[dradernh]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

I actually think time in the market matters more than timing. Of course you have to be smart with where you buy, type of property, etc, etc.

Clearly, 8.5 years wasn't nearly long enough for us to cash-in during one of CA's periodic updrafts. The neighborhood was fine (hence todays $2.9 million est. value), it was a single family dwelling, which are not thick on the ground in San Francisco, etc., etc.

Bottom line, if we'd stayed in the rental and put the $4K/mo. difference into an S&P 500 index fund during those years, we would have come out with so much more cash that it wouldn't have been remotely funny.

Here's the kicker, though: why did we move from what was a to-die-for, rent-controlled apartment? Because the wife, who had been working in Hong Kong for 2.5 years, returned with so much clothing that we had to turn the rental's second bedroom into a walk-in closet!