Getting Going: Why Your Nest Is Not Your Nest Egg
A house isn't a stock.</br></br>To be sure, you probably don't regularly confuse the bricks and mortar you occupy with the investments listed on your brokerage statement.</br></br>Yet thinking about the differences between the two helps explain why folks love owning real estate -- but also why some homeowners are in such trouble today. Here are five key ways that homes differ from stocks and stock mutual funds.</br></br>1) You don't know the price until you sell. With a few minutes of spare time and an Internet connection, you can find out the share price of every stock and stock fund you own. But you don't really know what your house is worth until a buyer makes an offer.</br></br>This leaves ample room for mental mischief. You can happily imagine that your house is a wonderfully stable investment, because -- unlike your stocks -- you aren't receiving continuous price updates. You can also happily imagine that your home sports some grand valuation.