Quote:
Originally Posted by checkthebudget
Well, my mother-in-law is pretty good to me. I fix her computer and she fixes me supper all the time.  Seems to me the stock market is a lot harder to figure out.
The value of stocks and the value of real estate can both rapidly fall. However, when the stock value collapses, what do you have? A piece of paper? If land value collapses, at least I could grow a garden or have a place to live... |
Unless the foundation is cracked, or termites get into it, or your well runs dry, or gets contaminated with MTBE, etc... I guess you see what I am saying. Every investment has risk. With most investments, the long term return is commensurate with that risk. That is why home values could not appreciate at the rate they had been the last few years, and had to fall.
Now if you are talking about buying a home to live in, that does provide a tangible asset (shelter) that is above and beyond the appreciation in value of the property. But I would not consider your primary home an investment in the same way that buying stocks or rental properties is an investment.