Home Buying Moral Dilemma

[TheVTCGuy]

Seth, I can’t offer much help, but you know what question I am going to ask…

[Maleg]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

Seth, I can’t offer much help, but you know what question I am going to ask…

He’ll need the bigger house for your dedicated room (with private entrance).

[Chiboy]

I think you're single, and have a garage full of exotic cars. Am I remembering that right? If so, I'd say a really nicely done 2500 sq ft house would be great for a single guy. So that's a vote for the smaller, nicer one. And having the four nicest cars in the neighborhood on a street where you have the nicest house doesn't sound like fun to me. If the economy slows down, as seems likely, gentrification will take longer than expected. If it happens. The big house on the wrong side of town is not for me. I don't know about you, but that's my thoughts. Good luck!

[superdog]

I was outbid.

In fact, I was dramatically outbid.

I thought my offer was at the very top of its value. I was worried I was paying too much. I was in the middle of the pack.

We don’t get too specific on numbers on trf. So let’s just say someone threw in a new Lamborghini Huracan Evo, AWD, nicely specced on top of my offer.

Yikes….

Grateful I’m happy where I currently reside.

[AzPaul]

It was probably haunted, anyway.

[HobokenRolex]

I’m sure something great will come from this and you’ll find something even better. I know you like your town, but come a little south and west in NJ and your money goes much farther. Lots of 3 car garages for your toys and open roads to drive them (or so I imagine - I have a lumbering SUV)!

[superdog]

Originally Posted by AzPaul

It was probably haunted, anyway.

Lmao. Exactly. Appreciate you. And the laugh.

[superdog]

Originally Posted by HobokenRolex

I’m sure something great will come from this and you’ll find something even better. I know you like your town, but come a little south and west in NJ and your money goes much farther. Lots of 3 car garages for your toys and open roads to drive them (or so I imagine - I have a lumbering SUV)!

You are exactly right. I might start thinking this way soon enough.

Trouble is, there is no stock anywhere.

I don’t need to move. I’m happy. Can’t have everything in life.

But I’ll keep looking for sure.

[Old Geezer]

Too bad you got outbid, it wasn't meant to be. You may have heard the following saying when you visited India.....“In the end, everything will be ok. If it's not ok, it's not yet the end." I used to laugh when I visited India and my Indian colleagues said this to me. There is a lot of wisdom in this saying

[BNA/LION]

Damn Seth! Just seeing this as I have not been on a lot lately. I was in the smaller house group. Sorry you didn't get it this time... Good Luck on the next one!

[brandrea]

Another home will come along when you’re ready. In the mean time, you’re in a great spot.

[joeychitwood]

I have a friend who bought a big old house in an “up and coming” old neighborhood east of downtown Minneapolis 25 years ago. He restored it beautifully, but the gentrification of the neighborhood never happened. It remains run down and depressed. He lost a lot of money selling the house after 15 years, and it’s a shadow of its former self now.

[Moondoggy]

My rules

Worst house in best street
Houses do not go up, land does always buy something that the land value component is as close to 100% as possible.

[GB-man]

Buying is rough Seth I’ve been outbid so many damn times. For me anyways the hunt can be fun so after I mope a bit I start looking again and a better house appears.

I always prefer to blue chip neighborhood with less sq footage. Every time. I disagree with the notion that a house tops out on value. Cream keeps rising.

[Pw92676]

Although now moot, I would have voted to stay put in the condo.

[KatGirl]

I moved from NJ to CA 8 years ago. Cost of living there was high, but a bit higher here. I went from a city girl to a country girl. I live on 16 acres in Northern CA. Can’t say I miss NJ much. But, I still consider it home, and go back periodically, to visit family and friends. Too bad you were outbid. But, It just means there’s something better out there for you. It will all work out for the best.

Kat


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[JasoninDenver]

Originally Posted by Moondoggy

My rules

Worst house in best street
.

X2.

Plus might I add…

Rent when everyone else is buying and buy when everyone else is selling.

[HL65]

Go for the location always. I would much rather own the smallest house in a great neighborhood vs biggest in an ok one. Good luck brother!

[Dyim]

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.

I personally would never buy the biggest house on the street. Especially in an up and coming neighborhood. To invest in such areas, I would buy a crappy house and rent it out. Wait for values to go up, then sell or build.

Some like having the best house on the street, I prefer to be a bit more subdued sometimes. Yes, it sounds a bit ironic because I am on TRF and have flashy cars. However, I can park the car in the garage and close the door. I can’t put a cover over my house lol. In fact, a lot of people are surprised at the very modest home that I live in. There are employees of mine that live in a more expensive house than me.

I understand free market and all, but I personally think blind bidding is crazy. When you go to an auction to buy things, it is not blind. IMO, blind bidding causes inflated prices in a bull market, that leads to bigger swing in prices when the market turns. It is not difficult to be underwater with the mortgage if the market takes a real dump if you over bid. FOMO is making people open their wallet. I for one personally would not be keen on throwing in a Lambo for free just because I have to have it. Of course you theoretically can make it back when you sell yours. Just like trading watches.

GL with the hunt.

[Redfoot]

Real estate is so mind boggling lately, it is not even funny. Even with interest rates near 7% for some, people are offering 10's of thousands over asking and still doing a mortgage. Cash buyers are still competitive, but I do not see them over bidding as crazy as the conventional purchases. My wife and I are sitting out- we were beat out on at least a dozen houses because I am unwilling to blindly fork over cash on top of the appraised value of a house. We have a nice house, in a nice neighborhood and we are comfortable. We had to ask ourselves "Why do we want to move?" It was mostly to be closer to or on the water and have a home more setup for entertaining. Neither of those things are necessities. So, we will continue to save and see if anything changes in the next few years.

[Maleg]

Originally Posted by superdog

I was outbid.

In fact, I was dramatically outbid.

I thought my offer was at the very top of its value. I was worried I was paying too much. I was in the middle of the pack.

We don’t get too specific on numbers on trf. So let’s just say someone threw in a new Lamborghini Huracan Evo, AWD, nicely specced on top of my offer.

Yikes….

Grateful I’m happy where I currently reside.

You built your business making sound financial decisions. You were wise to apply that acumen to your bid. Not joining the bid stampede was very smart.

You make most of your home sale profits when you buy the house. Paying far too much now would not sit well with you later. Maybe Florida is still in the cards.

[superdog]

Originally Posted by Old Geezer

Too bad you got outbid, it wasn't meant to be. You may have heard the following saying when you visited India.....“In the end, everything will be ok. If it's not ok, it's not yet the end." I used to laugh when I visited India and my Indian colleagues said this to me. There is a lot of wisdom in this saying

I love this, and will use it. Thanks for the reminder.

[superdog]

Originally Posted by BNA/LION

Damn Seth! Just seeing this as I have not been on a lot lately. I was in the smaller house group. Sorry you didn't get it this time... Good Luck on the next one!

Appreciate it my man. Thank you,

Originally Posted by brandrea

Another home will come along when you’re ready. In the mean time, you’re in a great spot.

Agree. I really do love my condo and would have missed certain aspects of it. So pros and cons to everything. thanks again brother.

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

I have a friend who bought a big old house in an “up and coming” old neighborhood east of downtown Minneapolis 25 years ago. He restored it beautifully, but the gentrification of the neighborhood never happened. It remains run down and depressed. He lost a lot of money selling the house after 15 years, and it’s a shadow of its former self now.

great example. the more I think about it, the more I agree.

Originally Posted by Moondoggy

My rules

Worst house in best street
Houses do not go up, land does always buy something that the land value component is as close to 100% as possible.

good rules. I am will adopt them.

Originally Posted by GB-man

Buying is rough Seth I’ve been outbid so many damn times. For me anyways the hunt can be fun so after I mope a bit I start looking again and a better house appears.

I always prefer to blue chip neighborhood with less sq footage. Every time. I disagree with the notion that a house tops out on value. Cream keeps rising.

the hunt is fun. I will keep looking for sure. but mostly resigned to just staying put.

Originally Posted by KatGirl

I moved from NJ to CA 8 years ago. Cost of living there was high, but a bit higher here. I went from a city girl to a country girl. I live on 16 acres in Northern CA. Can’t say I miss NJ much. But, I still consider it home, and go back periodically, to visit family and friends. Too bad you were outbid. But, It just means there’s something better out there for you. It will all work out for the best.

Kat


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

thanks Kat. Great point. food for thought.

Originally Posted by HL65

Go for the location always. I would much rather own the smallest house in a great neighborhood vs biggest in an ok one. Good luck brother!

starting to realize this is the best way.

Originally Posted by Dyim

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.

I personally would never buy the biggest house on the street. Especially in an up and coming neighborhood. To invest in such areas, I would buy a crappy house and rent it out. Wait for values to go up, then sell or build.

Some like having the best house on the street, I prefer to be a bit more subdued sometimes. Yes, it sounds a bit ironic because I am on TRF and have flashy cars. However, I can park the car in the garage and close the door. I can’t put a cover over my house lol. In fact, a lot of people are surprised at the very modest home that I live in. There are employees of mine that live in a more expensive house than me.

I understand free market and all, but I personally think blind bidding is crazy. When you go to an auction to buy things, it is not blind. IMO, blind bidding causes inflated prices in a bull market, that leads to bigger swing in prices when the market turns. It is not difficult to be underwater with the mortgage if the market takes a real dump if you over bid. FOMO is making people open their wallet. I for one personally would not be keen on throwing in a Lambo for free just because I have to have it. Of course you theoretically can make it back when you sell yours. Just like trading watches.

GL with the hunt.

great post. great comments. thank you,.

Originally Posted by Redfoot

Real estate is so mind boggling lately, it is not even funny. Even with interest rates near 7% for some, people are offering 10's of thousands over asking and still doing a mortgage. Cash buyers are still competitive, but I do not see them over bidding as crazy as the conventional purchases. My wife and I are sitting out- we were beat out on at least a dozen houses because I am unwilling to blindly fork over cash on top of the appraised value of a house. We have a nice house, in a nice neighborhood and we are comfortable. We had to ask ourselves "Why do we want to move?" It was mostly to be closer to or on the water and have a home more setup for entertaining. Neither of those things are necessities. So, we will continue to save and see if anything changes in the next few years.

mind boggling. Truly it is crazy right now.

[superdog]

Originally Posted by Maleg

You built your business making sound financial decisions. You were wise to apply that acumen to your bid. Not joining the bid stampede was very smart.

You make most of your home sale profits when you buy the house. Paying far too much now would not sit well with you later. Maybe Florida is still in the cards.

I appreciate this very much. thank you for the nice note. means a lot.

and great point on buying right. happy to stay put right now and have dry powder for the next potential opportunity. and you might be right, that might very well be Florida. not going to rush is.

thanks again.

[superdog]

Originally Posted by HL65

Go for the location always. I would much rather own the smallest house in a great neighborhood vs biggest in an ok one. Good luck brother!

my man. where its he wolf emoji when I need it.

[Rbdport]

We bought our house in FL just about 4 years ago. Over a 3 year period we looked at over 100 properties and placed bids on 10. We were outbid 9 times. We just sat back and stuck to what we wanted. And eventually we found the right place at the right price.

My daddy was a career military man. We moved over 20 times by the time I went to college and my folks had bought and sold 7 houses by then (they bought and sold another 6 after he retired). Best advice he ever gave me about property is don’t get emotional about it. It’s a place to live and should always be thought of as a business deal.

[DonRickles]

What's morality got to do with it? I'm confused

[superdog]

Originally Posted by DonRickles

What's morality got to do with it? I'm confused

did you miss the part about the gentrification?

while I am able to justify it. and to some degree I think it is bs... it is not something I necessarily want to be a part of either.

[DonRickles]

Originally Posted by superdog

did you miss the part about the gentrification?

while I am able to justify it. and to some degree I think it is bs... it is not something I necessarily want to be a part of either.

No, I didn't miss that line.

A quick google,......
gen·tri·fi·ca·tion
noun
the process whereby the character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, typically displacing current inhabitants in the process.
"an area undergoing rapid gentrification"
the process of making someone or something more refined, polite, or respectable.
"soccer has undergone gentrification"

Forgive my confusion but you're struggling with your morals, as one of the "wealthier peoples"?

I'd argue, displacing inhabitants in most cases has 'these peoples', "hitting the lottery". Helping everyone step up, IMO....?

[Mattt]

It's nice to read people with real-world experience replying to the thread.