We love talking about real estate. But, real estate is only a part of the sea of our economic landscape. Rising interest rates have a HUGE impact on real estate and the economy in general. That’s why we are talking to one of our favorite former Wall Street and Washington insiders. He tells us his […]
The Future of Interest Rates and More with David Stockman Read More »
Investors and economists often talk about cycles … business cycles, credit cycles, even news and legislative cycles. Cycles are the ebb and flow of causes and effects sloshing around in the economic sea we all swim in. They’re big picture stuff. For nose-to-the-grindstone Main Street real estate investors, cycles are barely interesting, seemingly irrelevant, and
Don’t get lost in the lag … Read More »
Even though there are many interesting economic developments to talk about, we’re going to focus on an oldie, but a goodie … senior housing. National Real Estate Investor just released their latest Seniors Housing Market Study and the headline hints that opportunity in the niche might be … growing old … “High construction levels are tempering some of
This is getting old … and that’s good Read More »
Have you noticed a bit of division in the news … over just about EVERYTHING? As you may know, we obsess on all things economic and how they affect Main Street real estate investors … and try to steer clear of the more divisive topics. But even the financial news is a polarized collection of
The dichotomy economy … Read More »
“You can’t handle the truth!” – Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men Neither optimists or pessimists can handle the truth.Optimists refuse to acknowledge the part of reality that’s negative … … while pessimists can’t see the ever-present opportunities hidden behind the problems. While we’d rather be optimistic than pessimistic, maybe it’s better to be BOTH.“The
Can you handle the truth? Read More »
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder … and in real estate, an appraisal is what gives you the unbiased, third party opinion on a property. Appraisals happen whenever a lender is involved in a transaction, but that’s not the only time you’ll need or want an appraisal. We’ll examine the three ways appraisers
Appraisals – Find, Negotiate and Fund Better Deals Read More »
Regular followers know we’re news hawks. We scour the headlines for clues about opportunities and threats facing real estate investors. We look at the good, the bad, the ugly … and consider things at the micro, macro, geo-political, and systemic level. Even though we watch a broad range of real estate niches … we tend
Headlines say real estate funds performing well … Read More »
A common adage is “treat your investing as a business”. Good advice! And at first blush, you might think it means … Figuring out your mission, vision, values … Establishing clearly defined goals and objectives … Developing strategies, tactics, processes, policies and procedures … Recruiting, training, and leading a team … Setting up communication and
SWOT are you worried about … Read More »
As real estate investors, we’re always looking toward tomorrow. We’ve had a long, sustained recovery since the market crash in 2008. Many indicators show the economy is on the right track … the stock market is up, unemployment is down, and the dollar is strong. So, what could be the problem? We’ll talk about what
The Economy is Great Except for One Problem Read More »
One of the primary purposes of easy money (“quantitative easing” or QE) is to inflate asset prices, bloat balance sheets, and create a wealth effect. The formula is simple. Print gobs of money, buy bonds to drop interest rates, and flood the markets with liquidity. Corporations borrow cheap money to buyback stocks … pushing stock
Protecting equity from bursting bubbles … Read More »