Anyone have regrets about having gone full-time?

soren wrote:

CKNSLS wrote:

You know I completely understand that. Real world-TODAY a college education is now the equivalent of a high school diploma. Right or wrong big business and society do not put much value in a high school education, thus the emphasis on College. And while memories are a great thing-they don't pay for college. Historically real estate has been a sound investment. Selling that investment and buying something on 4 wheels is not going to help your grandchildren. Keeping you S&B home then going Rving for extended time-nothing wrong with that. Fulltiming-you do JUST BECAUSE.

"Looking at the longer-term data, we also see quite a different picture. For the period 1890-2005, inflation-adjusted home prices rose just 103 percent, or less than 1 percent a year. One can only imagine how many fewer investors would have piled into the residential home market if they were aware of the historical evidence. As Spanish philosopher George Santayana famously remarked: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."


Quote from a recent article written by Robert Case, one of the most respected economist in the real estate arena. Another expert I read recently quoted a 4/10th % annual return based on a slightly shorter duration, 1910-2006, IIRC.

The whole concept of your home being an investment, or to quote our societal delusion, "your greatest investment" is a fraud. A Stick and bricks home should be viewed as a place to live, not some rock solid investment. There are many examples of places in this country where homes are selling for the same unadjusted dollar amounts that they brought 10-20 years ago. When you factor inflation in, these particular "investments" are a horrendous loss.

I am a builder. I just sold our 12 Y.O personal home for 71% of my replacement cost, or a bit over half the going rate to build a similar custom home in the region. In retrospect, give the expenses, lost opportunity costs, and negative rate of return, it would of been far cheaper to rent.

Far too many folks have little understanding of finance. Take the typical couple who convinces themselves that they are doing great since they paid $85K for a home in 1983 and now it's "worth" $400K. The same amount invested in a balance stock fund would leave you with a nest egg of nearly three times that at $1,127,000. Now encourage them to grab the files and figure out their expenses to maintain, repair, insure and pay property tax on "your greatest investment", and if they don't reach the conclusion that it was anything but, they really shouldn't be handling your own finances.

I certainly agree that buying an RV is far from an investment. I also think that home ownership is a vitally important part of our economy, and part of our social fabric. It would be better for the financial health of many of us if we managed to get the whole concept of what a single family home really is and isn't. It is many things, but historically it's never been an investment for the vast majority of homeowners in the US.

I just retired form Southern California a year ago. I sold my home (of 20 years) in Southern California for double the price I paid. Had I waited another 12 months-I could have sold it for additional 30% over the price I sold it for a year ago. That's REAL WORLD!