Given today's real estate market

[Leon]

Well, since we are here.

My wife and I have spoken about our goals too, with respect to my collection, many times. I could probably pay off our sizable mortgage (see farm house on acreage ) if I sold my cards. My wife just knows the cards can bring cash and fast . She has said she doesn't want me to sell them to pay off the house because then we won't have liquidity. So, I happily keep collecting (uh, er...spending) .....Good luck whichever way you go.

[SMPEP]

Guess I'm the contrarian, but I don't see this as a good opportunity to buy a home at all. In fact, I would argue it's the worst time. Rates are low. Probably too low. At some point they will rise. Now we've seen in Japan this ebvironment can continue for 20 years ... but banking on that doesn't seem wise. Even predicting 5 years out is near impossible for the professionals.

So with rates this low, you know that when it comes to sell the home ... rates will be higher ... and therefore your house will be worth less money. Most likely a lot less.

If you never plan to sell, okay buy. If you plan to rent it out, Ok. Someone else is paying your mortgage (assuming you are doing this right). So who cares what the house is worth when you sell it. You essentially got an asset for free.

But the premise of the original question was an investing decision, whcih suggests you will sell at some point and aren't renting it ... and as rates rise, you will lose.

[phikappapsi]

Again, I made this point earlier...on the face of it, your analysis makes sense... But history and further data suggests that when rates rise, it's usually with inflationary pressure...thusly devaluing the dollar, ie prices, including home prices rise... Also, as rates spike, the cost of the money you borrowed becomes lesser. Borrowing at 3.5% and holding while rates rise to 9% means you're paying yourself a de facto dividend of 5.5%.

[SetBuilder]

I'm trying to purchase a short sale condo here in Florida. There are a ton of them around with a decent cap rate -- 8 to 12%, which is a nice return. During normal times I would prefer to purchase bonds (preferably tax free) since they provide efficient income without the hassle of property maintenance, HOA, taxes, unruly tenants, etc. Right now however, it's a great time to buy a house/condo at a discount because you can generate a higher return than with an inventment grade bond (4%).

Stocks are great sometimes but it has been proven that very diversified portfolios (10 or more stocks) don't generate healthy returns, so you're better off picking 3-4 stocks that you're an expert on and go all in with a percentage of your net worth. The key here is spending a lot of time researching the companies you invest in, which requires several hours a week/month and some complex number crunching, which most people don't do (it's quite boring).

I was actually trying to compare the prices of metals (gold, silver, platinum) to comparable baseball cards to see what the ROI would have been over a decade or two. I never quite finished this project but I'm willing to bet that a portion of the baseball card market greatly outperformed the metals. I think cards, like metals, are hedges against inflation.

I think collectibles should be a part of every young adult's investment portfolio. Buy rare art, books, cards, wine...enjoy it, hold it in your hands. It's great (better than a number on a computer screen).

[mrvster]

+1

[tbob]

Now is not the time to sell baseball cards. Buy pre-world I cards. Buy them in the best condition you can afford. Pay attention to grades but more attention to eye appeal. Do your home work. Look at scarcity but also at popularity.
I have a house so I'm looking at cards. I like to think I have a better handle on 1909-1919 cards than I do on the real estate or stock markets. Besides, the idiots in Greece and Spain may play hell with my stock portfolio but don't affect my caramel and tobacco cards

[glchen]

I think you should consider cards as an investment vehicle. (also as the caveat, don't count on your cards for your financial safety.) You can't sleep in your cards. They don't shelter you from storms, the cold, etc. If you need a house, I'd buy a house. However, if you already have a house, and are looking for one for rental, then you'd just have to decide which is the better investment.