[quote=CA renter]But I could not replicate those financial moves today. Luck was the most important variable because I was at a stage in life in the mid-late 90s where I was able to buy a house when I felt that the market was at a low. If not for my entry point, the benefits at the exit point would not exist. As you’ve mentioned in other posts, you were not able to take advantage of the RE bubble like others who were a bit older than you. Timing is everything, and the ability to take advantage of certain market anomalies (unusual highs and lows) is based on pure luck, IMHO, both because of the timing and in having the means to take advantage when the opportunities present themselves.[/quote]
Of course you can’t replicate those financial moves today. Opportunities doesn’t repeat itself it the exact same way. But you could have bought a few investment properties a year or two ago and you could be refi-ing those properties today. Those are the opportunities you have today. Who know what the opportunity will be tomorrow, but those opportunities are available for all who can/could/would take advantage of it. I remember in 2005 telling someone I know they should sell their house for $700k+ when they bought in 2004 for ~$450k. They didn’t and today, that same house probably goes for high $300k. So, just because someone have the opportunity take advantage of the opportunity well all were presented with, doesn’t mean they would do it, like you.
Luckiness and unluckiness are two side of the same coin. You blame the person for their actions when they were hit with unluckiness, yet you don’t attribute their actions to their luckiness, why? After all, yo-yo-ing that you laughed at could be nothing more than being hit with a bought of unluckiness. Like you said, people my age wasn’t presented with the lucky situation of buying a house in mid 90s but we were presented with the unlucky situation of housing market in 2005, when many of us made and saved enough for a down payment. I actively stopped myself from buying, which saved me a lot of financial heart aches. Not only that, it allow me to continue to save to take advantage of the crash and the low rates. So, bottom line is, just because luckiness and unluckiness presents itself doesn’t mean you can/could/would take advantage/fall victim in it.
