Zeke Yewdall wrote: > Ah, but I think you may be including a non-monetary benefit... > remember, for renewable energy or energy efficiency stuff, you can > only include the strict monetary benefits when calculating payback.
Nope, I'm talking property flipping. The sad but incontrovertible truth is, the larger the house, the greater the increase in resale value. Tracking housing costs since the building boom began in the early 50s, houses of 10,000 sf, (yes, that's correct, ten thousand square feet) have shown the highest rate of return in investment over time. 5,000 less so, but still quite solid, 2,500 are decent investments, and 1,200 or less are only valuable for their lots. Fact. ugly but true. Boutique appliances, countertops and trophy stoves (that will never be used) are pretty much a requirement for flipping the property. This is why the cheaper interest rates are available for these purchases, because that money yields the highest return over similar type goods. This trend has been solid, with only a few hiccups for nigh on 60 years, and there is nothing to indicate there will a change anytime soon. Wonder why all this farm land in the Mid Atlantic region of the US (some of the best and most fertile farm land in the world) is all being converted to tract mansions? Because that is the sweet spot for investment. 5k+ sq ft houses garner the lowest interest rates and have the highest resale. No farm can compete with that, in this 'free market' economy. (I'd like to actually see a genuine free market economy someday, I keep hearing about it). I work in Loundon County Va, USA. Loundon Co is *the* textbook example of the worst land managment planning there is. Even the the union of concerned scientists used Loundon Co as their only negative example in the publication The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices. Be that as it may, it's nearly impossible to loose money in this real estate market. Unless, you try to protect and preserve what little arable land is left. Mike Weaver lives in this region, and the neighbors of whom he speaks are everywhere. You'd have to see it. -- _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
