Buying property, is this good or bad idea?

[joombo]

What are your thoughts about investing in property?

 

[Flash525]

I would think it very much depends on where you live. I know that presently, in the UK at least, property prices are on the rise. If it's affordable however, I would encourage those that can to buy a property rather than rent - there's pros and cons to both, of course, but I look at renting in the sense that you're just throwing money away. With an actual property, once you've paid for it (granted, this can take some time) it's eventually all yours.

 

[Immortalfire]

Ask a realtor.

 

[RetrogradeOrbit]

In the long term, it is virtually impossible to go wrong with buying property…

 

[BeserkerHilf]

Currently buying our second home. My wife and I have been bouncing around for 8 years now and I have complicated feelings that amount to this:

It's nice to live in a place where I answer to no one if I want to make changes, unless I live in an HOA. That said, it's becoming more and more of a relic idea to become attached to a home when the reality is I/we could be moving for any reason before those 30 years are up. So my mind has sort of warped into this idea that buying home is just renting with more steps. The renter's deposit is now the 20% down on a mortgage, and hopefully the market favors me so that 20% grows in the future when I want to sell.

 

[Erzengel]

Buying property as in land or land with a structure on it?

It depends on where and the neighborhood. Buying a run down home in somewhere decent, build a better home, you can make money.

 

[Mandon Knight]

Are we talking 'simply' buying a property with a view to a 'home' or purchasing purely as investment to sell on almost immediately ? Have always rented, when I buy, it will be for the first time.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

If you like moving around then rent and invest the money you save from not owning a house.

If you plan on staying in the same spot because you're raising a family then a house is a solid investment.

 

[InCali]

Long term, it's a good idea. When I lived in Santa Cruz, a friend of mine got pissed off at his house because something broke. He sold it to another friend and me for a good price. My friend has a business and uses the garage portion to manufacture equipment (it's zoned dual use; residential/commercial) and we rent the house out at a low rate for Santa Cruz. We've never had a vacancy in over 20 years because of that. The price of the house has more than tripled in that time. My primary residence has gone up about 230% in the 15 years I've lived there.

 

[cregsim]

What is your opinion now about the real estate market?

 

[squeekness]

Too hard to do without two good paychecks coming in.

 

[squeekness]

Buy as early in life as you can. Having a primary residence paid for before retirement gives great financial stability.