5 ms·

Rational advice for splurging 500K to 1M+ on a "nice" home? Isn't that an oxymoron?

by jpr 15y ago

nopassrecover 15y ago
How so? Houses, as a rule, are investments, and like any investments should be considered rationally.
- jpr 15y ago
  Isn't this the very kind of thinking - thinking that houses are investments and surely the prices will go up - that caused the housing bubble?
- true_religion 15y ago
  He's saying that half a million is too much for a merely 'nice' home. But this is just a linguistic conceit on the part of home buyers. There are mansions (homes that you can't afford), nice homes (homes that you can afford, and are in good condition/areas), and there are slums (homes you can afford, and in bad conditions/areas). No one wants to live in a slum. No one can afford a mansion. So a 'nice' home is the only realistic choice.
jpdoctor 15y ago
Rationality will prevail eventually: We'll get back to 3x annual income for the simple reason that the fake appreciation due to easy loans is history. The thing I fear though is the in-between period. Many folks will hold on thinking that the downturn is "temporary", so prices will stay elevated for a few extra years. As a consequence, you'll see doubling-up and tripling-up in housing that normally would have held only one family.
randomdata 15y ago
Looking at the real estate listings for my area, the most expensive home for sale is $1M; and it is a beautiful mansion. I couldn't imagine paying $1M for just a nice home.
- usaar333 15y ago
  Don't imagine living in the Bay Area then. :)
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- dagw 15y ago
  Looking at my area, the cheapest house I'd actually consider buying in an area I'd actually want to live, is north of $600K. House prices having nothing to do with the building, and everything to do with the location. It's (relatively) easy to make an ugly house beautiful.
ww520 15y ago
It just means the dollars have depreciated substantially. Nothing to see. Seriously, housing is one of the best inflation hedges.

Rational advice for splurging 500K to 1M+ on a "nice" home? Isn't that an oxymoron?

by jpr 15y ago

Rational advice for splurging 500K to 1M+ on a "nice" home? Isn't that an oxymoron?

nopassrecover 15y ago

How so? Houses, as a rule, are investments, and like any investments should be considered rationally.

jpr 15y ago
Isn't this the very kind of thinking - thinking that houses are investments and surely the prices will go up - that caused the housing bubble?
true_religion 15y ago
He's saying that half a million is too much for a merely 'nice' home. But this is just a linguistic conceit on the part of home buyers. There are mansions (homes that you can't afford), nice homes (homes that you can afford, and are in good condition/areas), and there are slums (homes you can afford, and in bad conditions/areas). No one wants to live in a slum. No one can afford a mansion. So a 'nice' home is the only realistic choice.

jpdoctor 15y ago

Rationality will prevail eventually: We'll get back to 3x annual income for the simple reason that the fake appreciation due to easy loans is history. The thing I fear though is the in-between period. Many folks will hold on thinking that the downturn is "temporary", so prices will stay elevated for a few extra years. As a consequence, you'll see doubling-up and tripling-up in housing that normally would have held only one family.

randomdata 15y ago

Looking at the real estate listings for my area, the most expensive home for sale is $1M; and it is a beautiful mansion. I couldn't imagine paying $1M for just a nice home.

usaar333 15y ago
Don't imagine living in the Bay Area then. :)
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
dagw 15y ago
Looking at my area, the cheapest house I'd actually consider buying in an area I'd actually want to live, is north of $600K. House prices having nothing to do with the building, and everything to do with the location. It's (relatively) easy to make an ugly house beautiful.

ww520 15y ago

It just means the dollars have depreciated substantially. Nothing to see. Seriously, housing is one of the best inflation hedges.