The realities of realty.

• Author: Gearino, G.D.
• Position: FINEPRINT

On Sept. 17, 2007, a for-sale sign was jammed into the front yard of my home, which I had bought just 2 1/2 years prior (which is to say, near the peak of the housing market). Thus began my education in real estate, a learning experience that dovetailed almost exactly with the national housing meltdown. Yep, buying high and selling low. That's how I roll.

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I write this in early September, nearly 24 months later. The sign is still there. If I had known then what I know now, I could have shortened the process and saved myself much anguish. I could have, for instance, priced my house to sell instead of for a big payday. I could have acknowledged that buying and selling real estate is a simple exercise in free-market capitalism--not judgment on my decorating choices, landscaping prowess or housekeeping abilities. Or I could have forgotten the whole idea and focused on pursuits less painful with results more predictable. (Such as shaving my bald pate with a cheese grater each morning, to cite one example.) But the lessons best learned are those hardest earned, and because my heart is larger than my equity, I'm happy to share what I now possess in the way of real-estate wisdom.

1) Whenever a magazine or Web site declares that real-estate values in your town are bucking the downward trend, let healthy skepticism be your guide. Magazine editors love lists, and a popular theme these days is some variation of Top 10 Places To (insert subject here: Buy a Home, Sell a Home, Regret Your Liar's Loan, etc.). For instance, BusinessWeek recently assembled a roster of the "strongest" housing markets and put Fayetteville, Burlington, Jacksonville, Durham and Greensboro on the list. Problem is, as the Burlington Times-News pointed out, the rankings were based in large part on tax valuations, and those assessments are often wildly detached from market realities. (More on that below.) Even people in Burlington's real-estate industry, whom you would expect to be celebrating it, cautioned against placing too much faith in the ranking: "I take it with a grain of salt," one agent told the newspaper. I had a similar reaction to Money magazine's recent survey of housing in the country's 100 largest metro areas, which showed that the Raleigh market (where I live) was rock-solid stable--in contrast to 91 others that should expect further declines. If that's truly the case, why is the phrase "price reduced" so common hereabouts?

2) County tax...