Tony wrote an interesting article,
The obvious priority to me in planning for the future would be to only have debt that is paid by others (rent). I don
Rick,
Fantastic post. I love the way your mind works… simple, like me! And the website you linked is priceless. How have I not seen this before?
Bernd,
To your question, why didn’t we see this coming? In my local economy (Michigan) things started to get ugly after 9/11 as I was educating myself to enter the business. Our RE euphoria was in the 90’s when Michigan was a nation leader in prosperity. For me, I have no experience other than with this bad economy so the adjustment has been, for me, minimal.
The pessimistic macro-economic view I have long held is probably what saved my skin. Without the optimism shared by many in the middle of the 2000’s, I may have fell victim to excessive investment debt, consumer debt, or both. I do have to say, I always found it highly frustrating listening to stories at conventions of huge instant equity, or big payday flips due to rapid appreciation. I found myself saying “That’s great, but it doesn’t work where I live”. Where have we heard this before? Apparently, it doesn’t work anymore where they live. For Lonnie deals I am grateful, as it has been a very versatile and resilient tool to have in my tool box.
Rick, I join Jeff B in complimenting you. Your analysis is based on reason,on factual information and not on wishful thinking, which I appreciate.I also agree with your banker friend’s view of the state of commercial real estate,though it might turn out to be worse than the sub-prime debacle, once it is allowed to become news. Your approach to finding your opportunities reemphasizes the importance of the local economy, which is too often ignored or minimized and confused with the state’s or national economy. For those in troubled areas, might, if possible, want to consider following your example and perhaps have their capital vote with its feet.As you mentioned previously, there are still gold deposits,but not necessarily in our backyards.(Thank you for the web-site.)