The stock market will always go
up eventually. Historically, it keeps
happening. Most wealthy people (aka the
people who make the rules- check out Trump’s cabinet of billionaires) have much
of their wealth tied up in corporate ownership (stocks). It’s almost a sure thing. If the stock market crashed and stayed down
permanently, our country would be in mayhem.
And the dollars under the pillow and gold bars stashed in the attic wouldn’t
mean much. Food would be the main
currency.
So why do investors get fearful
when the stock market goes down? It will
go back up, right?
After 9/11, the stock market
tanked. Billionaire New York City Mayor,
Mike Bloomberg, had a message for his constituents. He essentially said,” People always ask me
for investment advice so they can become billionaires. I don’t often offer it, but today is
different. Take all of your available
money and buy stocks now.”
The Dow dropped to under 9,000 in
2001, and almost to 7,000 in 2002. It is
now over 20,000. Too many powerful
forces have a vested interest in the stock market doing well for it to flounder
long.
So, investing in real estate in Charlotte is a slam
dunk? As much as investing in the stock
market is, especially with a Trump administration.
So that leads to 2 questions:
- When
is a good time to buy in
For long-term holds, anytime
really should be fine. The best time to
buy is when the market gets hammered (see 2008-2012 when we didn’t get many
buying inquiries, but many of our clients were looking to unload their homes
and became reluctant landlords). For
short-term holds and flips, this might not be a great time as competition is fierce
for good properties; it’s clearly a seller’s market now. But financing is easy and historically cheap
right now.
- Where
should I buy in
Once again, for long-term holds,
anywhere within city limits will work; really the surrounding counties seem
pretty good too. When I was a newbie
investor 10-15 years ago, my first two purchases were in areas that were
considered “war zones”. I bought them
very cheaply ($27K & $39K) and now they are considered to be in “hot
areas”. Note: I wouldn’t recommend this,
especially for newer investors. The
fix-up and tenant issues were challenging and I wished I didn’t own them for
years due to the headaches. But there
are plenty of Charlotte
houses that are in better areas that will make coveted rentals for years and
years. I’d recommend buying houses that
are more expensive (the market is pretty good at pricing houses based on
risk). The homes I bought over $100K
were much easier and safer investments that have also appreciated.
Much like investing in the stock
market as a whole, Charlotte
real estate is a great long-term hold that doesn’t require a large amount of
analysis. And Trump’s cabinet members (and
President Trump himself) own a lot of real estate too…
Happy Investing &
Landlording!
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