Quote Originally Posted by MNeagle View Post
A secure home is top priority for me; landlords can get flaky in a flash. Why not compromise? A home w/ a (low fixed rate) mortgage, & some silver?
Hi Mneagle. I agree with your take on the flaky landlords. They can neglect to pay their mortgage payments and be foreclosed on which leaves you, the renter, in a world of hurt. Too little notice to vacate is often the teeth gritting outcome.

I spoke with one of the friends yesterday morning and he says that he is in no hurry to buy a house. I did tell him that it might be a good idea to buy more silver with part of the money while he waits for the best opportunity to appear. This way, the silver may go up while the housing prices go down. I don’t expect silver to crash but rather to rise in purchasing power dramatically in the future. However, I do expect real estate to crash. When ? Any time; it could come about as a result banking problems wherein they quit lending. Then the cash price would be required. And who would have full cash up front at that time ? Answer : almost nobody ! And even if some folks did, they wouldn’t be looking at house buying, even for rent ! The whole playing field would have changed to what a house would sell for without credit. It would be like the old days when folks saved up money to buy or build a house. You know, when houses were $16,000. I lived in Erie PA in 1971 and was considering buying a house for that exact price. It had 4 bedrooms, a den, a formal dining room, a full attic and basement and a fenced yard. Oh, and the topper was that was the price with full banking credit in full swing. Housing prices need to crash to get back to reality; they deserve it ! Good and hard.

Of course, with such a crash, the banks would be in tatters, especially with all the repos that they hold at full market price. And as the market value falls, they would be holding loads of properties that had been gutted by the collapse. Hollow shells that, even if they were to sell them cheap, would destroy their balance sheets. You see, we are there right now but the realty reality is still to hit in the future.

My mom’s cousin acquired several properties along Flagler boulevard in Miami in the early 1930s. The banks were giving them away rather than to continue paying property taxes on them. Well, he kept the properties he had gotten from the banks and rented them out to pay for the taxes. Some years later he sold them and retired, a multimillionaire. The rest of his life he and his wife cruised on their yacht up and down the intercoastal waterway from New York to Miami.

I’m sharing this story to show that just one idea that pans out is all someone needs to make a dramatic change in their life. I have had such ideas that panned out and can tell you that it is not all that it is cracked up to be. There is risk, investment, patience, calculation and confidence all involved on the road to success.
In other words, there is a list of factors that must all favorably contribute to a successful outcome.

Back in 1993 I discovered that the Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 manual transmission had a problem with the input shaft and associated transfer spool to the all wheel drive had premature wear problems. The factory would not sell the parts necessary to rebuild the transmission and the factory price was $6,500. I had the parts blueprinted and manufactured; cost me about 60 grand. I had them made with a harder Rockwell than the factory parts and this was a strong selling point. Didn’t cost me any extra either. Now I could build the transmission and offer them nationwide. I also sold the parts worldwide because the shipping for a rebuilt was too expensive due to weight considerations. I had done my homework in assessing the risk, amount of investment, time required for a return on investment, calculated the percent return and had the confidence that my product would be in strong demand. Two parts I had manufactured for $250 total sold for $1,400 which was a $1,150 net profit. Additionally, the rebuilt Mitsubishi 3000GT transmissions that my shop sold became a mainstay of profit. I was only adding one model of transmission to the 40 other models I had been building for many years. This one addition changed my business to where I had financial breathing room to expand.

Just an example of a need fulfilled which resulted in a great positive in my life.

Best wishes,

Agnut