The recent run up in housing prices has been shocking to say the least but as I sit and watch it unfold and see many negative aspects I also have to wonder what if any are the positives to the market going crazy like it has besides the obvious financial gains that some have made.
The first thing that comes to mind is that buy happy people have bought up many older dilapidated houses and completely restored them and in some cases turned around whole neighborhoods. Some of those older homes are very nice after being restored and its nice to see them being used and not tore down. Downtown is taking on a whole new look and has been cleaned up quite a bit as well. Can anyone think of anything ells or am I just trying to hard?
Gentrification is often an interesting process to watch, but not everyone involved is a winner. It’s good for the people who had the foresight and courage to get involved early – and they should be rewarded because it was a risky thing to do. It’s not so good for the sheeple that followed the trend. A big correction will fry a lot of them.
I bought my residence in 1998, when rates weren’t so good.
I was able to refi into a 5 3/8% fixed about two years ago.
I also converted a very bad variable rate mortgage (1% over prime, lower limit of 7%) on a property purchased in 1992 to a 2% under prime no-lower limit HELOC.
While the focus of credit bubble press has been on bad credit, one might forget that there were opportunities to make good use of the low rates to lower monthly spending.
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