Real Estate Economic Update

Please understand, I'm not a CPA or a lawyer, what I am is an investor with years of experience.

In real estate you must know who you are. Your investor profile lists things what you're good at. Are you a project management, construction, interior design, etc. What you want to wake up for determines what type of real estate you want to own. If you don't want to wake up and do it, don't buy it because it will never make you happy. Other questions to ask yourself before diving in are, what's your net worth? What's your end plan? What's your strategic plan? 

If your goal is 35% return on my equity, can you get there? Are you willing to work hard to get there?

I got married in September of 2006 and a year later, as an real estate investor the economy froze and I had projects in the works, apartments I was converting to condos to name one. My husband and I found ourselves fighting because of the financial stress of the downturn and being 1 year into marriage, adding to the stress was the fact that I was trying to get pregnant. For 6 months I froze and watched the value of my portfolio decrease. I started sending down my savings to keep my investments afloat. When I unfroze, I sold everything because I wanted the marital fights to end, I wanted my mental peace, and I wanted to get pregnant. I never got the memo from the economy back then, telling me to sell everything and that is why now I pay attention to the economy.

In a seller's market prices go up. According to my unofficial mentor, Bruce Norris, when existing home sales price and new home price cross, we've hit the top of a market. That means the market is so competitive that a new home and a previously owned home are the same price. If mortgage rates continue to remain relatively low and job growth continues as forecasters expect, home purchases are likely to rise. Home prices are projected to rise 5% over the next year. Maybe we're seeing a rising economy, and maybe we'll see rising interest rates, but it may not cause the market to stumble.