conversation: User (EBOLOLOL): "Hi PF - regular reader, first time commenter (I guess that would make me a lurker). My wife and I purchased a home almost 5 years ago, and it has since gained over $300,000 in equity based on comparable home sales in our area. Sounds great, right? Well, it's not a bad thing but it's also sort of put us in a strange situation. When we purchased the home, it was just the two of us. Then we got a dog. Then we had a baby. And now we have another baby coming very soon. We have outgrown the house (this is a townhome/2 story condo with no outdoor space). We love the area where we live - we are close to work, we have excellent weather, we are close-ish to the beach, we are close to friends, and we are right in between our parents (who help with our kid from time to time). Moving would cause all of that to change, so of course we want to stay here... \n\nBUT - single family homes in our immediate area, in good school districts, and nice areas, are not affordable to us (think $1.3M++, and our budget is around $1M). So, given all of this info we are thinking of selling the home in order not to lose the equity. If we stay in this house and the market recedes and we lost even $100k I'm not going to be happy. In other words, we want to put the equity to work as a down payment on a single family home that is further from our ideal area, but is still a fantastic area to live. The downsides are: longer commutes for both of us (possibly requiring new jobs, which are are not worried about), and most of our friends are in the area where we are currently vs. 25-30 miles away where we are looking. \n\nSo - is the idea of not wanting to lose the equity a sound one? Putting aside that we need a larger space with a backyard, and are willing the move a bit to get that, is selling with the underlying reason being not to lose equity a good idea? Does this make sense? Is this stupid? \n\nYour replies are greatly appreciated!"
  Self: "If you sell your current home, where will you live?\n\nI assume that if your home increased in value by a lot, so did all the other houses in your area."
  theobromus (theobromus): "This is a perfect answer in my mind, and it shows why our society's obsession with increasing house values is a little misguided - housing is an expense. If your house goes up in value, that's great, but there's no way to cash it in for anything else you want without trading down to a lower priced house (i.e. moving somewhere that the value didn't increase just as much).\nThis isn't like stock investing - you actually need a house to live in.\n\nSo OP - I think you're thinking about this wrong. It doesn't matter much to you at all what the Bay Area market does unless you plan on moving somewhere else. In fact, you'd probably be better off if the market does recede like you fear because it'll also make the larger house that you want cheaper too (and that does matter since you would need to afford the difference with your salary)."
  RichieW13 (RichieW13): "&gt; it shows why our society's obsession with increasing house values is a little misguided\n\nRelated:\nI always hate when people talk about "the housing market improving".  This is code for "prices are going up".\n\nI am looking to buy a house.  So, to me, an "improving market" is one in which prices are falling!"
  Stormhammer (Stormhammer): "This, so much this. My roomie just bought a house a few months back for $165k... two years ago this thing would have been like $130k. "
  darksounds (darksounds): "A house for 165k? If only I wanted to live in your state... I don't even see shitty houses for twice that around here. "
  Phibriglex (Phibriglex): "Metro Vancouver here, 900sqft 2 room apartment is 300k"
  SexyGenius_n_Humble (SexyGenius_n_Humble): "Lol 300k?  Where, Langley?  100m^2 apartments were going for ober 350k in New West.  For 300 grand you'd be lucky to get a 50m^2 studio in downtown."
  TokiTokiTokiToki (TokiTokiTokiToki): "Please use empirical measurements.. thank you"
  SofineBovine (SofineBovine): "I think you mean freedom units. So how many freedoms is that?"
  