Comments on: Net Worth Update – July 2007

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:26:04 +0000

Very nice gain, keeping things diversified will allow the increase to remain. Anything to do with the stock market and with real estate has the potential to bottom out and loose you money too. Hopefully that doesn’t happen.

By: Lazy Man

Lazy Man — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 14:44:41 +0000

@TheFinancialBlogger: Since there are a quite a bit of similar condos (around 200), it really brings down the volatility.

@Sangl: We saved up a ton of money in advance, no way we could cashflow a wedding for 200 people. Unfortunately most of our connections were military-based and I’ve found that they aren’t very negotiating.

By: Joseph Sangl

Joseph Sangl — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 13:35:35 +0000

Nice month!!! It sounds like you are cashflowing the wedding expenses. Did you consider saving up for them and then negotiating with cash to get a bigger discount? It doesn’t work with all businesses, but many will offer substantial discounts.

By: The Financial Blogger

The Financial Blogger — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 10:38:39 +0000

There is nothing like looking at your neighborhood to find similar place for sale. I just find out that one of my neighbor is asking for 60K more than I bought last November…

In regards to look at your net worth on a monthly basis, I tend to agree with Dong. You might see you property going up and down in value as the market fluctuate. A yearly estimate for a property seems more accurate to me.

By: dong

dong — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 01:15:50 +0000

I really need to proof read my comments. Anyhow to me being conservative generally means marking at basis, and if the market really heads south then marking it down as well. I think marking up to conservative estimate fair market value is warranted after a good amount of time has passed. Cost Basis can get very stale after 5-10 years. I just wouldn’t mark it month month based on the estimates from Zillow. I think Zillow combined with some personal knowledge is fine to use, but just not month to month

By: 2million

2million — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 00:12:03 +0000

I say record the real estate at its cost basis. You want to be conservative and there is no value to the up and down swings that zillow provides. Then when you sell youll have a nice bump.

By: Lazy Man

Lazy Man — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 23:07:38 +0000

I should note that real estate is a separate line in my spreadsheet, so it’s easy enough to see my “non-real estate” assets.

By: The Div Guy

The Div Guy — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 18:37:59 +0000

I would have to agree with Lazy Man. If you are able to base the new value on recent sales as well as Zillow, I would use that as my current value. With that said, I will not adjust my home value using Zillow or recent sales as I have no plans to sell and I think adjustments make it difficult to compare my networth calculations.

By: Jose

Jose — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 18:25:56 +0000

Interesting debate about home ownership and renting at one of my other favorite PF blogs.

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/07/16/renting-vs-buying-the-realities-of-home-buying/

By: Lazy Man

Lazy Man — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 17:59:02 +0000

What if you don’t live in your house?

I’m hesitant to discount the house since a large percentage of my net worth is tied in it. Also if I were to pay off the mortgage early it would be money disappearing into the ether.

Lastly, I don’t feel it’s right to ignore the fact that my home has clearly lost value (though it’s almost back to where it was when I bought it). It also wouldn’t be right to ignore that it’s gained value in 20 years (assuming that it has indeed gained value). I just don’t see how you can keep it forever what you paid for it.

By: J2R

J2R — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 17:45:53 +0000

I agree somewhat with dong. I’m skeptical about including my house’s equity in my net worth, simply because I don’t consider it a liquid asset.

By: dong

dong — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 17:28:49 +0000

I’m not sure if I’d go with the Zillow projection especially as the market moves. Since I believe Zillow bases it’s estimate partially on recent sales, a market that is chaning quikcly is probably not accurately reflects just because the recent sales are usually delayed a few months. In either case, I’m biased agianst revising net worth based on property value changes given the rather illiquid nature of housing. I think it’s better to err on the conservative side. Personally, I’ve marked my property at what I brought it….