On Monday, I asked you a question:
Pretend I’m your great-aunt from Omaha who’s thinking about investing in a condo in a sunny spot for her retirement. She’s heard real estate’s a good bet in San Diego. What do you tell her about the year we’ve had?
Here’s what reader J (a different one from the last post) wrote:
Dear Aunt
Don’t buy a condo anywhere! With a condo you own nothing but neighbor hassles and escalating HOA fees. Unless you win the lottery and can afford an oceanfront condo in Carlsbad, where the market is stable, condos are a bad choice—they are depreciating at a higher rate. …
If you buy a house, buy on Little Lake Street in Chula Vista. So many are in foreclosure you can probably get a good deal.
Honestly, now, wait at least until last 2008 for the market to drop another 20% before you buy.
And here’s a generous thought from reader N:
I have an extra room in my house…come in out of the snow and ice. We have the best weather in the country and I’m hanging on to my house on the hill! Wait until next year and we’ll find you a decent deal… still more than you would ever pay in Omaha!
A few hundred industry people gathered at USD today for an annual conference to discuss these issues. The morning was a little more technical and jargon-y than your letters to Great-Aunt Sue, but the experts made a bunch of these same points. Are any others of you still working on your letters? Click my name below to share your thoughts.