For the longest time, I got emails from Zillow telling me, month after month, how my house was appreciating in value here in my beloved Palo Alto.
Recently, though, there’s been a bit of a change:
The funny thing is that the amount it has decreased in value – about $540,000 – is precisely what I paid for the entire house way back when I originally bought it.
That’s all well and good for me, because even though it kind of sucks to see my net worth get torched like this (and I suspect there’s plenty more to come), I don’t really care, because I bought it so long ago that almost nothing can hurt me. The scary thing is what the poor saps who bought during the past few years are starting to go through. Can you imagine having bought a place and then learning it was dropping in value hundreds of thousands of dollars………each month?
Some folks still seem to think the “top” is still in place, like the fellow a block away from me trying to sell a place for nearly $9 million. Compare is to the Zillow “zestimate” and you can see that, umm, there’s a bit of a spread.
You folks know that I am only “long” something when I have no choice in the matter. My house is one of these rare exceptions, and, thank goodness, it’s a “buy and hold” that has worked out. For most recent home buyers, though…………..God help them.
