Anyone still own property from the 2000s Housing crisis/bubble?

Question

Am I the only one that still owns property from the mid-2000 Housing crisis/bubble? I built a new home in Northern Virginia in late 2005 and watched it lose 50% of its value the next few years. I was over $200,000 in negative equity. Instead of a short-sale or strategic defaulting I rented it out to cover the mortgage. I’ve been renting it for over ten years while watching the value increase near what I paid for it. This time patience has paid off for me.

Steve Vaughan · Answer

Not the only one, but it seems like it sometimes, doesn't it?  So many podcast guests - 'We'll, I started investing in 2009...'

I still have all of my multis purchased from 2003-2007 but just 2 houses.  Sold 5 houses over the last few years as they became vacant and were facing cap ex , roofs and HVAC mostly.  When you went through the grc you recognize a good market to offload.  The music will stop someday.

People say all the time that they will buy like crazy in the next downturn. Easier said than done.  Credit dries up and fear is real.  I guess we'll see...

Darius Kellar · Answer

@Jay Weathersby @Chris Mason

My biggest regret during the housing crisis was buying everything cash! Being young and growing up everyone told me to pay cash for everything and pay it off. If I would have went against the grain and mortgaged 3% down or went through owner financing for all of my properties I then would have alot more rentals. I probably left 500K on the table because I thought that paying off things was the key for me and it wasn't.

Jay Weathersby · Answer

Nice bro. Just like the stock market the best time to buy is when everyone is fire selling. My only regret during that bubble is not being more aggressive. I should've emptied my 401k and went for broke.

Chris Mason · Answer

That's the pattern in my area. Even if you bought a house in a "scary" Oakland neighborhood like Fruitvale in 2007, it's doubled in value since then assuming you maintained it, etc.

The fools are the ones that got scared and "strategically defaulted."

Bill F. · Answer

I hear you man, I still think about how much money I could have made if I had sold some stocks and bought others in 2008-10 and beat myself up about it.

Nothing we can do now, besides realize that we made the safer play and while we didn't make as much money as we could have, we didn't lose as much either.

Plus this lesson makes us better investors overall.

All is well, that ends well.

Darius Kellar · Answer

@Chris Mason The ones that got scared and defaulted. LOL They defaulted to me because I bought one for 2,500 bucks and now its worth 80K LMAO

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Real estate is a long game, just like stocks. If you are trading stocks daily, you may win big but you are more likely to lose. If you buy/sell real estate constantly, the market fluctuations may eat your lunch. If you hold long-term, you will do well. I know people that bought in the 70s, 80s, and 90s without knowing anything about investing. They inherited some money or they inherited a house and they held onto it. They've had terrible tenants that have cost them tens of thousands of dollars. They've dealt with major Capex. None of it matters. They held on and are now have strong cash-flowing properties with major appreciation.

Real estate is a pretty forgiving investment strategy if you hold on.

Bob B. · Answer

I didn't tell my houses that they lost value throughout the recession.  They never knew it and the rents kept rolling in.  Wish I'd bought more, woulda, coulda, shoulda....

Joe Splitrock · Answer

Amen to that^^^ I made a few good purchases but I could have stretched myself way further and like you said, went for broke. But of course if the recession had lasted longer or gotten worse, I could have gone broke, haha. It is easy to look back. Good for you for holding on instead of being a chump and walking away.

Frank Wong · Answer

Hindsight is always 20/20.  Let's be honest that time was scary AF.  Buying deals cash at that time put you leaps and bounds over everyone.  People didn't default because they got scared, people defaulted bc they couldn't pay the mortgage and had nothing vested because they were 100% financed.

If you had 100% financed property and was down -$300k why would you hold?  Just let it go rebuild your credit and buy something else.  A lot of people did that, that added to the acceleration of the decline.

As for me, I held my properties in TX.  The decline didn't really affect the value too much and I was still making positive cash flow.  I actually sold all my CA properties in 2005, a little intuition and dumb luck I escaped.

Anyone still own property from the 2000s Housing crisis/bubble?

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