Is the Sky Really Falling on Gwinnett County?
December 11th, 2008 Categories: Financing
With all the negativity in the news these days, you would think the sky is falling. Do me a favor, go outside and let me know what you see. Yes, the sky might be a little grey and it might be a bit chilly, but it is definitely not falling.
When I look outside, I see opportunity. Yes, believe it or not, I see lots of opportunity. I am sure you have heard the saying “For every winner, there is a loser”. My question to you is: Are you a winner or a loser? I don’t know about you, but I definitely don’t like to lose.
I was talking to a client recently about how I wished I had more money to put in real estate and the stock marke right now. Her reply was a big “NOW? REALLY?”. Hello people!!! Do we all need to be reminded to “Buy Low and Sell High”? Here’s a newsflash: Everything is LOW right now. The Dow is under 9000, Interest rates are at 4.875% and I know you don’t need me to tell you where real estate prices are. The only way to truly win in this situation is to offset your losses with gains. Pulling out of the market guarantees a loss and sitting idle is basically a tie. And if you can remember what it was like to have your favorite college football team tie a game, then you know that a tie still feels like a loss.
Are we at the bottom? Could it go lower? Possibly, but I feel more comfortable saying we are at or near the bottom and I don’t want to risk missing out. The most successful investors don’t wait until it is too late. They buy near the bottom and sell near the top. Nobody knows exactly where the bottom is and if you wait too long you will be looking at the bottom in your rear view mirror. I don’t want to look back on today and say “If only I had…”
What about financing? There is more than enough of it out there. The press would have you believe that you have to have an 800 credit score and put down 20% to get a loan now. This couldn’t be further from the truth. There are certainly some challenges, but the overwhelming majority of borrowers have no problem getting a loan. When I got into the business, we didn’t have automated underwriting, credit scores, fax machines or computers. That was far more challenging than what we are experiencing today.
If you haven’t guessed already, I am an optimist. I will gladly accept that as a compliment. After all, I have never met a successful or happy pessimist, have you?
