Dream House or Nightmare?

Poor Roger, "I got this beautiful home, that I actually build myself, using my God given skills and talents. But heck, society saids that my skill and talents are worthless, because this beautiful house I built to enjoy and live the rest of my life in with my wife, is losing it $750,000.00 value". I say..be thankful, and if you really want to feel that the house is worth it's value, turn it into a abused women shelter/retreat bed and breakfast!

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Rogers a cry baby.....be happy you've both got great jobs to pay for the monster you sooo greedly built. No tears here.

I think Roger and many people like him don't appreciate that fact that they have a home many people would die to have......do you both still have a job? I could feel sorry for you if you lost your jobs...but a turn in the market is a shame but not a disaster......suck it up and get on with your life. No tears here for you.

The thing I find most amusing about this story is the simple fact that the guy built the house expecting to make a profit off of it. Every financial expert will tell you don't buy a house expecting to make a profit off of it. You buy a house as an investment for your family and in the long run you will sell it for more than you paid for it, but not necessarily make a profit when you figure in taxes, maintenance, insurance and the like. Someone buy this guy a copy of any Dave Ramsey book out there.

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I find it interesting that so many people go to church on Sunday but when the housing market falls we all freak out. It is such a luxury problem ( to be worried about a 3/4 mil home ). Snap out of it! Get real. Besides even if it takes years to recover, good realestate always does.

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There is a reality to all of this, your house is worth what some one is willing to pay. With that said there is one common demonator, the Media. The Media has been selling the Bubble and the Bust for some time, doing so repeatedly. The culprit is Mid East Oil, Opec and yes once again the Media. We live in a world where the Media can suggest and the public will deliver. A rumor is only as good as the source and the source's ability to continue to spread the message. Why does the Media have so much Power? Because the Media World is changing, all of the Media is searching for First Out, Best or Most Shocking and last Credibility. There is no Honor in the Media, they've become so Driven the only thing that counts is the Story. An example of this is the Dan Rather Story about George W. Bush, stories fed to him by Lies and MisDeeds.
Oh Dan feels Scorned, but what about us, we bought it hook line and sinker. Well the same has happened in he Housing Market. Now we enter OPEC, Oil Shortages and Demand. We should be demanding the SAUDIS increase Oil Porduction, or we Must Drill in some of the Off Limit areas, if we do not we sill suffer and it won't be pretty.

Think about this, in Board Rooms Traders and CEO's aren't really worried yet, however they will when there is such a decline, the bottom will fall out. The Traders will have nothing to Trade or better yet no one to sell to.

Environmentalist ,are the next real enemy,.Oh there is nothing wrong wanting the Planet to be free of Pollutants, however it should be done by real Science, not some nit wit with too much money. in most cases inherited money having no other Venue other than a bunch of nimrods lookiing for some one to follow.
In Washington State, the Environmental Community and their Partner Government have in the Name of Environmental Protection have lost over 10,000 Acres of Agriculture Land in the last 10 Years.
Citizens of this Country have to come to the Realization that Science not a bunch of Environmental Attorney's with other place to work have decided what is to be protected.
When one takes all the components of this equation into consideration we Must realize our inability to furnish Oil from within our own lands has not hurt the nitwit that inherited all of their money, but it sure has hurt the family with young children and both parents working and trying to just make ends meet.

The quest for Clean Air and the elimination of Global Warming is the next culprit, again there is nothing wrong with wanting Clean Air, but again let's be real. Again in Washington State, The Hate Bush State and the Save the Salmon at all cost, when there is no shortage State, let's look there. More specifically, let's take a look at the policies that driven the major cities into Traffic Gridlock. The largest Region consisting of the Three Major Counties, King Pierce and Snohomish have a No New Roads and No Widening Policies and a policy to only want to build Light Rail and a

I find the conversation about home values odd. The way I understand economics, if your house doesn't sell for much, chances are you won't have to pay as much for your next home anyway. It's all relative - looking at the issue through a strictly numeric lens is rather silly. I'm actually in the process of moving right now. Sure, I took a nasty blow in the amount the old house sold for, but so did the people whose house I'm buying. In fact, they took more of a blow because they wanted to sell fast, so they insisted on selling "As Is". Whatever. I'm looking for a place to raise my kids, and I love the new house. I fully plan on living there for the next 30 or even 60 years. And color me unperturbed if, by the time my kids sell the house to put me in a home for the elderly (or in the ground, whichever comes first), I fail to net much of a profit. I'm still betting that, whatever the number is, it will still reflect the amount of capital needed to live comfortably at that time.

...Who on earth wants to move every five years, anyway? Moving's a nightmare.

I find the conversation about home values odd. The way I understand economics, if your house doesn't sell for much, chances are you won't have to pay as much for your next home anyway. It's all relative - looking at the issue through a strictly numeric lens is rather silly. I'm actually in the process of moving right now. Sure, I took a nasty blow in the amount the old house sold for, but so did the people whose house I'm buying. In fact, they took more of a blow because they wanted to sell fast, so they insisted on selling "As Is". Whatever. I'm looking for a place to raise my kids, and I love the new house. I fully plan on living there for the next 30 or even 60 years. And color me unperturbed if, by the time my kids sell the house to put me in a home for the elderly (or in the ground, whichever comes first), I fail to net much of a profit. I'm still betting that, whatever the number is, it will still reflect the amount of capital needed to live comfortably at that time.

...Who on earth wants to move every five years, anyway? Moving's a nightmare.

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I just bought a house in kansas for 207000 dollars with fix rate for 30 years. I think it is wrong idea to purchase house for short term expectations. You will make monthly payments and you will get your money when are you selling. also it will appreciate and you will get extra money but you have to stay in your house at least 7 years otherwise you loose money in short term. It is better than renting a house. Also you have to buy something according to your budget. You can start establishing a solid aquity and you can use this to borrow money or get loan for kids education etc....you will get better rate from the banks.

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I don't understand why everyone thinks home prices should keep going up. I think they should go down. Affordable housing is what this country needs.
I paid $155,000 for my home eight years ago. I would rather it be worth $100,000 tommorrow than $1,000,000.
This way my taxes won't get out of hand.
Also lower home prices mean I won't have to spend so much for my replacement home. My depreciated equity is worth just as much as it was eight years ago if I use it to buy another home.
It's not fair to young buyers looking for that first house either. Damn the seller who wants $175,000 for a house that he paid $60,000 for.
When I look at homes I always find out what the seller paid for it and base my offer on that figure.
I say let the prices fall. It's really a good thing for any one with brains.

I too am in this same scenario. Bought a house that I thought would appreciate significantly. It was going to be more than just a great place to live, it was going to help us to retire without a pension. (Pensions were eliminated from my husbands company benefits during the stock market downturn a few years back.)
But, here is how I look at it: It is still a wonderful place to live. I no longer expect to make a profit. I hope that I can afford to stay here long enough to see the value go back up, so that it does not cost me anything to sell it.
I believe that day traders inflated the stock market, and flippers artificially inflated the housing market.
The correction that happened to the stock market is the same thing that is happening to the real estate market.
We must weed all of this out, and wait for the natural market to settle and correct itself. Hopefully the government can keep it's nose out long enough for this to happen quickly, so that the housing market can continue on it's slow and steady increase.

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