Reply to True/False: you should buy the most house you can afford (in this area) to maximize appreciation

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Reply to "True/False: you should buy the most house you can afford (in this area) to maximize appreciation"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here. I'm not "perfectly happy" in the current house as one PP said, but it is more than sufficient. Everything I'd be looking for would just be luxuries like 3rd full bath up, vaulted family room, 2nd stair case, bigger garage. i feel like if we can afford it, its not a BAD place to put the money. DH would rather save and make minor improvements than make a housing jump. He thinks there are "hidden" costs like higher taxes and utilities/maintenance, and richer neighbors making "keeping up" more expensive.

I just feel like if we are maxing out retirement and almost done saving for college, what else should we do with the extra money?[/quote]

If you are living in a neighborhood where $950K is going to buy you a 3rd bathroom upstairs, a vaulted family room, second staircase (going to the same place as the first one, I assume?), and a "bigger" garage (which assumes you already have one), I suspect you are not buying in the close-in areas that are most likely to maintain/increase their value -- e.g. Arlington, Bethesda, etc.  In those areas $950K doesn't necessarily even buy you one garage, let alone a big one! It sounds more like you're talking about the further-out suburbs, and in that case I would definitely not buy a bigger house b/c you think it will be a better investment htan you can otherwise make.[/quote]

Totally agree with this. I don't have any of those things in Bethesda and our house would sell for $1.3 million. This market is relatively stable but farther out where it's overbuilt I don't think appreciation is nearly as reliable. If you really want to invest in real estate invest in rental property, which will be more liquid down the road.

What do you mean maxing out on retirement savings? If that means hitting the 401k tax deferred cap that's not nearly enough. [/quote]

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