The problem with leveraged investments is that they can put you deep underwater.

Many people in Seattle that bought $1M leveraged with $100k now own a $800k asset. They've lost twice as much as they invested. They would have been much better off investing that in stocks without leverage.

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defen 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Multiple people in this thread have mentioned the Seattle real estate market going to shit (for sellers) - is that related to tech layoffs or is something else going on? San Francisco's market is just as crazy as ever.

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jandrewrogers 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Seattle real estate has been trending downward for a couple years now. It isn't a single factor but the confluence of several. Initially it was only in some market segments but seems to have spread to most of them now.

The inventory of housing currently on the market is anomalously high and there are relatively few buyers. I know a few people that will be lucky to sell for as much as they paid a decade ago. People who bought during the COVID bubble are underwater.

This feels more like the beginning of a macro trend than a temporary blip.

	▲	pixelatedindex 2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Yeah, but rent doesn’t seem to go down that much though. Opportunity cost of moving is real, security deposits are sizable. I wanted to rent for as long as possible but there’s no rent cap and the apartments keep jacking up the rent. At least now they have some sense to cap the rental raise percent but I’ve had to deal with 15-20% increases before, and not to mention the cost of parking in an apartment. I probably made a mistake buying but I couldn’t take the bullshit from landlords and all the headaches that come with people wanting more money.
	▲	locusofself 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I don't think the data supports this at all. Home prices have doubled here since 2014. We are having a modest dip right now.

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strongpigeon 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I think some of it is due to the lay off, some of it due to the supply situation not being as bad as SF (though construction has slowed recently), and a lot of it due to interest rates making "effective prices" much higher.

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ambicapter 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Yeah, but they still have a place to live. If the landlord is losing money on their asset, what's one place they could make up the difference?

	▲	jandrewrogers 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		The landlord isn't losing money. Totally different cost basis. The landlord rarely has a carrying cost that is equivalent to the renter buying the same property with a mortgage. It is frequently half that or less. I've sold a home I lived in to rent something equivalent because the rental rate was a fraction of my carrying costs. Saving the difference in costs added more to my net worth than the appreciation on the property.