Quote:
Originally Posted by MackB2
Interesting thread. I find I cannot find an unbiased opinion when it comes to hearing the truth behind investing in real estate.
A friend of mine was a farmer and his family sold off their farm for a tonne of money. He went and purchased a 3 bedroom home in a cookie-cutter neighborhood for 410k. How will he sell this place for any more than he bought it for? It's an up and coming neighborhood, that is growing quickly, but how is anyone ever going to buy a non-detached home with no backyard and no property for over 410k?
I paid 430 for my "house" in 2009 and it has less of a yard than people I know that live in condos/townhomes(brick wall 15x10 yard), but in California, you dont get much land unless you pay a lot for it or move well away from a city.
But we made a decision when we purchased it, we moved from a house that was 1600 sf with 4 kids, we needed space(inside space) and gave up a larger yard in our older house and as the kids get older, they dont really play in the yard, I was never good at keeping the yard up(we had a gardener to mow/weed). Paying extra $ each month(from the old house) isnt always fun, but each of the kids has their own room and I have a separate office inside the house(not a converted garage like some of the neighbors). If/when we decide to leave I am confident that it will be worth a reasonable value, it dropped after we bought it, but when you put down a good chunk and pay it over time, a 500k house doesnt have a bill of 500k on it, so even if its only "worth" 400k 20 years from now, you shouldnt owe that much on it anyway.