With me, it’s a logic problem. Either you realize all the gain of buying down the MR or you don’t.
If you have to pay $40K to buy down your MR and you feel you got a $40K discount vs. a comparable property because of it, then you are good. And if that is really the case, then you would honestly get the $40K back when you sell.
But, sdr and others said that you aren’t going to get that $40K back when you sell, so I’m not so sure I believe that you got as much of a discount due to the MR that you think. Your $250K discount was due to the other factors you mention.
Pragmatically, we’ll never know, of course. Who can measure it ? Nobody. The only way to know is if buyers start putting it in the offer letter so you can compare properties against each other.
The neat thing about this thread is – it points out the importance of knowing how buyers and sellers value MR vs. the actual, real cost of it.[/quote]
well, the logic issue is a two step logic.
you are correct, if all things being equal, of course MR is a bad deal. that seems like a no brainer.
but the problem is the nature of the bubble and the nature of the bust. leading to all things are NOT equal.
it is highly unlikely to find a similarly upgraded and updated non-MR home for JUST $40k more than the MR home. The non-MR home, given it is in established neighborhoods that took less beating from the bust, carries a higher than logical premium than MR homes.
So with the above scenario, insisting on ALL MR homes are BAD deals makes very little sense.
