I recently reconnected online with an old friend of mine. We haven't seen each other since our days running amok at Coeur d'Alene High School. Those were the days! Good times, happy memories, and a wonderful childhood growing up in beautiful North Idaho. He shared with me the following piece he wrote about the current opportunity in the real estate market, and I wanted to pass it along.
SIGNS OF OPPORTUNITY
by Bruce Simon
The majority of the market listens to the gloom and doom everyday by the media, and therefore let great opportunities pass them by.
I really did not know what I was doing as a new investor just out of college, back in the early 80s when interest rates, unemployment, and inflation, were all in the double digits!! The savvy investors were looking for the best buys (me?), while the average investors were running for the hills. Do you think those who were scared of what the market was going to do (the media said it was going to get worse - much like today) and sold their properties just to get out of the investment, would like to have those properties today for what they sold them for? You betcha! (Palin quip.) They surely would. I still rent out the very first home I bought on a shoestring in 1982, and it has acted as a lever for me more times than I can count. Will those people who are panicked today, down the road, regret not holding on and seeing this correction on an upswing? You betcha they will!
Today is the time to be an astute investor. The financial gains will be great, but the lifestyle is better. You have to realize that the lifestyle that you've always wanted is now affordable, something I can't promise next year.
In my experience, Real Estate has always been the best hedge against inflation. President Roosevelt said, "The best investment on earth is the good earth itself." Real Estate has always stood the test of time.
Janna Rankin Scharf, AB, GRI, CSP, CNS, CLHMS, provides a superior level of real estate services to home buyers and sellers in Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai County, Idaho. Visit www.JannaScharf.com to search for homes in the Coeur d'Alene MLS for anywhere in spectacular North Idaho.
Janna Rankin Scharf, 208.651.9700 NorthIdahoJanna@gmail.com
Janna Rankin Scharf provides a superior level of real estate services to home buyers and sellers in Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai County, Idaho. Visit www.JannaScharf.com to search for homes in the Coeur d'Alene MLS for anywhere in spectacular North Idaho.
No matter how grand or modest your real estate dreams may be, you can turn to me in confidence. Give me a call today and let me know what I can do to be of service to you!
Janna Rankin Scharf AB, GRI, CSP, CNS, CLHMS 208.651.9700
Hi Janna, Thanks for posting this! I really like the concept of the sign on the door, and still believe that land is a good investment. (especially in today's market!)
Great post Janna - I think once the media sheds just a little positive light on something you will see a big movement to invest once again. There are great bargains out there right now!
Janna,
Great post. Thought you'd like this quote from Will Rogers:
"Buy land they aren't making anymore of it"
Jim
Janna,
Great post. Thought you'd like this quote from Will Rogers:
"Buy land they aren't making anymore of it"
Jim
Jim - Thanks for the Will Rogers quote!
I was one of those investors who bought in a buyer's market, sold in a seller's market, and occasionally kept in a keeper's market. LOL
We have a ton of investor buyers out here grabbing properties like there's no tomorrow. A few friends want me to quite home inspections and marketing/business consulting and go back into property renovations, but I'm just too old.
Warren Buffet might also apply: "If everyone is doing something, do something else."