My worst investment?
If you’ve ever bought a house – or if you’re in the process of doing so now – you’ve undoubtedly heard the same thing from your real estate agent, mortgage loan officer, home inspector and anyone else involved in getting you into your new home: Buying a house is the best investment a person can make.
For years, real estate professionals have touted residential real estate as the safest and soundest financial investment out there. They’ve done so with good reason. Housing prices historically have risen steadily. If you buy a house, you can be reasonably sure that if you sell it 10 years later, you’ll make a profit. (And this does hold true even today, when the residential market is undeniably in a deep slump. Owners just have to be more patient.)
I have no quibble with the agents and loan officers who promote this theory. I do, though, sometimes wonder just how great an investment housing, or at least my particular house, is.
For instance, I had the pleasure of having a visit from our local plumber yesterday. For some fairly minor work – work that took all of an hour-and-a-half, tops – my visitor charged me close to $400.
This is far from the first time that the plumber – or the electrician, handyman or carpenter – has been kind enough to charge me in the neighborhood of $400 for a visit. No, I’m sorry to report, it happens on a fairly regular basis.
I’m far from alone. Owning a home may be a solid long-term investment, but it sure is an expensive one. I don’t even want to know how much I spent on home maintenance and repairs in 2007. And 2008 looks to be an even costlier year. Looming on the horizon? Waterproofing our basement. Ah, the joys of the American Dream of homeownership.
Next time someone tells you that buying a home is a safer investment than is purchasing stocks, remind them of one thing: Your stocks will never leak. Your kitchen sink will.
Tags: home-repairs, housing-prices, investing-in-real-estateRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Buying a Property, Educational Tools, Insights and Commentaries, Mortgage, Real Life Stories, Road to Profits
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