BOOK EXCERPT FROM THE BOOM AFTER THE BUBBLE: ANDREW CORDLE
BUY
If you were a real estate investor in what we will
call the pre-bubble era, between the years 2000 to
2007, houses were selling as fast as they hit the
FIX
market. I did a lot of “buy, fix and sell” in the prebubble days. I did rehabs, I did new construction, I
did tear downs and rebuilds and they would ALL
SELL
sell as fast as we could make them available.
However, in the pre-bubble space, supply and
demand was driven by the mortgage industry.
Currently, the hot topic is “buy, fix and sell.” The
Loans were extremely easy to obtain, even if
window is wide open right now for this type of
someone worked part time at a fast-food chain as a
investment. In northwest Indiana, which is jokingly
cook. An individual could get a loan for two hundred
known as the armpit of America, my “buy, fix and
to two hundred fifty thousand dollars for a house.
sell” houses are selling nearly as fast as I can get
Because it was so easy to get a loan, pre-bubble,
them off the assembly line. Not only are they
everybody
selling but they are selling above asking price with
everybody was buying houses, there was a
multiple offers. That is what’s happening in
shortage of inventory. So anything that was for
northwest Indiana and it’s not uncommon in other
sale—even an ugly house—would sell immediately.
was
buying
houses.
And
since
markets that people are moving into, including
yours.
During the time frame from 2000-2007, supply and
demand kicked in, and everybody and their brother
Scarcely a soul will consciously say, “Hey! You
were trying to get their houses on the market,
know, I need a change in my life, so I’m going to
because it was so easy for people to get the
move to Schererville, Indiana” (insert your market
financing to buy. Well, that rush included the
here). The states of Florida, Arizona and Southern
builders—all these contractors building houses,
California are where people are retiring, or
and all the investors rehabbing properties, too. The
relocating when they want to change their lives, or
market was saturated with inventory, but the
live in a “cool” area that fits with the job market.
inventory was moving.
You don’t have that in Schererville, Indiana.
However, the houses are selling as fast as I can
get them ready and there are a couple of different
reasons for that. The main reason is that the
window of opportunity is open for investors. We
also refer to this as supply and