Owning a home…or not…

[Fripp]

You should also probably check out http://www.raincityguide.com , a local real estate blog where several real estate professionals regularly contribute (including Rhonda Porter, a West Seattle based mortgage broker and sponsor of WSB). Rhonda’s posts are always very informative about the current state of the mortgage market and Ardell (who has recently taken a very bearish turn in regards to the state of the market) is also always extremely helpful.

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[JoB]

TheHouse…

a house is not always the path to economic security.

over the past 17 years, hubby and i have owned 3 homes.

the first was a great investment.. and we made a decent profit… so we traded up.

then the economy tanked, programmers were struggling to find any job and we relocated to Minnesota for hubby’s work.

We didn’t lose all of our equity in that move.. but we did find ourselves in the uncomfortable place of having made huge investments in our home that we knew wouldn’t pay off financially in the short run.. and they didn’t.

We bought in Minnesota… and after getting a job offer back in the Northwest.. found ourselves selling in a down market.. just days after the bridge collapse to a couple working on the wrong side of the bridge. oops… that deal fell through… and the one that replaced it wasn’t as lucrative.

all in all, i suspect we broke roughly even.. but we also rehabbed three houses.

i like the process.. so it wasn’t so terrible for me.. but hubby doesn’t and he never got to live with the fruits of his labor… or to realize the profits they would have brought long term.

I am not so sure about this home ownership deal if you can rent reasonably.. which is something i hope to rectify for us…

but in spite of his lifetime record of loss in real estate (the home he owned prior to our marriage was one of those that wasn’t so profitable in the combination of a “housing correction” and divorce.)… hubby likes the the “certainty” of owning. he wants a place of his own.. so we will likely buy again.

we are lucky in love.. and hubby has the most incredible vacation weather luck i have ever seen… but real estate? not so lucky there.

who knows? there is always next time… yes????

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[Bayou]

Of course there are always risks involved and owning a home is not for everyone. As noted above, some people’s lifestyle are just more conducive to renting. However, we do plan on staying in our home long-term and making improvements, one project at a time. That would be a nightmare for some but I love it. It’s really the little things sometimes… I have finally been able to paint/ make improvements and not feel like I’m wasting money. We have a large enough yard now that we can finally consider getting another dog (We are owned by a Shiba as well). I’ve planted a vegetable garden and am working on flowers. It’s home and that’s what matters to me anyways. Sure, I’m glad that we didn’t jump in there 3-4 years ago when we were first doing research because we were able to get a much lower price than we would have otherwise. There are some bonuses to buying when the market is crap- low interest rates, fixed terms, huge selection and negotiable sellers.

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[Ken]

Just a note to consider. If you watch parcel view like I do, over the years one thing stands out that is never mentioned.

Buying a 400k condo or townhouse with 500 to 800 lot measured in square feet does not seem to gain value as fast as some of those old fixer-uppers on double size full 40 or 80 x 120 lots. The land is scarcer than the chipboard prefabs.

One tiny old house on snake hill built in 1907 was sold for an unknown amount to a developer and the large lot subdivided, and 4 narrow townhouses constructed. The original house (painted and remod) was sold for 470k and each lot with house is now on the market for between 300 and 500k.

So take a close look at some of those older houses and what they are asking for them.

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[TheHouse]

I’ve learned to accept those of you that rent and embrace you. I’m currently looking to purchase my second property and will definitely be looking for renters (now is a perfectly fine time to purchase). May I remind you that there was a posting on the blog a few months ago that the economic plan for Seattle looks robust for the next 10-20 years?

It’s people like you that are going to enable me to purchase my 3rd house.

You can call it smug….I call it a happy and comfortable retirement.

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[Shibaguyz]

House – definitely sounds like you’ve been reading Bach. Exactly the plan we are following right now.

By the way, our townhouse has gone up in value plenty in the past year and a half. We’re planning on staying here for another few years because we’ll refinance and put the extra money away for a future investment (i.e. house). Once that one increases, we’ll buy a third that will become our final home and retire.

There have been analysts on NPR just about every day this week who seem very happy about property values and over all economic outlook for the Seattle area. Sounds like good retirement planning to me!! Thank you, again, David Bach!

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[GreenSpaces]

The Washington Homeownership Center is an unbiased non-profit supporting the creation of home ownership. There is mention of it on the web site for the Washington State Housing Finance Commission. There are many first time home buyer classes available all over the Puget Sound area. You can see the class schedule at http://www.homeownership-wa.org/events.htm

I also am a licensed real estate professional. I’ve lived in West Seattle since 1997. I am one of the first agents in the state to earn the designation of “Built Green Certified Professional: Real Estate”. West Seattle is my geography, but as the niche of green homes grows, and there are more and more specialities (seniors, relocation, etc.), geography seems to matter less and agents are serving clients in their area of special interest instead.

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[mariaanderson]

I’ve been a renter for a long time. It hurts knowing that if I owned a home that money would be an investment. If I want to sell at a future time, I can probably get all this money back. But instead I am spending almost a couple thousand dollars just to live in a place. I will never see that money again. If I owned, I probably would. It’s frustrating being in this position. If I was able to buy, I would.

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[JoB]

Bayou…

i too miss the process of making a house a home.

i don’t mind the wasted money as much as the wasted hours of yard work doing battle with someone else’s morning glory:(

these days i am feeling very owned by my shibas… but wouldn’t trade it for anything. they love the yard.

we will probably buy again.. but in the meantime.. keep me posted on any good rentals.

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[Author]

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