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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealityNotFantasy who wrote (27973)	3/10/2005 12:37:33 PM
From: Tradelite	Respond to of 306849

Good comment about "polarization" on this subject. Funny thing is, many people will never see what they consider to be an ideal time to buy real estate. It's always too expensive, it's sure to become less expensive in the future, and if by chance they do see it becoming less expensive, they're afraid it will become even less expensive, so they don't buy. I've worked with many of these folks. They will dig in their heels and negotiate themselves right out of a good deal on a good house, hoping to get a better price later. They have to lose out on a few nice homes and watch them go to other buyers, before they see the light.) Despite all the talk about real estate speculation by the unwashed herd (and there certainly appears to be some speculation, as well as risky lending), the vast majority of people seem to make out OK by buying homes when they need them or can benefit from them. Obviously, there's no benefit to buying a house we can't afford and don't really need to live in, so naturally some people who are speculating could wind up shooting themselves in the feet. But will this happen to vast numbers of people? Doubt it. Personally, I'm glad I didn't focus on the future value of my home when I bought it. Woulda been miserable! Also glad I wasn't smart enough to try to outwit or wait out the market, because it just got more expensive later. All I could think of was how high those monthly payments seemed, but I bought anyway and cut back on recreational spending in order to afford it. (Had to put 25 percent down, too, just to qualify for the loan, so literally had no money to play around with). Maybe the moral of the story is.....times for buying real estate haven't necessarily been more ideal in the past. So how can we be sure they will be better or worse in the future?

To: RealityNotFantasy who wrote (27973)	3/10/2005 12:39:01 PM
From: GraceZ	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

It's not unusual to have people try to support their positions with their opinions. What you need to force yourself to do is argue against your positions or listen to arguments against your opinions. I've done this for years. I tend to be bullish therefore I spend a lot of time listening to the arguments on the bearish side. That said, regardless of your positions, you have to do what is prudent to protect principle. I invest over a wide range of assets regardless of my personal thoughts on what sector will outperform and let the market tell me what it wants to do, I don't try to be smart enough to guess where price will go. I use my own emotions as a contrary indicator. I hated RE back when we were buying it. I love it now, so we're selling some. I'm holding a little because I want to be invested over a wide range of assets. People who have shunned the stock and bond markets in order to invest everything in RE are just as short sighted as those who shunned RE to put everything in Nasdaq back in the 90s.