I picked a bad decade to buy a house .....

Just make sure daddy has provisions written into the sales contract that all you grandkids get one of the condos.

 

Hmmmmm. If I skied, that'd be a great idea.

 

I've spent a weekend or two at Big Sky during the summer. It's awesome for biking, hiking, golfing or just relaxing in the fresh air.

Plus, you can rent it out a week at a time to the ski bums.

 

I forget who said it's all relative, but unless you have to sell right now it's best to just relax. The reality is the housing market is closer to normal in most places in terms of inventory and interest rates are at some of their lowest rates in the last 30 years. People are all out of whack because in some major markets in Calif, Florida, Arizona, Nevada and Virginia (to name a few) property values skyrocketed. Yes, that priced several people out of the marketplace using conventional loans and created the need for the ARMs and hybrid ARMs. But it also increased the net worth of several people.

What's going on right now is a correction and home prices are more realistic than about three years ago. The investors and speculators that were reaping in the dough back then are crying the blues now. But because interest rates are still relatively low (in the 80s they were in double digits) and there are more programs and options for people to get into homes than ever before, it is not impossible to get into a house. It's just that people who are selling now are going to make a smaller profit and people who jumped into the housing boom too late may not profit at all.

So much depends on the area. In Texas and Atlanta, homes did not appreciate in double digits annually during the boom. In Calif and Florida they did until last year.

 

You're gonna convince me, dammit!

Still not renting it out to ski bums however. They smoke illegal stuff.

 

The difference in property taxes for our house, from when we bought it compared to declaring homestead exemption, is 60 percent...

 

Do not attempt to jack my anti-ski bum jack, dammit!

 

I'm buying the land and building "Wlat's Goofy Golf and Titty Bar."

 

Titty bars aren't allowed in town, sorry.

 

Enough money can buy a zoning amendment

 

They've tried, trust me.

Course out in the county there is no zoning.

 

Jumping in a little late here, but in addition to location, the type of property matters as well. For instance, the bubble for condos and townhouses is slower in reaching that bursting point like the market for regular homes is. I bought my condo in November 2000 for 97,500. If I sold it now I could get 195,000-200,000 for it. Had I sold it last summer I could have gotten 200,000-205,000 for it.