Comments on: Not Stocks and Not Real Estate Part 2

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:41:00 +0000

Ah, now I see your point. Yes, I pretty much agree with your last 3 sentences. I just talked last night to 3 people who are full-time residential investors who did 4 short sales each last week and made about $20k on each deal. So, people are making money in residential real estate. But, I agree somewhat with your assertion on the macro-level.

By: MAS

MAS — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:48:46 +0000

OK. I’ll keep my eye on that Case-Shiller index. Once it bottoms and starts to rise, I’ll be glad to admit I’m wrong if it noticeably starts beating inflation over a multi-year period.

Now there will always be deals for people that can do their homework and are serious. My assertion is at the macro-level. The days of Joe and Mary SixPack getting rich off their homes are over.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:26:42 +0000

Well, let’s agree to disagree on residential real estate. It’s definitely going to continue to be an investment — just not one’s primary residence (that’s a liability, not an asset). I know literally dozens of people making money right now in residential real estate investing (and it’s only going to get better over the next couple of years as a buyer) so your assertion is simply incorrect (i.e. unsupported by the facts). It’s not my bag, though, so I’m not going to argue with you about it.

By: MAS

MAS — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 01:11:36 +0000

Residential Real Estate will not come back around as an investment for decades. It will return to its historical role as a place to live and appreciation will closely tied to the rate of inflation.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:56:06 +0000

MAS, I can only speak to what I know, which is investing in commercial real estate and, as you said, private investments into business opportunities. For more on that subject, check out my blog on BiggerPockets.com: http://tinyurl.com/5bn9nk.

I think residential real estate in general will certainly come back around eventually once absorption has occurred (the simple laws of supply and demand dictate that).

I also like gold (silver more than gold actually).

But, as always, my general rule of thumb is stick with what you know and invest with who you know and you’ll make out alright. And, also realize not all your investments are going to be homeruns.