Is your primary house an investment?

[Rick Baggenstoss]

In another thread this debate was started. Is your primary dwelling an investment?

One argument for is that you expect your primary dwelling to appreciate, therefore, it is an investment.

However, an argument against your primary dwelling being an investment is that it often doesn't appreciate enough to compensate for the payments, effort, expenses.

What are your thoughts?

Rick

[Duncan Taylor]

If you don't treat it like an investment when you purchase it then you are fooling yourself by pretending it is an investment.

If you bought your current house because you and your spouse fell in love with it and thought it would be a great place to raise your family then I seriously doubt you analyzed it as an investment going in. In addition, if you do any improvements or repairs you are not likely to sit down and methodically decide the best return when you pick your appliances for that new kitchen.

Nope, you are more likely to pick what you like, perhaps with upgrades if you can afford them because you want to enjoy your time in the home where you live.

Can it be an investment? Sure, there are lots of people who buy not because they like it as a place to live but because they can live in it while fixing it up and then sell it and move on to the next one.

So, I suspect the reason a debate broke out over this is because at the end of the day, "it depends."