Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A bit of a tangent, but how are all the PPs determining their "home value?" In this housing environment, I have absolutely no idea what our house is worth. Or more accurately, I see what comps are going for and I can't believe the numbers I'm seeing, and have a hard time using those numbers in our calculations. But apparently, if they are accurate I am under-calculating our net worth by $400k-$500k
Use multiple sites - zillow, redfin, etc. look at comps and assume an average value. Deduct 10% off that value towards cost of selling.
Also, don't include the value of your home in your net worth. I know the textbook definition of net worth includes all assets but you'll always need a roof over your head and the days of 'downsizing' in retirement are long gone. You should include real estate value in your assets if only it's an investment property or an extravagant primary house ($5M house and you could easily afford to live in one that costs $1M so the extra $4M could be unlocked and be available for other purposes if necessary). If you do that, the associated mortgage should be counted as a liability.
Be warned that a few pedantic types will swing by to lecture you on why it should be included in net worth, it's the right thing to do do, text book definition, blah, blah, blah.. ignore them.
I am the PP you responded to, and while I do think home equity is part of net worth, it's not useful to consider it for most purposes. For example, I don't consider it when figuring out our proximity to retirement. On my "New Worth" spreadsheet, I have graduating calculations that exclude various categories of assets:
New Worth
Net Worth (without college savings)
Net Worth (without college savings and home equity)
Net Worth (without college savings and home equity and inaccessible capital investments)
Investments
Tax Advantaged Investments
Also, net worth is a completely useless calculation, in that it isn't used for anything in the practical financial world. So really, include, or don't, whatever you want.