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The Secret is Out


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2012 Aug 30, 6:42am   46,222 views  90 comments

by BayArea   ➕follow (1)   💰tip   ignore  

You could not find a better investment between mid 2010 through the end of 2011 than low end real estate. Relatively low prices, record low interest rates, and the fact that the mainstream had not yet been fully let in on the secret. For the smart ones (or lucky ones for that matter) that got in during that time, congrats on the move.

Fast forward to 2012, inventory has reached inexplicably low volumes, prices have surged, and the secret about real estate investment is out.

Case and point... I sit at the family table at dinner, and the topic is real estate investment. I go to lunch with co-workers, and the topic is how to become a slum-lord. I go bowling with some friends, and everyone is talking about buying up low end real estate to rent out. I cannot believe what I am experiencing. It's like everyone with a stable job is all of a sudden a real estate investor. It's not just for the upper class anymore. My secretary bought a damn rental property this year in the Bay Area for gawd's sake!

It will be interesting to see what happens after the election and how real estate responds.

Don't get me wrong, with the rental market also surging, real estate is still a good investment today, but it was a great investment 12-24 months ago.

Waiting patiently...

#housing

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81   ELC   2012 Sep 15, 10:30am  

bgamall4 says

People need to watch phoenix. If it continues in an obvious bubble, then it will spread. If Phoenix tanks, real estate will crash like the Titanic. Watch it.

I'm in Florida (which sucks) but I would think Phoenix is not a place anyone would like to move to. I would think whoever is there stays there because they have little choice. My impression of it was a hot dry waste land. Now Sedona was different world entirely. But that was 20 years ago.

82   rufita11   2012 Sep 15, 11:08am  

ELC says

I'm in Florida (which sucks) but I would think Phoenix is not a place anyone would like to move to. I would think whoever is there stays there because they have little choice. My impression of it was a hot dry waste land. Now Sedona was different world entirely. But that was 20 years ago.

The only place in AZ I could ever live is Flagstaff. Phoenix is just way too hot in the spring and summer and not very pretty to look at.

83   ELC   2012 Sep 15, 11:45am  

robertoaribas says

Phoenix has been one of the fastest growing cities in the US for the past 40 years... So if "you would think nobody wants to move there", maybe thinking isn't really your thing?

Starting shit with me now?

84   dunnross   2012 Sep 15, 2:04pm  

robertoaribas says

Phoenix has been one of the fastest growing cities in the US for the past 40 years...

That's because all the rednecks like roberto move out there. When you're driving a pick-up and have pea for brain, which eventually, after 2-3 years of living in Phoenix, starts to turn into pea puree, the hot phoenix wasteland starts to become very attractive to you. After all, where else can you ride your bike to work in 105 degree weather?

85   ELC   2012 Sep 15, 9:06pm  

dunnross says

the hot phoenix wasteland starts to become very attractive to you. After all, where else can you ride your bike to work in 105 degree weather?

My friend moved to Phoenix from Florida and hates the oppressive heat, can't find work, complains of scorpions, snakes all over, can't have a garden since nothing will grow. She had two cats die because she let them out of the house. Yet her daughter who moved with her loves it. They're renting a 5 bedroom Mc Mansion for $2500/mth and it's a total party house for them. All $2500 will get you in S. Florida is a 3/2 on a canal.

86   ELC   2012 Sep 15, 9:30pm  

bgamall4 says

He is pointing out fact. As people get older and snow becomes too cold, places like Phoenix and Las Vegas look better and better. Much easier living than in cold climes and not too many bugs, or snakes or alligators like in Florida.

It was the, "maybe thinking isn't really your thing?" part that I felt was uncalled for.

It's beyond me why people move to Florida, Phoenix or Vegas. How could anyone want to live in the desert or a swamp?

87   cw   2012 Sep 16, 3:28am  

This such a timely story since my "ghetto rental" is in escrow to be sold for $65k .
I bought it in late 2009 for $32k and rents for $950. However it is increasingly difficult to keep rented and is in great demand since the mainstreem seems to have found out how great this is- or was two years ago. It is just like 2004 again for me-that was when I sold my other rentals to "investors" who were not even homeowners themselves.

88   B.A.C.A.H.   2012 Sep 16, 3:35am  

I knew a decent mind-his-own-kinda-business guy who became one of those kinda "slumlords". It penciled out for him.

Except that, since the tenants knew some personal information about him, he was intimidated by them. You can have the legal system behind you all you want, its not the same thing as you and your family being safe from methheads and gangsters and their anonymous cronies.

A level-headed guy, had to sell it out from under them and was even nervous about that during the process.

89   B.A.C.A.H.   2012 Sep 16, 4:10am  

BayArea says

Case and point... I sit at the family table at dinner, and the topic is real estate investment.

What's not Cool and Hip right now? What will your oh-so-smart people laugh at you with derisive comments and derisive smirks about? That's probably the best investment/savings vehicle right now. I don't "know" what that is, but I "think" it may be cash.

90   ELC   2012 Sep 16, 4:31am  

B.A.C.A.H. says

I don't "know" what that is, but I "think" it may be cash.

The rate of return reflects the amount of risk. Cash yields nothing because it is the best investment out there. "Waiting patiently" is the best investment right now and the interest rates reflect that.

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