I called every agent in town, asking if I could borrow some real estate and sell it short. It was "unavailable to borrow." I wonder if this implies that other traders will have to repurchase their short real estate at some point, causing it to go higher?
The real problem with the mortgage interest deduction is not if you lose money. It's that if you make over approximately $128,500, your itemized deductions get phased out until you are left with only 20% of your itemized deductions. The gov't takes away $3,000 from your itemized deductions for each $100k over the $128k figure , with a floor of 20% always being deductible.
Recent headline article in the Rocky Mountain News (Denver CO) newpaper stated that local housing prices went up in July, but sales volume dropped to the worst level in 5 years (down almost 20% from July 2001). That's despite the continuing decline in mortgage rates. Anybody else seeing a drop in volume? -Traden4Alpha
Your school situation is a good example. If I was selling my property that would be a factor in determining a price even though I don't have children. When I buy a place, if that is a selling point, I shoot it down immediately using the no kids reason. Whatever works to my advantage in the process. Of course I won't buy in the type of market we are currently seeing in So. Cal because nobody appears to care about any of those amenities. Maybe the word perceived wasn't the best choice to describe the decision making process, however, it does require recognition of value. In the Costa Mesa/Newport Beach area, people in CM use friends addresses in NB so their kids can go to school at the Newport schools. It's not that hard to do it. Get a PO box, hypothetically rent a room from a friend (address purposes only), if you live on the wrong side of the street if need be. More than one way to skin a cat...... just like the market. Later, Cracked
Yes, well it was just an example as you say. Also, there are often ways to get around obstacles. I was using an example assuming one would be playing by the rules. In the long run, it usually works out best anyway. Your "hypothetical" way to "skin a cat" can be construed as tax evasion. At least it isn't screwing with the IRS, but it is still fraud. We all have our standards I guess. (Not to imply that you would do this...just explaining that your example is not valid if indeed we play by the rules....one good thing about trading...we all have to abide by the same rules and same prices...or face severe consequences). RS7
More evidence of a RE top from http://money.cnn.com/2002/07/30/pf/millionaire/rp_millionaire_chetram/index.htm Real estate investors from New York City are on their way to a rosy future. Some invest in the stock market. Others like the security of bonds. These days, though, it's real estate investors who are having the last laugh.
It's not a joke Chas. Much like the how to invest in the Dow/nasdaq to the moon books which were prevalent in the last few years, the end is near for real estate when these books start to appear, IMO. Wade Cook in another form? Maybe not so snake oil, but, taking advantage of the current environment with the claim of instant riches...... Later, Cracked