My rent went up

[wideguy 0]

My upstairs guy has a 3BR , smallish though, he pays $600. Haven't raised it a dime in 5 years.

[dbattman 0]

Renting v. Buying is tricky. Your monthly costs can go way up but if you're seeing appreciation over the longer term you are leveraged against a much larger asset. That throws it back in your favor as the homeowner.

Of course, appreciation is never a guarantee but if you're willing to hunt around and make some lowball offers you can find someone behind the 8-ball and front load some equity. That's how mine worked out when I bought in.

I was reading some articles last week about Key West heading toward a full-blown meltdown.

[squirrel 0]

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Sure...move to Texas..you'll LOVE it!

Dude, who ever told you that was probably from there and does not know any better. California high desert...got drop zones, and can cool the house with a evaporative cooler(low humidity)...55 bucks a month for power, total.

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Where is Darwin when you need him?

[airtwardo 7]

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Sure...move to Texas..you'll LOVE it!

Dude, who ever told you that was probably from there and does not know any better. California high desert...got drop zones, and can cool the house with a evaporate cooler(low humidity)...55 bucks a month for power, total.

Preachin' to the choir...

I lived in San Diego for 20 years!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[Newbie 0]

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Buying is simply a matter of how bad you want it. There will always be fucking excuses why not to buy. People would be surprised how easy it can be nowadays to buy a place.

Before you know it years are going to go by. That is years worth of equity you are just throwing away.

If you can afford rent, then you can afford a mortgage. Find a good loan officer, you will be amazed what they can do. You may not be able to qualify for that fucking castle down the street, but you can most likely qualify for something and at least that way you are building equity towards the future for when you are ready to buy that bigger house.

Or, you can just continue to pay off your landlords mortgage and help him with building his equity.

You show a suprising lack of understanding of renting VS buying and the difference you can find in regional real estate markets within the same country. Given you seemingly have bought a place, it's amazing you haven't got a greater understanding of this, but then i guess most people who have benefitted from the capital gains in the global property bubble of the last 10 years have been much like yourself - completely lucky and rather lacking in any real knowledge of property prices.

Do you know that since the 1930's real property values (i.e. inflation adjusted) have only increased by approximately 2% per annum? You would have had a better return by renting if you could find a place half what a repayment mortgage would cost, and putting the other half into government bonds, one of the safest investments around. The last 10 years have been an exception to the rule, but we always return back to the statistical average - hence why we are seeing rising global interest rates and many property markets around the world are on a knife edge, basically from many owner occupiers/speculators like yourself who have got in on limited fixed term deals and are not moving to variable rates and can't understand why their debt levels are increasing and not actually being eroded over time.

Totally disagree. My dad never made more that 35K a year, and is now making 18K a month due to investing in an apartment complex. I have purchased several rentals, and am paying them off in 15 years or less...or rather, my tennants are paying them off. For roughtly a 25K investment on each house, I will gain 250K in property value over 15 years, and, be able to stop working without the fear of some CEO cutting my so-called "retirement plan" that most people work thier enitre lifes for. While there is risk, with agressive payoff schedules, and proper pricing of rental rates to keep 100% occupancy, ensuring cash flow...its the only way to go. And, you have to live BELOW your means to make this happen, which most people can not do. Remember the golden rule...."He that holds the gold, makes the rules."

I'm curious, what sources are you using to ascertain the value of your investment 15 years from today, particularly given the current uncertainty of the housing market globally? Also, what method do you employ to ensure a 100% long term occupancy rate? I know of not a single investor in property who is able to do that in the long term. What is the net yield you are making on your apartments? I expect you bought those apartments in the last 10 years too? The last decade has seen unprecendented capital appreciation in residential property on a global scale and it's pretty much a mainstream view that the bull run is coming to a close. The data speaks for itself - 2% inflation adjusted YoY returns on residential property according to the research Professor Robert Schiller quotes in his book "Irrational Exuberance" http://www.irrationalexuberance.com/index.htm


It's funny you mention the saying "he who holds the gold, makes the rules". The funny thing about property investors is that they often get so caught up in the paper value appreciation of their assets, that when it doesn't go to plan, it quickly becomes apparent that the return was nothing more than a paper return to begin with. Property is definitely stickier on the downward slide than other asset classes, but all we have to do is look at Florida and other "hot spots" to see how paper profit can be wiped out. Cash is king, and unless someone is a cash buyer on property investments, i am wary of just how smart an investment residential housing is in the current economic climate.

As always, YMMV of course, and undoubtably there are some people who get lucky, buy at the right time, and it pays off and i wish those people all the luck in the world, but in this current climate anyone jumpingonto the property investment bandwagon would probably be advised to read this guys website:


www.iamfacingforeclosure.com

to see what happens when it goes spectacularly wrong.

"Skydiving is a door"
Happythoughts