I think its great that you are the (real) owner of multiple investment properties and should not have to defend yourself to anybody or anyone. My only comment is that I feel that fiscal bubbles are a ‘special case’ of investment cycles and really the best course long-term is to sell off near the peak and diversify into more stable holdings. I did this during the dot-com bubble with some stock I held in a tech company; which never returned to anywhere near its former frothy glory.
My question to you is; if you feel prices are going to drop so much in the short term, why not sell now, earn some interest on your cash and buy on the next up upswing? Do you really like the properties, or are you just not interested in the headache involved in getting them off the market?
I think the point of this thread is not to attack folks like you that have made sane, stable, long term investments. Especially for properties in prime locations. And you are correct that you are better off than folks like me that are priced-out and sitting on the sidelines (I’m not hoping for a crash btw, I just happen to think one is inevitable at this point).
However, we are definitely *both* better off than those folks whom have over-extended themselves during the run-up and are going to have to pay the piper if there is a significant drop in SD RE prices. Even if prices crash and stay low, you will still come out ahead. Myself, I’ll be able to (hopefully) purchase a home to live in. Those caught in the middle are going to be up that famous creek without a paddle.
To powayseller, while I agree with you in general on many of your points, I feel that going after a long-term owner of RE assets is counter-productive. There is really no way to lose other than destruction of the physical properties (which is admittedly a very real risk in so cal). Even then, provided the properties are properly insured it would not be a total loss.
