I don’t talk about real estate anymore with family and local friends. If they own, they don’t want to hear about it, especially if you have cashed out like many of us and are presumably waiting for prices – their home prices – to fall. If they are selling, I also avoid getting in the middle, although I will make a few remarks about the current market conditions, some ideas, and then I shut up. If you tell them to lower the price, and they sell, they may hold it against you that they could have gotten more. If you advise that they keep the price where it is at, and they don’t sell, well, you get the point.
Since I cashed out earlier this year I’ve had a number of awkward conversations with family and friends about real estate, and most of the time they are completely close minded about what is actually happening. It’s purely psychological IMO. I tried referring a few to piggington, but noticed that they never checked out the site. Ironically, even if this thing crashes hard like many of us predict, I wont feel vindicated in any way, and I suspect that nobody will say that I hit it on the mark. If you cashed out you’re now an outsider, like an American citizen who leaves the country to gain citizenship somewhere else. Don’t expect that you can come back to the 4th of July parade, wave the American flag, and have everyone be happy about it. Very unusual situation I never thought I’d find myself in when I decided to sell. But I am content to let the chips fall where they may, try to help those close to me in subtle, non-offensive ways, and swoop in like a shark either here or elsewhere when everything hits the bottom!