By Allen Jaworski
Imagine, if you will, somebody you know who is not very good at handling money. In fact this person is absolutely terrible at money management and investing and has finally done great damage to himself and others because of bad planning, bad decision-making and greed.
We all know at least one person like this, a family member perhaps, or a friend or co-worker. This person has a record of foolish behavior and anyone who knows her or him could see this coming. Got that person in mind? OK.
Now, if you had a large sum of money, would you give or loan it to that person? Particularly in these times? You wouldn't, right?
We would not do it, even in this individual, small-scale case, and expect a change in behavior or more importantly, in results.
But, our congressional leaders and financial agency heads are doing just that, allowing the very people and businesses who produced the breakdown of the global financial system to benefit from grants and loans of trillions of our tax dollars. What the agencies and businesses are doing will not benefit most of us personally, will benefit an elite few greatly, and will cost us, our children and our grandchildren enormously.
Unlike with our foolish friend above, we have no say in the matter and the giving of money will happen, and in our names.
The way out of this mess? I believe that those people who have worked in the real estate business in good faith over many decades, who have gained the experience and developed the expertise to really explain to the public how to create wealth and security, these people should be part of your life.
We at Lake and Company Real Estate are such people. Please join in on our blog, give us a call or drop us an email. We have the expertise and ideas to move our clients forward. Really.
We all know at least one person like this, a family member perhaps, or a friend or co-worker. This person has a record of foolish behavior and anyone who knows her or him could see this coming. Got that person in mind? OK.
Now, if you had a large sum of money, would you give or loan it to that person? Particularly in these times? You wouldn't, right?
We would not do it, even in this individual, small-scale case, and expect a change in behavior or more importantly, in results.
But, our congressional leaders and financial agency heads are doing just that, allowing the very people and businesses who produced the breakdown of the global financial system to benefit from grants and loans of trillions of our tax dollars. What the agencies and businesses are doing will not benefit most of us personally, will benefit an elite few greatly, and will cost us, our children and our grandchildren enormously.
Unlike with our foolish friend above, we have no say in the matter and the giving of money will happen, and in our names.
The way out of this mess? I believe that those people who have worked in the real estate business in good faith over many decades, who have gained the experience and developed the expertise to really explain to the public how to create wealth and security, these people should be part of your life.
We at Lake and Company Real Estate are such people. Please join in on our blog, give us a call or drop us an email. We have the expertise and ideas to move our clients forward. Really.
Jason Wall
Diane Easley
Karissa Webster
Glenn Roberts
Danny Adamson
Allen Jaworski
Marjie Cunningham
Dan Goforth
Claire Zaner
Aune Tietz
Carol Gabrielson
John "Mack" McCoy
Christiaan Bourdrez
Allen, almost everybody who has had money in the stock market for five or ten years seems to be in pretty bad shape today.
How do you think people are holding up who bought small multi-family (or even single-family homes) as investments over the past five or ten years?
Mack,
I can answer in just three short sentences: Location. Location. Location.
Was the real estate purchased in Federal Way; Bend, Oregon; Lake Stevens; or Ballard? Property purchased close-in to city centers generating jobs in the real economy has not been hammered down 40 to 50 percent like the stock market, or like real estate in Stockton, Miami or Las Vegas.
Correctly purchased (and that is saying a lot) real estate, in my experience, has preserved its value. Correctly purchased real estate.
One thing I'm wondering about is if you've owned that rental property for seven to ten years, at least in Seattle area markets, how they might be cash-flowing?
Mack,
This would be a good, and easy, one to research and report back. But I know from personal experience of myself and clients, that an old Ballard Victorian-Craftsman converted nicely into a duplex could have been purchased for $250-$300K in 1998. That property is worth between $500-$600K today, still. In a building I have experience with, the combined rents were $1750 in 1998 and they are $2050 today (and remember, we have been through an economic train-wreck). I would take that deal any day over, say, Bank of America stock. Or Citigroup. Or Goldman-Sachs. Or Washington Mutual.
Allen