Real Estate Deal Was Hardly a Nightmare

Re: “From Dream House to Real Estate Nightmare,” Dec. 26.

Let’s get the facts straight: The Swendeners move to California and buy a home in 1989 for $340,000. They subsequently add a small fortune in improvements. Three years later, as prices are rapidly dropping, they attempt to sell the property for $579,000--an amount 70% higher than what they paid just a few years earlier. Spare me!

I pity the poor Swendeners and their five years of “sheer hell.” They were able to buy their “dream castle,” a milestone that many of us will never achieve, at a time when most Southern Californians were forced out of the local housing market. Had the Swendeners appropriately priced the home in 1992, they probably could have come out even, if not slightly ahead, which should be acceptable to most homeowners these days. Instead, they rode the market down and eventually took a loss. Why they were leaving their dream home was not explained, but what were their intentions when they bought the house? Was it to reside in the home of their dreams or was it to profit in short-term real estate speculation? I suspect the latter, and I will save my tears for the real nightmares that we unfortunately read about every day in the newspaper.

By the way, congratulations to the Gardners, the local couple who were able to buy their “dream home.” Without speculators to deal with, many more local residents might finally be able to realize their dreams of homeownership.

RONALD A. GREEN

Agoura Hills