[Boomer]

I arrived in TV thinking that if we bought, we would pay off the bond immediately.

But then we changed our minds.

As has been said earlier in this thread, it depends.

At the peak of the market, recouping a paid bond was not much of a problem. Buyers were begging sellers to take their money. And buyers were flinging money at the developer as fast as it could be flung.

But now that we know what we know now, it seems that if you think you may ever want or need to sell your TV house, you should consider not paying the bond. It is not only that you may not be able to recoup the money. It is a little beyond that even.

If you have not paid the bond and you want or need to sell, your initial listing price can be lower. You will be able to better place your house to compete and to sell faster.

There is an MLS site for TV that I look at every now and then. The site has a section "The 20 Newest Price Changes." A couple of years ago, I doubt that such a section existed.

Price reductions can be painful to watch. There is one on there right now that just had a reduction of $500. Yep. $500. Why bother?

There is a saying, "If you have to cut off a dog's tail, don't do it an inch at a time." Well, in my younger days that was always my classic line of advice for anybody who was trying to break up with somebody. But it also applies to real estate price reductions.

Boy, am I digressing tonight.

Back to the bond.

The point is that if you think that you will ever sell the house, you might want to think hard about giving yourself some breathing room to list at a highly competitive price at the very beginning. Don't get caught in a web of price reductions. Price it right and move it. And one way to get that breathing room, or equity, to establish an inital lisiting price of the future is to consider putting off paying the bond.

But, of course, it all depends.

Oh, and I am a financial conservative. So hold onto that money if you decide not to use it for the bond.

Boomer