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Show Home ownership is still cozy investment i By Herb Lawrence Copley News Service buying or retaining owner-f owner-f a detached single-family Se or condominium still a good "STtate 1970s, it was a great inManTnPle sold the hmeS .I had owned for a number of ' Irs for a bonanza profit. Many d zoomed in value from perhaps 5o00 to $100,000 in a few years. nthers bought residential units d then sold them after a few Months to pick up a tidy bundle of prgut then came the recession of the early 1980s with its sky-high i gage rates and its depressed real estate market. That ended the bonanza investment invest-ment period for residential real estate. . . Real estate has been reviving since mortgage rates have dropped,' and more people now can afford to buy homes and con-dos con-dos again. But the halcyon days of the 1970s haven't come back. And real estate researcher Alan Kevins doesn't think they will. "I think that real estate prices have been stretched out pretty far," he said. "So for the foreseeable foresee-able future I don't see those hot days rolling back." But Nevins, who spends his days with his eye on the real estate market, said that buying or holding hold-ing on to homes and condominiums condomini-ums is still a good solid investment. invest-ment. "The big difference is that the days of the quick-buck turnover are gone," he said. "Now you have to hold a home or condo for about five to 10 years to come out ahead." People basically buy a home or condo for shelter first. But some recent national polls have shown that the investment incentive is still a major factor in home ownership. own-ership. Nevins, senior vice president of The Goodkin Group, a real estate consulting and research operation, said that when you look at a home or condo purchase in dollars and cents, the investment value is still good. "When you pay rent, all that money goes down the drain, so to speak," he said. "You get the use of the apartment for the money but you don't get any dollar benefits bene-fits back for it. "And rents are always going up and monthly rents have become pretty high." He outlined the economic benefits bene-fits that still are apparent in home ownership: Tax write-offs on property taxes and interest payments. Protection against the increasing in-creasing cost of shelter. You aren't subject to rent increases. Equity in the home will grow over the years, so if you hold on to a house long enough you will come out ahead. The house will become a major component of your estate. A total of 90 percent of America's personal estates is made up of home equity when the owner dies. The house or condo is usable as rental property if you move. |
