DWCAP, I’m not expecting any gurus to show me the light. Just a tidbit of info or advice here or there would be great.
Why? To make money. As I said, I don’t think there’s any money in it right now. But I think there will be a few years from now. And I want to be ready when that happens.
At some point the market will turn around and prices will start going up again. The only question is when. I don’t think they’ll go up any time soon, and I don’t think they’ll go up fast for another seven or eight years at the very least. Maybe not for 15 years. But they’ll go up. And if I can get in at or near the bottom by buying houses that banks are giving a discount on in order to unload them, then I should be in good shape. If I can get a few that are cash-flow positive, then I can hold on to them indefinitely as rentals. Either or both of those would be fine. As I said in my original post, I don’t know yet whether my plan will be rentals or flips or both.
As far as the greater fool theory, that only applies if houses are fundamentally overpriced. Which they still are. But which they may not be within a few years. If some confluence of events prevents houses from becoming sensible investments, I won’t do it. But I think it will become profitable at some point in the next few years.
I’m 47 years old, and I’m eligible to retire from my job right now with a 70k pension. But I have a daughter who will be in college in 11 years, and I plan on living another 30 or so, so that isn’t enough. I’m renting right now and have high six figures to invest. I figure that if I put that into residential real estate when it’s more sensible than it is right now, I should be able to have a comfortable retirement and be protected from inflation.
That’s my plan, anyway. All input, contrary and otherwise, is appreciated. I’d like to see it from all angles before I start plunking down money.
