Thank goodness for Lisa, she is so great about doing the yard work. I have lived in my house for almost 10 years and I have only mowed the yard twice. She only asks for my help when she just cannot get to it. I hate doing anything around the house, there are a thousand things I would rather be doing. And I think working around the house is a complete waste of time and money.
I might live in a bad example but overall I still do not think in most cases your primary residence is a good investment. Many people say that you should always own your home. I have always fought this. In fact my first apartment after college was all bills paid and I cleaned the hallways for 3 apartment complexes for my landlord making my rent less than what the real estate taxes and utilities would have cost in owning a house. I lived there for several years before he had a cousin make my deal less attractive.
If I did not have to worry about moving all the junk that we have accumulated for 10 years my vote would be to rent a small one bedroom apartment in Midtown crossings and keep the lake house.
The MIT CRE had a recent article written about it in the WSJ about this subject. Here it is: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124352291846962809.html
