at less than what you'd have to pay for a nice 1500' condo today around here. No takers. They finally sold the place a couple years ago to move into a lower maintainence situation (about an even swap, price wise). As I eyeball the numbers (trying to figure the effects of an addition), it would appear that they may have kept pace with inflation. Not counting maintainance. They might have done much better by waiting another year. The point? Rapid price appreciation in residental real estate is anomaly in most cases. Don't count on it unless you've really picked the right neighborhood or managed a great deal at just the right time. You will see regression to the mean. Mark