How long have you owned your house, (if applicable), and how much has it gone up in value since you purchased it? I know of a lot of people who bought a house in California for $200,000 many years ago and recently sold for $600,000, $700,000 plus. Realestate tends to go up and down but it's almost never down past your entry point from what I have seen.
Well, we bought our house for $35,500. (no, that's not a typo ) We've done a few minor cosmetic improvements since our purchase and my guess would be that it's worth a just a little bit more (we've just been here two years). The real estate in my area is so saturated with houses for sale. Everyone is finally leaving to find real jobs elsewhere, I think. This area used to be booming, but the major industry left in the 60s (copper mining) so now there isn't much left. Gosh...I hope my house value doesn't go down! It's already pretty cheap!
here in romania the house prices are going up (in Bucharest are the highest prices)... one year ago my apartment worth 20.000 $. now is 45.000 $
Just sold a place and bought another recently. Property we sold went up 250% in ten years. I expect property to take a downhill turn, I'm sure Greenspan will do his part.
The first house I built (and lived in for 8 years) made me double what I paid for it. Last house I lived in before this one we made about 15 thou. This house was a huge investment. Only a few yrs old and was a repo. Yes, we've stuck a bunch of money into it but in just the little over 2 yrs we've lived here I'd guess we added a couple of hundred thousand to the value. Mostly due to the fact that it was a repo with a lot of work to do. Many people wouldn't deal with that. Hope to start buying duplex's in the very near future.
Here in Tampa, homes have been appreciating at a very fast rate, however, in a so called "Realty Boom" buyers should really use caution. I personally do not believe there is a "Housing Bubble". What I believe is there is a "lending bubble" All the so called ARM's and interest only loans cover a major percentage of todays refinancing and remortgages of ones home. People are using these rates and refinancing there home as though there house is an ATM machine. Refinancing your home to get get the new boat or take that luxury cruise, Beemer or whatever is not the way to go. The clock always comes back to 12. :shake: Know when to buy Real Estate and when not to. The market always seem to get the "most" people at the "least" likely time. When interest rates begin to rise, all those ARM's & interest only loans will ride right along, and when that credit becomes debt, values of ALL homes will decline by 30-40%. THAT my friends, will be the time to buy. :nod:
I'm not a fan of refinancing or mortgaging to afford new stuff either. The goal should be to pay off the house, not to collect more debt in the process.
I have to agree. Refinancing to buy a new car or boat is not the way to go. If you really need something and it is expensive that might be a good reason to refinance or get a 2nd mortgage. If it is not something that you really need and is not something that will help make the value of the house go up, then don't refinance or mortgage so that you can afford it. My 2 cents worth.
True. If you use a heavy lender, you want to get a return investment right away and not be stranded with alot of financial obligations.
Houses in my area only appreciate at 3-5% a year, that cover the interest payments The problem is that there are more houses and land than we have people and real estate prices are lagging.
