Real Estate Investing. Real estate investing is arguably the safest way to put your wealth into something besides cash. People need a place to plant their carcases. They need protection from the elements. We haven't had a major war in the West for fifty years; all those live bodies gotta go someplace! Real estate investing is not risk free. Some classic mistakes are: 1. Buy in a frantic market when you can only _just_ afford the repayments;
2. Buy when even waiters and shop-girls are raving about it;
3. Buy luxury;
4. Buy strange, or odd;
5. Buy far away from you;
6. Buy foreign, when you don't speak the local language;
7. Buying on impulse;
8. Buy a place _you_ wouldn't live in, and thinking 9. They ain't making any more land. Actually, they are: Skyscrapers, and reclaimed swamp. Build up, and build on unsound ground. The poor wretches in New Orleans suffered unduly for not paying closer attention to where their homes were sited.
I have the notion that when you see a lot of cranes dotting the skyline it's a good time to pull back; too many mooks looking for a score, as the Mafia might say.
Housing boom + cheap high-rises = Bust.
Conversely, the following is good sense: 1. Buy when you can afford 6 months mortgage repayments with no income;
2. Buy when the local shylock is getting in on it, and is keeping very quiet about it;
3. Buy good-quality middle-class accommodation;
4. Buy beige, homely, pleasant and a bit bland;
5. Buy near enough for you to control it easily;
6. Buy foreign if you can speak the language and have found a good local representative;
7. Buy after a complete professional survey;
8. Buy a place _you_ would live to live in yourself; you may have to, if the poop hits the fan!
I've been half expecting a big drop in real estate investing since 2003, but I also knew why it didn't happen: Supply and demand. A lot of well-established construction companies when out of business the last big recession (1988). Enough new ones didn't exist when the next boom came along. More people are divorcing = more new homes needed. Also .... More important: - Easy credit;
- Pension schemes going bust;
- Share prices yo-yoing;
- Everyone needs a home;
- Everyone fears the future, and wants to save;
- Interest rates at an all time low;
- Planning authorities are going 'green';
- Rents are ridiculous;
- Third world moguls piling into the West.
What do you do?
Ya put yer lolly in real estate, don'tcha? | 
