Please share how you lived here “free”. We think it’s quite expensive if you own a home in The Villages.

"COULD BE".... a very important disclaimer, there, my friend. Remember all of those ads for mutual funds on TV..."Past performance is no guarantee of future returns"...we may think the market will always go up, and it may, but there is no guarantee. I personally made the decision, along with my wife of course, that given the current valuations of equities in the US stock markets, and the P/E ratio of the S&P 500, and the pittance one receives in "safe" investments like CDs, bond funds, etc...AND our decision that we wanted to be in TV 6+ months/ year, to buy...luckily we did this in December 2020 before the recent crazy spike, but that was what made sense to us at the time. Realistically, there are certain expenses and responsibilities that come with owning that I don't love. I can completely understand why someone would make a different decision than I did.

I look at the house expense in various categories....if you buy you pay taxes (money down the toilet), insurance (flush), lawn care (flush), interest on loan (flush) or if you don't take a loan, you have a chunk of money no longer available for investment in other areas(another potential flush)...amenity fees (flush), sewer and garbage and water (flush flush flush),, bond payment, (flush twice),none of those expenses goes into equity on your home.

It's very dangerous to base a house purchase on the belief that housing prices will always go up, and particularly dangerous to base it on the belief that housing prices will go up at the rate they've gone up in the last year. The OP has made a decision that is right for her. If she decides to buy later, she'll know a lot more about TV after having rented here for a period. She may "lose out" on a year of appreciation, but she also may lose out on a year of depreciation as things revert to mean, as they typically do.

A house is not an investment. It may build equity but that is a by product of needing a place to live. At current prices you should not expect much more appreciation.

A home is an investment. You can pay my home payments by renting, or yours by owning. Pride of ownership will reap rewards when you sell.

The annual appreciation of our home since being purchased far exceeded the cost to own the home including all utilities, upkeep, taxes, bond, etc., etc., and there is still a six figure surplus and I am basing the value of our home at a quick sell price.

"BTW - You will not profit six figures or any amount until after you sell and move out of your residence."

A simple fact, that all too many don't seem to be able to grasp. Like stocks, you haven't "made" anything until you sell or in the case of a home, use a HELOC and/or refinancing to take out equity. The universal philosophy ahead of every single bust or recession this country has ever been through, is along the lines of - "buy now, prices will always be going up."

A house is an investment, if you only "need a place to live" you can rent a little condo somewhere and not enjoy the appreciation opportunity of owning a home. Also not everyone that "invests" in homes lives in them and many of us have multiple homes here., they are truly great investments and based on the number of boomers still retiring every day I believe that the values of these homes will continue to rise.

For a savvy investor, it is realized an investment in housing is a poor one for growth. There are no guarantees prices will rise after you buy since any growth can be quickly eroded by a down turn in the economy, decimation of the area by a series of either sink holes, hurricanes/tornadoes, sharp tax/cost of living increase, increase in population density, pressure on natural resources availability such as the aquifer, crime increase, etc. There is not a FDIC for housing and it should not be considered an investment unless it is strictly a rental unit. And even then a pandemic may wipe out all income for a great length of time.

Not to worry, I've been doing this for decades and haven't lost yet. Realestate by far has been the best investments of my entire life. Even when the economy goes down, unlike some other investments, you still own the property and it will eventually go back up.

House investment
 

Over the last few decades houses have been a very good investment for me and my wife. :bigbow:"

You are right. The first house I bought didn’t increase in value for 15 years. Although I brought up a family in that home. Then prices started to increase, year after year - after 15 years of holding steady. When we sold the house it was 5 times for what we paid but it was 30 years later. It was a sad affair for me, I hoped to live out my life in that home.

But then I could afford a better property. Actually 2, one here in TV.

The price of houses in TV are going up but I bought a home not an investment. In an emergency it would serve as an investment. But for me what counts is not how many zeros I have in my bank account, but the quality of life I can live each day.

Ask yourself if you see inflation in the future. If you do, know that the Fed will raise prime lending rates to tamper it down.

So, if you want to buy a home, I wouldn’t hold off.

YOLO so enjoy, you can take it with you.

This, to me, is the most relevant post in the string. If you're a smart buyer and do it right you can put yourself in a great position. Good luck with the search!

We have also owned many homes over the years but most people living here don’t have twenty years to wait for a recovery and then you also have the major expenses year to year that won’t be recovered.

Everyone needs to evaluate what tolerance they have for potential loss.

A friend of mine was in the USAF stationed at SAMSO in the Los Angeles area and bought a house on the Palos Verdes Peninsula around 1970. He was a First Lieutenant and worked with another First Lieutenant with the last name of Marvel. Marvel had been stationed there prior to my friend and had bought a house for $40K the year before which was now worth $70K. Marvel then refinanced the house and bought another. Using this technique over several years he acquired 19 rental houses in the area. When the fellow made Captain he wore to the office a Captain Marvel outfit his wife had made. Lol. After a few years he resigned his commission as his houses had become worth about $650K each. Bet they are maybe $1.5M houses today!

My friend, now 80 years old, went on to obtain about half a dozen rental houses (although not in that area) which he still owns.

Residential real estate can make one a multimillionaire.

I wonder how many residents in The Villages have acquired multiple rental properties in TV over time? More than a few I will wager!