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To: Tradelite who wrote (145749)	1/23/2002 8:17:33 PM
From: GraceZ	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

Actually, I can give you a ten year from my own experience of having bought a house at an intermediate top and owning it for ten years before I could break even selling it. My total after tax deduction cost for owning was $600/month. My capital gains were zero because I sold exactly even when I deducted the real estate commish. I could have rented a place almost twice the size for that monthly figure in Baltimore City in that same time frame or rented something the same size and invest the difference. I didn't own a dump, I owned a nice house in a decent neighborhood that for the most part had strong demand....the whole freakin market sucked for five years and I got left holding the bag. I was far from being alone in my experience. If you are wondering why people have such a strong reaction to your implying you can't go wrong owning real estate, this is the kind of experience you are up against. It will always cost you something to live somewhere. In aggregate, rents are equal to the cost of maintaining the property. In aggregate, owners pay a premium to own rather than rent. Its like the difference between term life and life insurance that has an investment element. Death always costs the same, its just that in one scenario part of your much larger premium is paid back to you with a mediocre return. If you get something back after owning a house it is your own money at a mediocre return, mostly its inflation.