DO SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT
& MAKE SOME MONEY IN THE PROCESS
- by John Adams
Today's residential market is challenging in a number of ways. Prices seem to be moving higher, but we still have not recovered what we lost since 2008. Interest rates, long predicted (by me) to head into double-digits, continue to defy reality and are hovering somewhere under five percent. And despite a weak supply, rent has failed to keep pace with rising taxes and expenses.
I was talking with a seasoned residential investor the other day, let’s call him Robert.
He actually reminded me of an economics professor I had at Emory in 1973, who assured all of us it was “impossible” for the prime interest rate to ever exceed seven percent. I tried to find him in 1979 when the prime hit 21 percent, but I think he had moved back to Harvard. Robert went on and on about how great things were in 2005, and how it's not possible to make a buck today. He continued: “you can’t expect a housing recovery without robust job growth.” His reasoning was that, with our anemic recovery struggling to produce jobs, he will never again be able to get to the point that he can hope for a realistic positive cash flow
I listened to this drivel for a while, then I thought to myself: "Quick, John, get away from this guy! If you sit here and listen long enough, you may start to believe it!"
The truth is that buying residential real estate is a little like having a baby - there's never a right time. But if you sit on your assets and wait for the time to be right, you'll never own any real estate.
The interesting thing to me is that there are plenty of people making good money in this economy, because they have the right cookie cutter for this market. And if you are stuck, or if you don't know what to do next, then you need a "jump start," just like my negative friend at the beginning of this column.
His battery had run down, and maybe yours has too! Even if it hasn’t, you can still benefit from a new perspective.
Well, here are some ideas to help you JUMP START your investing, and these apply to you whether you own 50 rental homes or are looking just to buy your first house for you to
live in. It doesn't matter
who you are; we all occasionally need a
swift kick to get going.
14 we are GaREIA Jan/Feb 2015