Residential Real-Estate Investment Poll

[wabmester]

Unscientific poll to determine if there is a wave of new real estate investors responsible for the housing bubble.    Do you own residential real estate as an investment (outside of your residence), and if so, are you relatively new to that area of investing (let's say that over 10-years or so makes you a long-time investor).

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Unscientific poll to determine if there is a wave of new real estate investors responsible for the housing bubble.    Do you own residential real estate as an investment (outside of your residence), and if so, are you relatively new to that area of investing (let's say that over 10-years or so makes you a long-time investor).

Only the Texas condo. 35 years experience. Very confident in our
long term prospects, although we intend not to ever sell.

JG

 

[Martha]

Long term invester in apartment buildings. Now currently invested in some apartment buildings being converted to condos for sell off.

 

[Brat]

Note that Martha's investments are in buildings that are or will be potential condos. I think that is where the residential realestate investor should be. Most apartment complexes require professional management else you spend your life managing tennants and maintaining them.

 

[Nords]

Long-time (& long-term) investor in single-family home. 

Spent two hours of yesterday's Saturday afternoon wrestling a 27-year-old garage door to the (forever) closed position.  I'm amazed by the potential energy captured in a spring (and equally impressed by its release).

Considering how I spent the last two, I'm beginning to dread Saturdays...

 

[maddythebeagle]

Does it count to finish your basement thinking that your house will be used for several family members that didnt save enough for retirement?

I suspect that my house will be at least used as a vacation location by my family.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Does it count to finish your basement thinking that your house will be used for several family members that didnt save enough for retirement? 

I suspect that my house will be at least used as a vacation location by my family.

This is interesting (at least to me) It seems every woman I dated
prior to remarriage lived mostly alone in a much bigger home than they needed.
(DW is an exception as her place was TINY).
I think the others were still in "mommie mode" and so wanted space for
visiting kids and grandkids. I love my kids and grandkids, but I'll be damned
if I would buy a great big house just so they could visit.

JG

 

[Caroline]

I've owned one single-family rental for the last 5.5 years, in addition to my own little shack. Both in the Northern California marketplace.

My sister talked me into it so she'd have someplace to live (and sublet rooms from) with her daughter. I let her twist my arm because I was maxing the 401(k) and adding a pile to my Vanguard Index funds, and wanted to diversify because the stock market was making me nervous.

Thanks for reminding me -- I've been meaning to thank her!

Caroline

 

[SteveR]

I have a large home we live in for now. A cabin in the mountains for recreation only and a condo we used to rent but are now going to sell as the hassle of dealing with crappy renters is not worth the tax write off.

Ok, the house it much much too big but my late wife needed a big place for all her stuff (long story). Now that I am remarried, DW wants to keep the big house so her grandchilden have a place to stay when the visit and plenty of room to have family holidays and to entertain. I would like to downsize but that is not going to happen for a while.

Not using any of them for investing. The net from the Condo will go to lower debt on a loan so it can be paid off sooner. Otherwise, not in to realestate for gain.

 

[tryan]

Down to my last 6 SF. One will be a weekly vacation rental (building now). The rest are "starter" homes (2 and 3 bedroom).

Will "dump" at least 1 or 2 more over the next 3 years. Crystal ball is pretty foogy ... need to hedge.

 

[P.S.]

long-time investor only because too busy to deal with the hassle of selling properties.

 

[GTM]

I would add

I own now and am looking to take my profit

 

[brewer12345]

I'm not and haven't been a residential RE investor. Given the hassles and headaches, I won't be rushing in, but I would likely be drooling at the prospect if we had a RE crash.

 

[wildcat]

Not a home owner but I won't be buying as long as rents as still low. Home price app has far outpaced rent rates. Buying when people go belly up in debt sounds like a good approach.

 

[wabmester]

Time for a snapshot analysis. Let's see, we have 50 votes, so I'll pretend we have a representative sample.

42% of us either own investment property or plan to soon. That means there's a *lot* of non-owner occupied property out there, which may mean that the friction against selling homes isn't as strong as some people think.

Of those 42% of real-estate investors, about 43% of them (9/21) are or will be new investors. That's quite an influx, so while it may not be the sole factor in the bubble, it probably plays a part.

Of course, the margin of error in this poll is +/- 100%, but I was surprised to see how many here invest in hard real estate.

 

[jimhcom]

Sold 4 last year, still have 2, and one of those is for sale now. Prices too high in So Cal to pass up. Theory: If someone wants to buy something real bad, sell it to them. If they want to sell real bad, buy it from them. Seems to work for me.

 

[Dreamer]

I messed up your poll. I voted before I read the statement below not to count your residence. We only own our own residence and I voted long time owner, instead of no way. Sorry!

Dreamer

 

[wabmester]

Oh, that's OK. I would have still found a way to interpret the poll results to support my hypothesis.