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what do you regret more, buying a house? or not buying a house? please provide your experience

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Agent Smith, "WillSell4U"
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Agent Smith, "WillSell4U"

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I just started this thread to see who have a greater chance of regretting.
Because I for one, I has a past experience of sorely regretting about not buying a house.
It just seems to put more psychological 'what could have been' thoughts on you.

On the other hand, I am now a home owner. Although the value of my home has also depreciated by 15%, it doesn't really affect me at all. I am still over-joyed about it as much as ever. I still feel today that it was the best decision I have ever made.

How about you guys? Does anyone here have a personal experience you would like to share with us?

September 27 2007 - US

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formercalifornian
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I'm not sure this is what your hoping to hear, but I regret buying a house.

My spouse and I moved to the east coast from the Bay Area in 2005 for an employment opportunity and sank all of our equity into a new house. Unfortunately, the job turned into a disaster. More unfortunately, by the time we were ready to admit that we'd made a mistake and move back west, we'd plowed about $40k into improving the new house, which we did not recover when we sold. I wish that we'd rented rather than bought, because we'd have left sooner and spared ourselves a great deal of stress. Instead, we gutted it out in an absolutely terrible situation for much longer than was good for us.

This time, we rented, and I am much happier knowing that we have the flexibility to make changes without the huge housing albatross hanging around our necks. Renting has turned out to be a good choice. Not only are we renting at less than what it would have cost to buy, we are seeing our savings grow faster than we ever imagined between the interest on our investments and the lower monthly bills. And, we have the flexibility to relocate easily for promotion opportunities.

September 27 2007

2 Big 2 Fail
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If you plan on staying in your area for at least 5 years, butying is better. My job is not going anywhere so I will be in the NYC metro area for a very long time.

Maybe you could have saved yourself from the aggravation by renting the house out instead of selling for a loss?

September 27 2007

2 Big 2 Fail
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I regret buying a house because I realized that I bought a home in th wrong area. The area I really like I never looked at and now I regret it. I avoided it because it would have required a longer commute to Manahttan, but if I were to do it all over again, I would take the longer commute.

September 27 2007

formercalifornian
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"Maybe you could have saved yourself from the aggravation by renting the house out instead of selling for a loss?"

No, thank you. Not from 3000 miles away. I'm not cut out to be a landlord, which would have added to my aggravation, not spared me. It was much better for us to cut our losses by taking the financial hit.

"If you plan on staying in your area for at least 5 years, buying is better."

If the payment is affordable, you're building equity, and the housing market is at least holding its value, I won't argue with you there.

September 27 2007

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I regret having bought in 1989. I bought with a partner. We were going to sell in a year and a half, but prices dropped and kept on dropping while the adjustable mortgage -- which we took because I was very young and stupid and the realtor *promised* we'd have no trouble selling the house in a year and a half -- went up to 14 percent so there was no way to refinance.

My "business" partner refused to pay for anything, bailed, and moved out of state; so I was completely responsible for paying while the house dropped in value. Yep, I regret buying.

There were a few horror stories that went along with having an older house, too. I was completely unprepared for the whole experience.

By the way, it took way longer than five years to recover the last time. In five years things were at their very worst in my area.

September 27 2007

Callista, "warriorprincess"
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I never had a chance.....

I was still working on my undergraduate, and graduate degrees when things were appropriately priced in my area. By the time I was out of college the bubble had already inflated.... flippers, low interest rates, speculation and panic had already driven prices to the moon. Of course with hindsight, if I had it to do over again I would have purchased in 2001, and put off my education a few years...

Prices had been stable for 10 years...I never saw it coming.

September 27 2007

Randy_H
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We bought in 1996, from sellers who bought in 1989. They lost a good clip, more than 10% not counting inflation. They were OK, but not necessarily happy about it. They upgraded, so they probably got a good deal on that.

I remember thinking we were stupid crazy for leveraging ourselves so hard to buy that place. We only had 12% to put down, because I was very illiquid with my own company. We were from the Midwest, moving in from Chicago, where prices were less than half CA at the time (Downtown Chicago was still revitalizing in the early/mid 90s).

By 1998 I was sure we had made a mistake buying the house. In 2002 we sold it for more than twice what we paid, and upgraded to a home in the hills, which was to be our "until empty nest" house. We sold that in 2005, but I still managed to somehow get about 13% out of that place for 3 year of occupancy. You'd have thought that 2002-2005 would have been some 250% appreciation, but that wasn't happening in the Peninsula hills then; only in places like San Francisco and Marin.

Of course just then we moved to Marin. Right after the "big spike". Lucky me.

September 28 2007

plarusa
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I bought for the first time in 1990, which was a market peak at that time. Five years later, the house lost more than 30% of its value. But I held on while others were bailing out, abandoning their property to the bank. By 2005, the house was worth more than double the original purchase price. Thinking back, I should have bought more homes at the bottom of that market, which I could have done with some guts. This was a mistake I'll be sure not to repeat this time around. If the market goes south in my area, I will be sure to purchase again. I am certain the next peak will dwarf the more recent one. You can never own too much real estate.

September 28 2007

formercalifornian
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Plarusa,

YOU can never own enough real estate. I prefer less labor-intensive investments. Not everyone is cut out to manage property. Some people just want to own a house, not become the next real estate mogul. There are other ways to make money.

September 28 2007

Gina Gursky, "gmgursky"
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Gina Gursky, "gmgursky"

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Hello,
We live in the S Fl area. Royal palm beach to be exact. We purchased our home 3 years ago when the market was way up. Back then, we could not make an offer fast enough. We would look at 6-8 homes in a day and by the end of the day, 7 of them already had contracts on them. The couple we bought from had been in the house 4 years. They told us they paid $153,000, in the year 2000. We purchased the home at a reduced price of $365,000. (Their asking price was 379,900. Homes are selling in my area now for 30-40,000 less then we paid 3 years ago. I'm sure it's becuase they don't owe very much...We have our home for sale currently. It has been on the MLS for about 1 month. It's very depressing knowing that we may have to take a loss after the money that we have put into the home. We have replaced alot of things, and even built a 3 stall barn. Our home was appraised recently at 414,000. Very depressing....

September 28 2007

Gina Gursky, "gmgursky"
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Gina Gursky, "gmgursky"

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Hey Plarusa, Where is this property that you speak of? What region, state?

September 28 2007

LongIslandBubble
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I regret not buying a house back in 1997 when I was thinking about buying. You know, when prices made sense and getting a loan for $200k was a real challenge, even with my excellent credit and plenty for a down payment.

I also regret that I didn't buy early into the bubble as well; if I bought the house I looked at in 2001, I would have sold it in fear when it doubled in price.

...and sat on the money until now; but I didn't know it would rise so high in such a short amount of time. Instead, I got so drawn in to what was happening in the market and I kept looking for that big huge wave of foreclosures; amazing it took so long for it to actually happen.

...but then again, I regret not putting my whole nest egg into the tech stocks until just before it crashed and then put the big wad into gold, where that money would have doubled......but just like RE, who knew for sure.

I just want to buy a house to live in, not to resell or rent out; and not when prices don't make any sense whatsoever (like now). So I think all in all, I made the right choice; buying a house back in 2001 for what they were asking was just too much of a gamble for me; gambling with your nest egg is a very selfish thing you can do.

September 28 2007

Jarrod Chambers, "Gallo de fuego"
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Jarrod Chambers, "Gallo de fuego"

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I don't regret buying at all. I did make a mistake on a house that needed more work than initially thought. It broke even in the sale, and I learned alot from that one. other than that, everything else has been a learning curve and I doubt I would ever loose money in a deal again. Even if the market is down.

September 28 2007

CORONA NICK
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I bought in 2002, It was a big deal to me, I felt prices were going up, so I jumped in because I knew I could afford it then, but now, its a different story, prices are still inflated big time in my area, even with the recent 8% or so drop in price this last month, I would bet prices will keep going down because inventory is skyrocketing in my area, brown lawns are in every neighborhood, as a matter of fact, the house right across my street is turning into a brown lawn... someone said that we have 24 month supply in my area, thats crazy.... all in all, Im glad I bought, because I payed what I could afford with a conventional loan, with a downpayment of 20%, and was easliy able to pay the mortgage, probably the only thing I regret is not buying a bigger house in the same area, actually right up the hill, it was 60K more, but since I was single, I decided with the smaller house which is 2002 sqft, I guess its big enough....

September 28 2007

Rachel Pajaczek, "Seattle Agent"
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Rachel Pajaczek, "Seattle Agent"

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My husband often asks himself why he didn't buy 6 years ago.....hind site...

September 28 2007

sas912
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I regret not having bought a condo in Park City Utah back in the early 90s.

I regret not having bought my great aunt's lake house in 1998 just outside of Atlanta.

I don't regret having bought any of the real estate that I did buy (well, other than that 3.5 acre litter box in Arizona that I finally sold several years ago for what I paid for it).

September 28 2007

billwgreatchina
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CORONA NICK,

Since you live in Corona, need your opinion, there is a street Mccall Dr, CA 92881, 7 houses were put on market this year, 6 of them were sold; another street is Shepard Crest Dr, CA 92882, looks like entire street is for sale, but no any one of them sold. Do you know why?

Second, I think house price should calculate like this: 2002 price x 1.35 + 5 year inflation (4% each year in Southern CA). US Dollar has decreased 35% in value comparing EURO, that's why 1.35 is here. For example: if the house worth $400,000 in 2002, today's market value should be $400,000 x 1.35x1.04x1.04x1.04x1.04x1.04=$656,992. Do you agree with my formula?

September 28 2007

Agent Smith, "WillSell4U"
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Agent Smith, "WillSell4U"

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Looks like everyone here is regretting about not buying a home, as opposed to owning a home. I feel that when you buy a home, it will always be a great choice as a buyer regardless of if your house price goes down or not. It seems you guys made my point clear. =)

September 28 2007

formercalifornian
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"...Looks like everyone here..."

Look again Agent Smith. Many, but not all, of the responders are happy to have made the leap into home ownership. It's dangerous to speak in generalities. Every situation must be viewed independently. Your point is far from clear.

September 28 2007

2 Big 2 Fail
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I regret selling my Manhattan apartment in 03. Had I sold it right now, I could have easily gotten an extra $250,000 - $300,000.

September 28 2007

formercalifornian
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formercalifornian

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So sorry to hear that, Alpine, but as Warren Buffett says..."It's better to let someone else have the last few thousand dollars." Greed is the quickest way to lose your financial gains.

September 28 2007

2 Big 2 Fail
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" regret not buying a house back in 1997 when I was thinking about buying. You know, when prices made sense and getting a loan for $200k was a real challenge, even with my excellent credit and plenty for a down payment.

I also regret that I didn't buy early into the bubble as well; if I bought the house I looked at in 2001, I would have sold it in fear when it doubled in price.

...and sat on the money until now; but I didn't know it would rise so high in such a short amount of time."

LIB,

Thank you for admitting that you regret not buying a rapidly appreciating house back in 1997 and 2001 and that you are bitter for missing out an an opprtunity to increase yoru net worth. Thank you for admitting that you are bitter for missing out on easy money during the boom years of real estate. Thank you for admitting that you post nothing but negative things to get revenge on the sellers and realtors that made more money than you during the last 10 years.

September 28 2007

dmcmahon
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My house is a place to live. It's well within my means. I'm very happy because the neighborhood is great. My house is way better than anything I could rent on a permanent basis - I tried renting a similar house some years back, and after my 1-year lease was up, it was sold and I had to move. Prices are holding up here, inventory has been low, only two houses in the neighborhood were marketed in the past 3 months and both of them sold within a few weeks. Even if prices crash, nothing will change - this location is excellent and my neighbors don't have zero equity sub-prime ARMs so no one's going to be forced to sell. Financially, if you are gonna stay put for a while, owning beats the snot out of renting. Even if you think you are getting ahead with money in the bank, inflation and taxes are eating away at your purchasing power.

Now my last house, that was another story. Guy across the street left a huge RV parked there for months on end, guy next door died or moved and a couple moved with with a really loud, really aggressive dog that made my back yard unusable because he would bark ceaselessly if anyone was out there. Another guy tuned a very loud race car on week-ends. Oy Vey! I felt trapped, and finally when I could stand it no longer, I sold, which was not a speedy or easy process. So I can see the advantages and flexibility of renting.

September 28 2007

Callista, "warriorprincess"
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Plenty of people here are unhappy about losing money on real estate agent smith. The theme I am picking up from this is that timing is the most important thing.

September 29 2007

LongIslandBubble
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****Thank you for admitting that you regret not buying a rapidly appreciating house back in 1997 and 2001 and that you are bitter for missing out an an opprtunity to increase yoru net worth. Thank you for admitting that you are bitter for missing out on easy money during the boom years of real estate. Thank you for admitting that you post nothing but negative things to get revenge on the sellers and realtors that made more money than you during the last 10 years. ****

How am I bitter? I am glad I made the choices I did. Just because I regret things doesn't make me bitter. I also regret not picking the right lotto numbers.....does that make me a bitter lottery player?

As far as buying a house right now, I would rather put all my money in a pile, dump gasoline on it and watch it burn rather than buy a house. I'd lose everything, but it's better to have 0 than to have -$150k.

September 29 2007

2 Big 2 Fail
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"I'd lose everything, but it's better to have 0 than to have -$150k."

Had you bought in 97, you would have a lot of equity right now. The same thing if you bought in 01. You would not be upside down.

September 29 2007

Justsellit
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Truly regret buying my house. Stuck more then ten years next to a neighbor with a mentally ill wife just destroying the neighborhood.

September 29 2007

Elizabeth Smith, "jtjlsmith"
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Elizabeth Smith, "jtjlsmith"

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I am happy I bought when I did. I think it's pretty good that I'm 26 and I own a home. No regrets here.

September 30 2007

LongIslandBubble
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***Had you bought in 97, you would have a lot of equity right now. The same thing if you bought in 01. You would not be upside down. ***

Do you have some kind of a mental block? Read my posts again; several times until you utter the words, "Oh....he did say that".

Had I bought last year or the year before, I would already be upside down. If I bought today, I would most definetly be upside down several months from now.

September 30 2007

LongIslandBubble
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....and I ONLY regret not buying the house I looked at in 2001 because I would have sold it probably in 2004 and sat on the money; I'd be richer today. I think if I bought that house and held onto it, there is a very good chance it will be worth less in a few years.

September 30 2007

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