Should I sell my homes now?!!!!

[Must_B_Free]

Randi says the bubble is going to burst and I'm, not going to be stuck. She says it doesn't matter where I am.

I have two homes by the beach in VA Beach and they have appreciated handsomely in the last few years. There has been alot of development and the general quality of the neighborhood has gone up drastically.

But do I need to sell now? Should I have sold them already?

We watched the wave of shore proximity value increast from Avalon NJ in the late 90s it went south.

How can I gauge how much debt I am going to be stuck with when the bubble pops and the Trump type people swoop in with a big bag of money and buy up the misfortune of American families like me?

And when I sell, where should I live? Should I just rent and wait for the thing to pop? How long till it all falls apart?

[Kire]

1. walk the land

like Kwai Chang Caine, that's what I'm going to do

[liberaliraqvet26]

2. i think you have some time...

especially in a nice jersey shore town like avalon

[Clark2008]

6. Is that line from "Southern Cross"

Or does it just sound like it.

:hi:

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. I dunno. But we are scared to even think about trying to move out

of this trailer into something bigger. So from a buyer's POV, I ain't looking. But that could get worse and richer folk may start feeling that way too as the depression gets worse.

[liberaliraqvet26]

5. besides...

where can you go? prices are too high.

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. A rinky dink 70s modular goes for $300,000 here. Houses are cheaper

futher up the state but they are dying communities. No work to be had.

P.S. Welcome to DU! :D

[Protagoras]

11. Europe

nt

[Warpy]

8. I miss my trailer horribly

I bought this place 9 years ago. It was a distressed property in a neighborhood that was improving. I've put money into it and done a lot of work on it. There hasn't been much of a bubble here, but developers are slapping up slumburbia on the edge of this city at a record pace, and 1/3 of it is being bought by investors instead of homeowners, so when the bubble pops, my house will take a hit, too, as all that new housing gets dumped on the market at once.

If I were you and I lived in an area where the market has gone a little crazy, I'd stay in that trailer for now. It's cheap and serviceable and when the bubble finally does pop, you'll have savings galore to put into a house. Just grit your teeth and put up with the cramped quarters for now, you'll do better later.

Just don't be surprised if the pop doesn't happen all at once, but is a one step forward, two steps back situation, giving you the maximum in frustration over a long period of time.

[BlueEyedSon]

4. If you live in one & have reasonable payments, keep it.

If its "value" drops below its high (or even what you paid), so what? You like it and you can afford it. If you want to speculate and/or try your hand at "timing" a market then sell.

[newscott]

9. I'd definitely sell before the next hurricane

[Egalitariat]

10. You can find articles dating to the mid 90's discussing the "imminent"

bursting of the real estate bubble. When it pops, the poppings will be regional - as real estate is nothing like a share of stock (IBM shares sold in a fire sale by an investor in California impacts the value of IBM shares owned by the Sultan of Brunei).

However, second home real estate will be the hardest hit.

[Bluebear]

12. MBF, when the boomers leave the labor market starting in 2010

in BIG numbers, there will be all sorts of demand for retirement properties. I don't know your age or how long you can hold onto properties to "ride out" any bubble or any other variables for your situation but I am still pretty confident in real estate over the stock market at this point in time.

I feel your anxiety though, it is hard trying to "time" a sale just right.

[lapfog_1]

13. If you truly believe in the bubble

as I do...

Then the correct course of action is to sell now, rent,
wait until bubble fully deflated, then buy.

I'm thinking that the IRS rules on taxes owed (on the gain)
allow you up to 1 year to buy. You'll end up in either a
much nicer house OR with some amount of cash leftover (which
you may want to invest in commodities or non-US currency).

[maveric]

14. Can you sell one and pay the other off?

Owning one straight-up wouldnt be a bad idea.
If you can handle the property taxes that is.

[tx_dem41]

15. Respectfully, research professional economic advice for such...

important decisions. Don't take our word or Randi's words on it. I mean, we might be right, but then again...what do we know? We're not professionals at it (save a very few of us, maybe).

[ThomWV]

16. We Have OBX Property

I bought a lot in Kill Devil Hills a few years ago for not very much money and was offered over 10 times what I paid for it just last week. I too think the bubble is ready to burst and have really been thinking that it was time to unload it. As for our home here, it would bring enough money for me to live out the rest of my days in reasonable comfort in a suprising number of small and peaceful nations I can think of.

Sell now or wait? I'm going to hold out at least until I get the tax bill sometime this summer.

[AlCzervik]

17. unless you think the prices are going to go down so low that'll you'll be

upside down in your mortgage i would keep them. I bought my house for $209,000 in June of 2000, i could sell it now for $515,000, even if the bubble bursts it will more then likely never go back down to the original purchase price. Now if you have a series of 2nd mortgages then thats a whole nutha story all together.

[Bluebear]

19. that's a whole nutha story.

(you SAID "all together"!)

[CountAllVotes]

18. home(s)

Plural ... geez must be nice.