looking for advice

[nostradamus]

spend a little time/money/effort trying to sell it. if it doesn’t sell then keep it.

[what_a_disasta]

Further evidence that literacy and wealth are not correlated.

[what_a_disasta]

Further evidence that literacy and wealth are not correlated.

[what_a_disasta]

Further evidence that literacy and wealth are not correlated.

[stockstradr]

My reply will surprise many on this forum who have seen 2+ years posts from me always advising, “SELL SELL SELL”

However, I think everything has really changed in the last three months. The real estate market fell off a cliff.

I advise you DO NOT SELL because now it is too late to sell. Six months ago (before the cliff) I would have advised you to sell.

Also, I’ve found (in advising friends in similar situation) this logical advice is a MOOT point anyway, because your emotions will always dominate the decision, specifically the shell shock you’ll experience if you try to sell your home into a real estate market that is going to kick your pricing expectations to shreds.

I know several families who during last couple months ignored my “too late, don’t sell” advice and then tried to sell into THIS market. They have been so emotionally / psychologically devastated by how low the market priced their house, they pulled their house off the market and ran for cover.

Let’s say you really think your home is worth $950,000. Imagine buyers laughing in your face. Imagine the few offers you get are all at least three hundred grand below what you think your home is worth. Imagine deals fall through because no financing available. This market is pure hell for a seller. Very few sellers have the emotional fortitude to complete a sale into this market.

Of course, there are still a few areas in CA where this in not the case. The high end in the Bay Area still is going strong, for example.

[stockstradr]

My reply will surprise many on this forum who have seen 2+ years posts from me always advising, “SELL SELL SELL”

However, I think everything has really changed in the last three months. The real estate market fell off a cliff.

I advise you DO NOT SELL because now it is too late to sell. Six months ago (before the cliff) I would have advised you to sell.

Also, I’ve found (in advising friends in similar situation) this logical advice is a MOOT point anyway, because your emotions will always dominate the decision, specifically the shell shock you’ll experience if you try to sell your home into a real estate market that is going to kick your pricing expectations to shreds.

I know several families who during last couple months ignored my “too late, don’t sell” advice and then tried to sell into THIS market. They have been so emotionally / psychologically devastated by how low the market priced their house, they pulled their house off the market and ran for cover.

Let’s say you really think your home is worth $950,000. Imagine buyers laughing in your face. Imagine the few offers you get are all at least three hundred grand below what you think your home is worth. Imagine deals fall through because no financing available. This market is pure hell for a seller. Very few sellers have the emotional fortitude to complete a sale into this market.

Of course, there are still a few areas in CA where this in not the case. The high end in the Bay Area still is going strong, for example.

[stockstradr]

My reply will surprise many on this forum who have seen 2+ years posts from me always advising, “SELL SELL SELL”

However, I think everything has really changed in the last three months. The real estate market fell off a cliff.

I advise you DO NOT SELL because now it is too late to sell. Six months ago (before the cliff) I would have advised you to sell.

Also, I’ve found (in advising friends in similar situation) this logical advice is a MOOT point anyway, because your emotions will always dominate the decision, specifically the shell shock you’ll experience if you try to sell your home into a real estate market that is going to kick your pricing expectations to shreds.

I know several families who during last couple months ignored my “too late, don’t sell” advice and then tried to sell into THIS market. They have been so emotionally / psychologically devastated by how low the market priced their house, they pulled their house off the market and ran for cover.

Let’s say you really think your home is worth $950,000. Imagine buyers laughing in your face. Imagine the few offers you get are all at least three hundred grand below what you think your home is worth. Imagine deals fall through because no financing available. This market is pure hell for a seller. Very few sellers have the emotional fortitude to complete a sale into this market.

Of course, there are still a few areas in CA where this in not the case. The high end in the Bay Area still is going strong, for example.

[masayako]

It’s a no brainer.

First of all, your original plan is to buy this big house and enjoy it for a long time, right? If so, start enjoy it, will you?

Since you can afford the payment, why not stop worrying about losing equity now? If you look at it long term, by the time you retire (say in 15 years), the market will be well recovered and you can sell and retire comfortably.

Why people love to buy high & sell low?????

You should buy low & sell high!!! If you don’t see the opportunity present itself and you have the money power to stay the course, STAY THE COURSE.

Face the reality, you miss the peak and now it’s too late to make the most out of your house, so forget and forgive yourself. Live your life and try to enjoy every minute of it.

Masayako

[masayako]

It’s a no brainer.

First of all, your original plan is to buy this big house and enjoy it for a long time, right? If so, start enjoy it, will you?

Since you can afford the payment, why not stop worrying about losing equity now? If you look at it long term, by the time you retire (say in 15 years), the market will be well recovered and you can sell and retire comfortably.

Why people love to buy high & sell low?????

You should buy low & sell high!!! If you don’t see the opportunity present itself and you have the money power to stay the course, STAY THE COURSE.

Face the reality, you miss the peak and now it’s too late to make the most out of your house, so forget and forgive yourself. Live your life and try to enjoy every minute of it.

Masayako

[masayako]

It’s a no brainer.

First of all, your original plan is to buy this big house and enjoy it for a long time, right? If so, start enjoy it, will you?

Since you can afford the payment, why not stop worrying about losing equity now? If you look at it long term, by the time you retire (say in 15 years), the market will be well recovered and you can sell and retire comfortably.

Why people love to buy high & sell low?????

You should buy low & sell high!!! If you don’t see the opportunity present itself and you have the money power to stay the course, STAY THE COURSE.

Face the reality, you miss the peak and now it’s too late to make the most out of your house, so forget and forgive yourself. Live your life and try to enjoy every minute of it.

Masayako

[Coronita]

I really have to ask here.

What does a $500k improvements include?

The only reason why I ask is because back when my wife and I moved in to our place, there were a few things we "needed" to do, a lots of things we "wanted" to do.

After all said and done, all the wanted+needed ended up being close to $150-200k with a good contractors and materials.At that point, we looked at the home which was a 2600sqft, and the lot size which is about 4700sqft. And we said to ourselves "are we fvcking kidding???"$200k renovations on this tiny home on this tiny lot, we're not going to recoup half of our renovation if we were to resell it.

So in went: new carpets (for hygentic reasons), a dishwasher to replace a broken one, flagstone to replace cracked bricks, a new toilet (to replace a stinky one), some coats of paint inside that I put on myself , a few coats of paint outside that some guy put on for $3k, replacement of all worn faucet fixtures free of charge ( courtesy of Moen's lifetime warranty),1 mirror closet door in one room to satisfy my wife's occasional vanity, and a portable $300 bbq grille that I bought seperately to allow me to rotisere a turkey.

And out went things we wanted: new hardwood to replace the old hardwood, crown molding, new staircase, new granite countertops, new cabinets, new bathtub, new showers, custom entertainment center, sound proof glass retaining wall, epoxy garage floors, custom garage cabinets, planter boxes, built in barbeque and fountain.

My first question is. Do you really "need" to spend that last $15k now, or can you wait? Second, while I believe that there are definitely things that need to be done when you first move in, was the entire $500k spent on needs?

I'm only asking because unfortunately I don't think it would be reasonable to expect that you can even recoup even 1/2 of your remodeling costs if you were to resell. What you might perceive as something preferrable, someone else might hate it and want to take it out the first time they move in.

That said, I'm assuming this is your primary home. My personal rule of a primary home. NEVER THINK OF IT AS AN INVESTMENT. Unlike some people on this board, I plan to stay in my primary home if the house price increases or if the house price decrease. It doesn't make money for me, it's a money drain, no different than my car. It satisfy my material needs and it allows me to do whatever the hell I(and wife) want to my (our) liking , as long as i don't piss off a very loose HOA. Some people on this board can move in and out of a primary home and capture some gain on the appreciation. That's great. I can't do that. I'm more emotionally attached to my primary home like I would be to a sports car versus say a normal car. However, I can afford to slightly indulge in this lack of financial prudence.

The question you need to ask yourself is: what do you want to get out of your primary home?

1) Is it/will it satisfy you and your husband's emotions? All said and done, if you now have the home in a state that you and your husband like..just enjoy it from this point on, provided #2 and #3 isn't an issue.

When I bought my Audi 8 years ago, the damn thing broke down 3 miles once I got out of the dealership. It had to be flatbedded back to the dealer, and then 2 weeks later the same thing happened…And then 1 month later the damn thing happened again. I hated the car, and swore I would sell the damn thing at a loss just to get rid of it. But once fixed, and after all the things said and done, I love this car and won't get rid of it. Cars aren't the same as homes, so it's not a fair comparison..But you get my point. You've pretty much already done of the fixing/remodeling the two of you wanted anyway. It would be a shame that you neither of you wouldn't be able to enjoy it.

 

#2) Can the two of you afford the current $950+500k loan balances? Please tell me you got a 15 or 30 year fixed rate mortgage.Seems like the two of you make pretty good salaries. And you said you can make the payments. Provided you aren't bleeding anywhere else, you should be able to afford this …. Savings will be tight. You or your husband might need to penny-pinch a bit. Less eating out, less shopping, delay car purchases. Skimp of cell phone plans, skimp on just about everything. If you exercise financial prudence elsewhere, it should help a bit with this predicament. The question is whether you AND your husband are willing to exercise this financial prudence elsewhere.

 

 

#3) You and your husband need to agree that if bought of you decide to keep the house, neither of you will talk bitterly about it moving forward …..EVAR. It's not worth fighting over frankly. You have many more important things to fight over (inlaws, parenting,etc) 🙂 The best time to talk about this would be right before and/or during…uh, never mind.

 

Lastly, I think there's an important lesson to be learned here by prospective first time home buyers. Every home has an economic threshold at which home improvements just don't make sense anymore. Because those upgrades just don't "fit" with the house's profile.

 

Good luck with this. And if Rustico is reading, yes I know I need to get a life. But I have an excuse today. I'm jetlagged.

[Coronita]

I really have to ask here.

What does a $500k improvements include?

The only reason why I ask is because back when my wife and I moved in to our place, there were a few things we "needed" to do, a lots of things we "wanted" to do.

After all said and done, all the wanted+needed ended up being close to $150-200k with a good contractors and materials.At that point, we looked at the home which was a 2600sqft, and the lot size which is about 4700sqft. And we said to ourselves "are we fvcking kidding???"$200k renovations on this tiny home on this tiny lot, we're not going to recoup half of our renovation if we were to resell it.

So in went: new carpets (for hygentic reasons), a dishwasher to replace a broken one, flagstone to replace cracked bricks, a new toilet (to replace a stinky one), some coats of paint inside that I put on myself , a few coats of paint outside that some guy put on for $3k, replacement of all worn faucet fixtures free of charge ( courtesy of Moen's lifetime warranty),1 mirror closet door in one room to satisfy my wife's occasional vanity, and a portable $300 bbq grille that I bought seperately to allow me to rotisere a turkey.

And out went things we wanted: new hardwood to replace the old hardwood, crown molding, new staircase, new granite countertops, new cabinets, new bathtub, new showers, custom entertainment center, sound proof glass retaining wall, epoxy garage floors, custom garage cabinets, planter boxes, built in barbeque and fountain.

My first question is. Do you really "need" to spend that last $15k now, or can you wait? Second, while I believe that there are definitely things that need to be done when you first move in, was the entire $500k spent on needs?

I'm only asking because unfortunately I don't think it would be reasonable to expect that you can even recoup even 1/2 of your remodeling costs if you were to resell. What you might perceive as something preferrable, someone else might hate it and want to take it out the first time they move in.

That said, I'm assuming this is your primary home. My personal rule of a primary home. NEVER THINK OF IT AS AN INVESTMENT. Unlike some people on this board, I plan to stay in my primary home if the house price increases or if the house price decrease. It doesn't make money for me, it's a money drain, no different than my car. It satisfy my material needs and it allows me to do whatever the hell I(and wife) want to my (our) liking , as long as i don't piss off a very loose HOA. Some people on this board can move in and out of a primary home and capture some gain on the appreciation. That's great. I can't do that. I'm more emotionally attached to my primary home like I would be to a sports car versus say a normal car. However, I can afford to slightly indulge in this lack of financial prudence.

The question you need to ask yourself is: what do you want to get out of your primary home?

1) Is it/will it satisfy you and your husband's emotions? All said and done, if you now have the home in a state that you and your husband like..just enjoy it from this point on, provided #2 and #3 isn't an issue.

When I bought my Audi 8 years ago, the damn thing broke down 3 miles once I got out of the dealership. It had to be flatbedded back to the dealer, and then 2 weeks later the same thing happened…And then 1 month later the damn thing happened again. I hated the car, and swore I would sell the damn thing at a loss just to get rid of it. But once fixed, and after all the things said and done, I love this car and won't get rid of it. Cars aren't the same as homes, so it's not a fair comparison..But you get my point. You've pretty much already done of the fixing/remodeling the two of you wanted anyway. It would be a shame that you neither of you wouldn't be able to enjoy it.

 

#2) Can the two of you afford the current $950+500k loan balances? Please tell me you got a 15 or 30 year fixed rate mortgage.Seems like the two of you make pretty good salaries. And you said you can make the payments. Provided you aren't bleeding anywhere else, you should be able to afford this …. Savings will be tight. You or your husband might need to penny-pinch a bit. Less eating out, less shopping, delay car purchases. Skimp of cell phone plans, skimp on just about everything. If you exercise financial prudence elsewhere, it should help a bit with this predicament. The question is whether you AND your husband are willing to exercise this financial prudence elsewhere.

 

 

#3) You and your husband need to agree that if bought of you decide to keep the house, neither of you will talk bitterly about it moving forward …..EVAR. It's not worth fighting over frankly. You have many more important things to fight over (inlaws, parenting,etc) 🙂 The best time to talk about this would be right before and/or during…uh, never mind.

 

Lastly, I think there's an important lesson to be learned here by prospective first time home buyers. Every home has an economic threshold at which home improvements just don't make sense anymore. Because those upgrades just don't "fit" with the house's profile.

 

Good luck with this. And if Rustico is reading, yes I know I need to get a life. But I have an excuse today. I'm jetlagged.

[Coronita]

I really have to ask here.

What does a $500k improvements include?

The only reason why I ask is because back when my wife and I moved in to our place, there were a few things we "needed" to do, a lots of things we "wanted" to do.

After all said and done, all the wanted+needed ended up being close to $150-200k with a good contractors and materials.At that point, we looked at the home which was a 2600sqft, and the lot size which is about 4700sqft. And we said to ourselves "are we fvcking kidding???"$200k renovations on this tiny home on this tiny lot, we're not going to recoup half of our renovation if we were to resell it.

So in went: new carpets (for hygentic reasons), a dishwasher to replace a broken one, flagstone to replace cracked bricks, a new toilet (to replace a stinky one), some coats of paint inside that I put on myself , a few coats of paint outside that some guy put on for $3k, replacement of all worn faucet fixtures free of charge ( courtesy of Moen's lifetime warranty),1 mirror closet door in one room to satisfy my wife's occasional vanity, and a portable $300 bbq grille that I bought seperately to allow me to rotisere a turkey.

And out went things we wanted: new hardwood to replace the old hardwood, crown molding, new staircase, new granite countertops, new cabinets, new bathtub, new showers, custom entertainment center, sound proof glass retaining wall, epoxy garage floors, custom garage cabinets, planter boxes, built in barbeque and fountain.

My first question is. Do you really "need" to spend that last $15k now, or can you wait? Second, while I believe that there are definitely things that need to be done when you first move in, was the entire $500k spent on needs?

I'm only asking because unfortunately I don't think it would be reasonable to expect that you can even recoup even 1/2 of your remodeling costs if you were to resell. What you might perceive as something preferrable, someone else might hate it and want to take it out the first time they move in.

That said, I'm assuming this is your primary home. My personal rule of a primary home. NEVER THINK OF IT AS AN INVESTMENT. Unlike some people on this board, I plan to stay in my primary home if the house price increases or if the house price decrease. It doesn't make money for me, it's a money drain, no different than my car. It satisfy my material needs and it allows me to do whatever the hell I(and wife) want to my (our) liking , as long as i don't piss off a very loose HOA. Some people on this board can move in and out of a primary home and capture some gain on the appreciation. That's great. I can't do that. I'm more emotionally attached to my primary home like I would be to a sports car versus say a normal car. However, I can afford to slightly indulge in this lack of financial prudence.

The question you need to ask yourself is: what do you want to get out of your primary home?

1) Is it/will it satisfy you and your husband's emotions? All said and done, if you now have the home in a state that you and your husband like..just enjoy it from this point on, provided #2 and #3 isn't an issue.

When I bought my Audi 8 years ago, the damn thing broke down 3 miles once I got out of the dealership. It had to be flatbedded back to the dealer, and then 2 weeks later the same thing happened…And then 1 month later the damn thing happened again. I hated the car, and swore I would sell the damn thing at a loss just to get rid of it. But once fixed, and after all the things said and done, I love this car and won't get rid of it. Cars aren't the same as homes, so it's not a fair comparison..But you get my point. You've pretty much already done of the fixing/remodeling the two of you wanted anyway. It would be a shame that you neither of you wouldn't be able to enjoy it.

 

#2) Can the two of you afford the current $950+500k loan balances? Please tell me you got a 15 or 30 year fixed rate mortgage.Seems like the two of you make pretty good salaries. And you said you can make the payments. Provided you aren't bleeding anywhere else, you should be able to afford this …. Savings will be tight. You or your husband might need to penny-pinch a bit. Less eating out, less shopping, delay car purchases. Skimp of cell phone plans, skimp on just about everything. If you exercise financial prudence elsewhere, it should help a bit with this predicament. The question is whether you AND your husband are willing to exercise this financial prudence elsewhere.

 

 

#3) You and your husband need to agree that if bought of you decide to keep the house, neither of you will talk bitterly about it moving forward …..EVAR. It's not worth fighting over frankly. You have many more important things to fight over (inlaws, parenting,etc) 🙂 The best time to talk about this would be right before and/or during…uh, never mind.

 

Lastly, I think there's an important lesson to be learned here by prospective first time home buyers. Every home has an economic threshold at which home improvements just don't make sense anymore. Because those upgrades just don't "fit" with the house's profile.

 

Good luck with this. And if Rustico is reading, yes I know I need to get a life. But I have an excuse today. I'm jetlagged.

[NotCranky]

And if Rustico is reading, yes I know I need to get a life. But I have an excuse today. I’m jetlagged.

In my book one doesn’t tell someone who just went to China to get a life. Also, one must understand that excessive blogging can be a perfectly acceptable phase to pass through. I have enjoyed your stories…

What I really want to know is, if you were comparatively fat, did you walk more the 250 feet per day and did the kids seem smarter than your kids?
Rhetorical question posted.(inside joke).

Thanks for your concern about our well being related to fires. Some people had it really bad but no piggs have reported anything awful.It has been about the crash either accelerating because of the fires or stopped in its tracks for the same reason, depending on the poster.

Best wishes.

[NotCranky]

And if Rustico is reading, yes I know I need to get a life. But I have an excuse today. I’m jetlagged.

In my book one doesn’t tell someone who just went to China to get a life. Also, one must understand that excessive blogging can be a perfectly acceptable phase to pass through. I have enjoyed your stories…

What I really want to know is, if you were comparatively fat, did you walk more the 250 feet per day and did the kids seem smarter than your kids?
Rhetorical question posted.(inside joke).

Thanks for your concern about our well being related to fires. Some people had it really bad but no piggs have reported anything awful.It has been about the crash either accelerating because of the fires or stopped in its tracks for the same reason, depending on the poster.

Best wishes.

[Author]

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