我的房子梦 - 想听听大家的建议

搬到了寸土寸金的地方， 住了一个小黑屋

Felt depressed for a while. Always remember the good old days when I lived in a huge house in AZ. So I have kept thinking of moving to a larger house. Every time, I thought about moving, other higher priority such as commute distance, schools, etc. came up. So I always ended up in the black little house.

The other day I saw a $2M house for sale, and the house is probably worth $2.5M, and it is in the same area where I am living. So I thought about putting a bid.

Then,

1) My son said that he likes the black little house. It is close to schools, and he can go to/back from schools all by himself, and plays with his friends at play grounds. If we move to this huge house with view and it is up on the hills. It won’t be fun anymore. I need to find someone to send him to/from school

2) LD said that we need to put down $500K and borrow $1.5M. The cash –flow is negative $100K a year. We can use this money/credit line to generate rental income of positive $100K instead. If I want a larger house, then remodel the little house we have and add 1000 square feet for $200K. LD thinks the real estate tax itself will be increased for more than 10K/yr and we can use it for food and vacation.

3) My thinking - The house is a bargain. Maybe I can buy it and then sell it in several years. I can live a good house for several years. If the housing market is good, the house will worth $3M. Could I make money for sure? Not 100%, since the commission for transaction will be $100K and every year I need to put in $100K. If I don’t buy the house, that is probably the end of my luxury house dream.

4) The other thing LD worries that the house would be one of the most expensive houses in the area, not many people can afford it. If the housing market is not picking up, then we will end up holding the house for a long time. While if we remodel the little house, we can sell it at a good value around $1M.

想听听大家的建议

If it is not a good idea, hit me with the sticks/bricks so that I am back to reality

所有跟帖： 

• I would remodel, or even rebuild. -texastrader- ♂ (44 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 14:05:23

• The house has a large lot, and great view -smilee- ♀ (140 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 14:10:43

• 真的嘛？50万够吗，能盖个怎样的房子？我也一直想在城里买块地，盖一个新房子住。有时间麻烦您指导一下。 -melody2010- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 14:13:25

• 简单，买块地，或者一个旧房子，带地比较大点的。 -texastrader- ♂ (110 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 14:20:54

• 请builder好，还是请general contractor好？ -melody2010- ♀ (206 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 14:32:40

• builder就是general contractor，有啥区别？ -texastrader- ♂ (837 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 14:41:36

• 听你这么说，David weekly是低价位的。 -melody2010- ♀ (269 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 17:00:18

• 旧房子推倒运走，7千到1万。 -texastrader- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 20:06:06

• 多谢。 -melody2010- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 20:18:14

• David Weekly是低价位？看来俺是不折不扣的穷人啊 -不周山- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 17:58:02

• MM误会TT的意思了。在新开发区David Weekly算是比较高档的。 -melody2010- ♀ (254 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 19:38:04

• 如果没在工地上当过民工, 很难对付 -rx300- ♂ (318 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 14:52:30

• 真的，您说的这几个，我一个也不明白区别在哪里。 -melody2010- ♀ (73 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 16:52:07

• 建议您想办法搞定老如 -rx300- ♂ (42 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 18:38:50

• 搞定老如也没用，他又不在我这疙瘩。 -melody2010- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 19:39:06

• 你的家底如何， 赚钱能力如何？假如那都不是问题的话， 就该享受好的。 -螺丝螺帽- ♀ (27 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 14:07:15

• We can afford it with both incomes, not one. -smilee- ♀ (60 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 14:11:59

• 算一下最坏情况：一人丢了工作， 计时2年， 顶得住吗？行的话， 不妨杀它一个更低价 -螺丝螺帽- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 14:22:36

• I don't think they would low the price anymore -smilee- ♀ (273 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 14:27:42

• 这个不是数学问题。如果把它当数学问题处理， -FHZM- ♂ (41 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 14:23:46

• 时间对， 豪宅翻得更快 -螺丝螺帽- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 14:25:00

• also need to consider the probabilty of making/losing money -smilee- ♀ (73 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 14:35:41

• 听老婆的！不然， 你会被烦死。要是亏钱的话， 婚姻都会难保 -螺丝螺帽- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 14:42:34

• 哈哈，你没见楼主是女的吗？ -texastrader- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 14:43:38

• 自住房是个消费，不是投资。 -texastrader- ♂ (192 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 14:49:00

• The answer is clearly a "no" then -smilee- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 14:53:32

• Thanks for your comment - I'm from USTC as well -smilee- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 15:20:05

• It is actually a lot of work to move out of the little house -smilee- ♀ (77 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 15:41:20

• 当然是买大房，如果经济上可行。 -jzc- ♂ (63 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 14:44:55

• 来美国是为freedom -smilee- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 14:48:34

• 回复：来美国是为freedom:同意 -jzc- ♂ (23 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 15:03:53

• Grateful for everyone's inputs and comments -smilee- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 15:21:20

• If property tax is not big, buy it. -mike369- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 15:37:42

• reasons? -smilee- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 15:42:21

• 裤子大的MM啊，得上个PP才能把大大地主们都引来。 -kozy- ♀ (635 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 15:56:29

• So rental house approach is more steady, less risky -smilee- ♀ (126 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 16:53:45

• Thanks -smilee- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 17:02:30

• Never buy "one of the most expensive houses in the area". -cy9459- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 16:11:53

• I agree. -Fishtank- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/07/2012 postreply 17:26:55