Comments on: Poll: Home owners: For me, my primary residence is mainly…

By: Blue Fern

Blue Fern — Tue, 08 May 2012 23:31:56 +0000

I think you need a “both” option. Buying a home is the largest investment people will ever make and sometimes while they are picking a place to live they think ahead and think of the market value as well. Both things are taken into consideration when buying a home.
[Sales link removed by Tim. Read the rules.]

Reply – [Sales link removed by Tim. Read the rules<\/a>.]<\/em>',''); return false;">Quote

Rate this comment: 0 0

By: bd

bd — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:01:18 +0000

I chose “a place to live” because I bought a house when the costs of ownership were roughly equal to my costs of renting, and I picked the house I did because it was the kind of house I wanted to live in and in the neighborhood I liked. I do consider my house a significant portion of my financial assets, however, so I did make sure the arrangements were such that I wouldn’t take a significant loss anytime soon.

In general, I get a little glassy eyed when people talk about maximizing their personal investments, including the money they’ve sunk into their homes. I have a wide variety of diverse investments, and while I think some of these are likely to be higher return than others, I don’t fuss endlessly about maximizing my returns. I try to keep in perspective that the easiest way for me to increase the likelihood of having more money in the future is to save more money now, rather than try to squeeze out better performance here or there.

I think this whole focus on investments rather than savings as the path to financial security has steered a whole bunch of people wrong in the last twenty years. If more folks had relied primarily on frugal living to build their assets rather than chasing after the latest get-rich-quick fad, the stock and real estate bubbles would have been a lot smaller and fewer people would have gotten crushed financially.

Reply – Quote

Rate this comment: 0 0

By: Kary L. Krismer

Kary L. Krismer — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:45:25 +0000

RE: softwarengineer @ 13 – I think it’s an irrelevant point unless you’re at the point where you would be considering selling.

Reply – softwarengineer @ 13<\/a> - I think it\'s an irrelevant point unless you\'re at the point where you would be considering selling.',''); return false;">Quote

Rate this comment: 0 0

By: softwarengineer

softwarengineer — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:13:09 +0000

We’re Entering a New Paradigm In Real Estate

If we asked this question 5-10 years ago, many more would have said investment. Do you have any old polls Tim?

I do find it illogical that one blogger feared losing his down payment with price degradation. Isn’t it a moot point [unless you're underwater and you simply hand the keys back to the lender]?

Lost principle and/or lost down payment is still a crummy investment, and is meaningless to separate them, after the home is theoretically sold [if the selling price is less than the purchase price].

Reply – Quote

Rate this comment: 0 0

By: Ross

Ross — Mon, 07 May 2012 04:09:15 +0000

I’m seriously hoping that too much of the down payment I’m making it isn’t lost over the next 10 years. But where I live is primarily my residence and not my investment.

Reply – Quote

Rate this comment: 0 0

By: David Losh

David Losh — Mon, 07 May 2012 03:35:55 +0000

I’m very impressed by the mind set of your readers.

Reply – Quote

Rate this comment: 0 0

By: Scotsman

Scotsman — Sun, 06 May 2012 23:08:00 +0000

RE: ray pepper @ 9 –

Geeze, Ray- Mike’s is bigger than yours. Get over it.

Reply – ray pepper @ 9<\/a> - \r\n\r\nGeeze, Ray- Mike\'s is bigger than yours. Get over it.',''); return false;">Quote

Rate this comment: 0 0

By: ray pepper

ray pepper — Sun, 06 May 2012 22:58:52 +0000

when u choose to BUY and NOT rent its ALWAYS an investment. Unless your millionnaire Mike..then its stupidity and denial..

Reply – Quote

Rate this comment: 0 0

By: Ira Sacharoff

Ira Sacharoff — Sun, 06 May 2012 21:43:36 +0000

Whenever I’ve looked at homes to buy intending to occupy them, I’ve never thought about how much money it would bring me when it came time to sell. What was much more important was whether I could easily afford it, that it wouldn’t tax me financially, and that it was comparable or lower than what I could rent a place for.
Much as I like being a homeowner, I wouldn’t do it if it meant making a major financial sacrifice or taking a major risk. I am just not one of those folks who buy these expensive houses that they can barely afford, and become slaves to them.

Reply – Quote

Rate this comment: 0 0

By: Rumpole

Rumpole — Sun, 06 May 2012 21:07:54 +0000

RE: robotslave @ 4 –

Exactly; though people may be scaling back their expected return (even to zero), a home purchase should be looked at as an investment and as part of one’s overall investment portfolio. Perhaps “A place to live” can be the primary motivation, but I’ve always also looked at each home purchase from an investment point of view. I need to understand how can I maximize return if I need to sell and how will this purchase impact my ability to invest in other parts of my portfolio, such as equities.

Reply – robotslave @ 4<\/a> - \r\n\r\nExactly; though people may be scaling back their expected return (even to zero), a home purchase should be looked at as an investment and as part of one\'s overall investment portfolio. Perhaps \"A place to live\" can be the primary motivation, but I\'ve always also looked at each home purchase from an investment point of view. I need to understand how can I maximize return if I need to sell and how will this purchase impact my ability to invest in other parts of my portfolio, such as equities.',''); return false;">Quote

Rate this comment: 0 0

By: Kary L. Krismer

Kary L. Krismer — Sun, 06 May 2012 19:49:05 +0000

I wonder if Tim had run this 5 years ago if the results would have been significantly different?

Reply – Quote

Rate this comment: 0 0

By: DanW

DanW — Sun, 06 May 2012 19:39:42 +0000

RE: robotslave @ 4 –
> The answer is always, without exception, “both.”
If you’re lucky enough to have BillG’s money, perhaps this might be an exception :-)

Reply – robotslave @ 4<\/a> - \r\n> The answer is always, without exception, â��both.â��\r\nIf you\'re lucky enough to have BillG\'s money, perhaps this might be an exception :-)',''); return false;">Quote

Rate this comment: 0 0

By: robotslave

robotslave — Sun, 06 May 2012 18:06:08 +0000

It baffles me when I see anyone in the R.E. industry trying to separate these two factors.

The answer is always, without exception, “both.”

It’s not even something you can carve up as “oh, it is x percent of one, and 100 minus x percent of the other.” It’s both, and that’s just not how people subdivide real-world decision making.

You’ve done polls about what kind of place to live people look for (good schools vs. walkable vs. etc). So why not do a poll about what kind of investment people want in a home? e.g. 1) maximize potential profit, 2) minimize potential loss, 3) minimize total interest, 4) maximize liquidity, 5) maximize ability to resell, etc…

Reply – Quote

Rate this comment: 0 0

By: John Bailo

John Bailo — Sun, 06 May 2012 17:51:21 +0000

It’s mainly where I watch TV.

That and at 24 Hour Fitness if it’s something on cable…which I don’t have.

Reply – Quote

Rate this comment: 0 0

By: Kary L. Krismer

Kary L. Krismer — Sun, 06 May 2012 17:24:57 +0000

RE: toad37 @ 1 – Assuming you voted, I think you voted wrong! ;-)

(Currently the voting is 11-0 as a place to live.)

Reply – toad37 @ 1<\/a> - Assuming you voted, I think you voted wrong! ;-) \r\n\r\n(Currently the voting is 11-0 as a place to live.)',''); return false;">Quote

Rate this comment: 0 0

By: toad37

toad37 — Sun, 06 May 2012 16:18:07 +0000

More of an investment, but I needed a place to live too. Edit- I would have to think about this too hard to figure if I what I just said makes sense though. Maybe very long term investment. :-)

Reply – Quote

Rate this comment: 0 0