[BC] Prop. values (was Re: No-code Amateur license

[Rob Atkinson]

<<< His point was that the junk yard in the sky looked so bad, it depressed
property values, and he was right. >>>

I'm not sure there is really any hard proof that antennas depress property 
values.  I think that's one of those things that gets repeated so much it is 
believed, like power lines cause cancer.

But, let's assume it's true.  If I hear a complaint along those lines it 
tells me that the person doing the complaining has poorly managed his net 
worth.

It doesn't take a ham antenna to lower the value of some property.  
Churches, fast-food restaurants, cemetaries, hub-cap stores, homeless 
shelters all have been charged with lowering property values.  Meaning that 
property ownership carries some risks as with any other investment.  All 
prospective homeowners should realize this.

If we look at property as an investment, then the rule of having a balanced 
portfolio applies.

A lot of people expose themselves heavily with their homes.  Meaning, they 
sink a huge percentage of their net worth into their property, usually 
because they must have the big bondura status symbol, with the big new SUV 
out in front (and no furniture inside because there's no $$$ left for that). 
  Some even take out interest-only mortgages in order to buy the biggest 
home possible.   Now, a ham next door puts up a tower and they are outraged, 
but who is really to blame?  The ham who is minding his own business and 
innocently enjoying an avocation, or the neighbor who has incompetently 
managed his income?   But the ham is blamed and must be made to suffer 
because these days, we never take responsability for any of our problems, 
and must find someone or something else to blame.

OTOH, if someone were to put say 30 or 40% of his net worth into his home, 
with the rest in CDs, bonds, stocks, funds, money market etc. the lowered 
value (if there really is a lowering) would be much less harmful to his 
financial well-being.  Of course, this also means living more modestly in 
terms of one's dwelling, perhaps buying in an old neighborhood, which for 
reasons I'm unable to fathom, people seem unwilling to do.

rob atkinson
70 year old home in neighborhood where every home is unique and wouldn't 
have it any other way.

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