Real estate is STILL a good investentl

Why don't you tell that to the condo and home owners in Fl, NV, and CA?

umm, given that the stock market has 'plunged,' wouldn't that suggest that now could be a GOOD time to buy stocks? this is why most people are such poor investors: when things go down they panic and either sell or buy the things that haven't declined. exactly the wrong approach.

anything can be a good investment once prices are low enough.

Why catch a falling knife.

Wow...we actually went 2 whole days without someone using the old, "catch a falling knife" line. I agree with the meaning, but am pretty sick of the phrase.

Waverly, you're pushing on a string with that post.

Prices are already down so why not buy now?

> I agree with the meaning, but am pretty sick of the phrase.

Then come up with a new phrase for those looking to get into the "the long denied manhattan crash idown 20% in just a few months, and no sign of stopping..."

Um, because prices will continue to fall...

Even if you just put your money under your pillow, its better than buyer something that is guaranteed to be lower tomorrow than it is today.

So do you think the buyers who walked away from their $152,000 deposit did the right thing? There is no guarantee RE will continue to fall. I guarantee it will recover though.

lol hotproperty, horproperty. there is no guarantee that real estate will continue to fall, but there IS a guarantee it will recover....hmmm. are you a crystal ball salesman by any chance?

Tell that to the japanese who took out 100 year mortgages to afford Tokyo in 1989

"So do you think the buyers who walked away from their $152,000 deposit did the right thing? There is no guarantee RE will continue to fall. "

If the median is down the 20% like the preliminary numbers show, thats a guaranteed savings. Losing 10% to guarantee you don't immediately lose 20%. Sounds like a good number to me. Even if you then buy something else for a 20% discount, you come out ahead.

> I guarantee it will recover though.

Define recover.

You think its hitting these highs in our lifetimes again?
Say it does.... 20-30 years to break even.

Thats called a loss in nominal terms. I'll easily take a 10% loss rather than 0% return on a leveraged "investment".

Why rush in since prices don't go up only one day? Why not wait for stabilization and then go in? Since you don't need to catch the bottom to make decent profit, why be a hero to risk more downside?

Isn't there a high probability that it will recover (whatever that actually means)? Won't real estate always fluctate? Perhaps then it's not the safest investment, but still a potentially good investment, depending on timing.

hofo is right. All this nonsense about how renters will miss the boat if they don't buy now is just silly. After the trough in the early nineties you had 5 years where the market was flat. Plenty of time to recognize when a bottom was in.

for the long term investor yes it is.
always has been. always will be. has its up and downs but in the longrun it's a homerun.

renters are the people who lease cars
RE owners are the people who know leasing is for cupcakes and buy the car outright.

I brought an 08 FX35 with cash last year? Does that make me smart or stupid? The value plunged about $1500 the second I drove it off the lot..............curious minds want to know????

You live in Manhattan and own a car? Why would anyone in Manahttan need a car?

I live in Astoria right over the bridge, best of both worlds.............

I've actually always owned my apartment and leased my car (xjh wasn't paying attention to the buy appreciating assets lease depreciating ones lesson), until now. Now I rent to avoid a depreciating asset, but somehow I managed to buy the car. Stupid.

Alpine, I want to sell the car, but my husband feels rather strongly about standing in line for the rental car when we go to the weekend home, and as I don't drive, I can't pick it up. Would be MUCH cheaper to rent a car.

zipcar! You have to wait for the garage guy to drive the car out, no? Some zipcar garages are even better than that, because the zipcars are permanently parked near the front, so it makes it close to drive-in and out.

nyc10023, I don't think we'd be able to fit the garbage and recyclables to return them to the city. Not a bad thought, though. We have a zipcar spot right in front of our apartment building in Peter Cooper (part of the Lux living, you know).

How big is your car? There are many Honda CRVs around me, as well as the Element and there are even Ford Escapes.

I'm not sure I get your point, but we have the smallest Audi wagon. Good mileage on the highway, and you can cram alot of stuff in the back.

I thought you said you wouldn't be able to fit garb/recyclables - I assumed you thought zipcars were all small. There are some bigger models.

real estate has been one of the best ways for the average American to save and to have a stable home at the same time.

nyc10023 - thanks for the tip. I didn't realize. Sorry I was so thick.

ootin - I agree, but at times, and under certain circumstances, it's also been a foul choice.

stevexjh - dude, it's seriously uncool to misrepresent someone with identity theft. It's not obvious, so it ain't parody. Totally square, mate.

ootin- you're right, but that's simply forced savings, like Bank of America's Keep the Change. Sure, the average American can't handle saving on his own, so having to pay down the mortgage is pretty much the only way since real estate is so illiquid. It doesn't change the argument on whether real estate is a good investment, as opposed to other vehicles.