Miami Condo News

Miami, FL Condos

The mortgage company or bank representatives had their own agenda, which was to sell you a mortgage. The builder’s job was to build and sell his houses. If you had a real estate agent, his or her job was to make a commission from the sale. Unfortunately, that left you both to do your own due diligence, and it wasn’t easy.

A couple of years ago, we were in the halcyon days of real estate, where there was a feeding frenzy and price didn’t seem to matter.

In many respects, the monkeys were running the zoo. People judged the value of the home on what the monthly payments were going to be, and didn’t think about higher taxes, interest rates and insurance costs in their excitement to buy.

Contrary to popular myth, and now harsh reality, home values do not always increase. Throughout history, there have been many periods in which home values declined or stayed steady.

The period between the early ’80s to the late ’90s was brutal, when real estate drooped, then stayed pretty stagnant until it once more began to increase in value. Then home prices took off and went through the roof. Now the markets are in a tailspin once again.

As an investment, it can be difficult to ”play.” As your homestead, it can be a bit easier.

Take a look at the whole picture and decide whether you can make this house your home for the foreseeable future.

If you put enough down and didn’t get a super funky mortgage, you might be OK. Work on your budget. Can you afford the payments and expenses somehow? Did you plan to live there for a long time? Perhaps keeping that roof over your head makes the most sense.

Prices will increase again, but it could take a long, long time. If you absolutely cannot make it work, then difficult and probably painful decisions will need to be made.

Start with negotiating with your lender, if possible. The very last and most difficult process would be bankruptcy. I do hope you won’t need to travel down that dark path. It isn’t fun.