I just realized I have a better success story than my current home, mentioned upthread, though the numbers are much smaller. I bought a condo on a short sale in December, 1996 for $120k. I sold it in August, 2001 for $260k. It only needed paint, carpet, a new bathroom faucet and medicine cabinet, all of which I did at the beginning so I could enjoy it. My cute little condo more than doubled in value in less than five years.
Recently, it sold again for $533k. Except the owner had completely gutted the place during the 17 years she'd owned it. High-end everything now, but no more square footage, lol. Even though the price had doubled again, her return on investment was significantly lower than mine.
Note to
@boarder42: You guessed it. This is where I learned the power of leverage and the value of a good, long mortgage, even if it was at 7%, which was very competitive back then.
Quick note on percentages vs. dollars. Sure, a large
percent of increase is great, but
dollars are what buy groceries. My new house has had a much smaller percentage gain, but $400k in appreciation beats $140k, even adjusted for inflation.