[quote=CA renter]Unfortunately, many people have been conditioned to think that “owning” a house means they will never have to pay for housing. Many people have been brainwashed by the REIC that you should be able to sell a house for everything you put into it, and then some. That’s just not realistic, and it’s even more unlikely as we move forward with an increasingly fragile job market and (IMHO) weaker economy. I think we’re in for a LONG period of weaker fundamentals and a stagnant or shrinking credit market which will reverse a lot of the trends (esp. rising asset prices) we’ve seen over the past ~50+ years.[/quote]
CAR, in my case, I’m not seeking “free” housing for the length of my ownership. I PAID PITI all those years and PAID down my mtg. That $$ (“equity, lol?”) may very well be gone at the time I decide to sell. I TOOK the MID tax writeoff. My TAXES were HIGHER than my property was worth before I first appealed my assessment in 2008. My interest rate has varied between 2.7% (“teaser” for one mo) and 7.1% (avg of abt 4.7 or 4.8%). It is currently at 4.0%.
You might say my paid-down principal ($50K?) was my “rent $$” for all these years but I didn’t even have the benefits a “tenant” does. As an owner, I had to maintain the premises myself. When my oven broke, I lived with a thermometer in it for over 3 years. When my cooktop broke, I lit the ONE burner that worked for 8 mos. When my D/W broke, I washed dishes by hand for at least 6 mos. When my lawnmower broke, I broke a weedeater on my large BY until I bought a VERY used one from a neighbor for $20. When my heater broke, I lived in a 57-degree house at night for 2 months until I could get a part for it installed. When I had to remove flooring due to accidental damage, I lived on subfloor for 2 yrs. And the list goes on.
I’m not seeking “pity” here. Everything is replaced and “fixed” now. What I’m trying to say is buyers who look at listed resale homes that are properly staged have NO IDEA what the homeowner went thru to get them that way. They very well could have purchased them as a cosmetic or heavy fixer and lived in an RV in the driveway for 2+ yrs. Now that the public can see a former sales price of a property from many years ago on an online listing, they often automatically think that a longtime-owner seller’s asking price is positioned to make a killing for them. Nothing could be further from the truth. Do you think an “equity” seller who spends 2000 hours after work and wknds for 2-3 yrs fixing up a fixer should sell for only enough to retire his (purchase $$) mtg balance (originated more than a decade ago)??
In other words, the property I will sell will NOT be the same property I bought. It will be infinitely better. And it is NOT overbuilt for my area.
I’m only seeking to recover the actual cash investment I have in the property, incl prudent improvements I have/will make plus my remaining mtg balance and closing costs. When I list, if buyers don’t like my price, they can always consider a property down the street or around the corner with a 65-yo wall heater and stuck-closed windows of that era, among other antiquated features (that are replaced on my property). It’s a free country.
After 15 yrs or so of ownership in SD County, this isn’t too much to ask, IMHO. If my property was located in Detroit, maybe it is.
CAR, do you personally believe that a longtime owner who did not take “cash out” and doesn’t HAVE to sell should take a hit to their OWN cash investment just to unload their property at a less-than-opportune time, such as NOW?
I ask this to you because, as a prospective buyer, you looked for a very long time in your established area of choice before you found an “equity” seller (estate?) willing to make you a deal you could live with. You seemed frustrated at these “recalcitrant sellers” and can’t deny that “equity” sellers feel as I do.
The truth is, owners who have staying power won’t GIVE their properties away just for the h@ll of it because they don’t NEED to. That’s the way it has always been in coastal CA counties and this will never change. It really doesn’t matter WHAT interest rates or the job market does. Believe it or not, the RE market actually functioned pretty well when a prime 30-yr fixed rate was 10% (1986-1988).
