I just read an article on MSN titled “Seven Ways to get Rich”. It was all about investing in the stock market. It didin’t mention REI at all. It even said that you’ll have to take on more risk to be rich. I think its more difficult and risky to invest in the stock market than REI. Am I missing something?
While you may find the stock market a more difficult and risky investment proposition others might say the same about REI. Consider the liquidity, low transaction cost and wide variety of investments available in the stock market and compare to the less liquid, higher transaction cost real estate market. To each his own but in my opinion if you understand the risks both markets make for an interesting and rewarding playground.
If you bought some Campbell’s soup at 9:30 this morning and sold it at 10:30, you’d have made 3%.
Wait for the fat pitch.
-Mike
One of the things I like about RE is that it’s pretty stable. I don’t have to worry about my house losing a large chunk of value in a short amount of time. People who leverage their home at the peak of the market and have to sell during a correction are an exception. Also, I find REI easier to grasp than the stock market. The people who lose their shirt in RE are the ones who paid too much, leveraged too much or didn’t know or care enough to keep their properties profitable. The fact that the bank will loan money for a home and not to buy shares of a stock says something about the stability for sure. It’s hard to educate yourself on the market when there’s so much speculation that you don’t know who to listen to. Obviously there’s money to be made regardless of the stock market conditions. I just don’t know enough to jump in. I wish there was a guideline that I use to educate myself. Maybe I can ask Warren Buffett to lunch and pick his brain!! :biggrin
Each investment arena has its place. Stock people push stock and RE People push RE.
Keep balance in your portfolio.
Real estate is a business. YOU have more control over it because it is a business. Stocks are more of what people call investment. Because the variables that determine if you make money or not are completely in your hands in real estate it is seen as less risky than stocks. Because the variables that determine if you make money or not are completely in your hands in real estate it is seen as more risky than stocks.
Some people just want to park their money somewhere and cuss at the screen when fate happens to them. Those people need to be in stocks. Everybody doesn’t want to actively run a business, they would prefer to play fantasy football and watch Sanjaya on American Gladiator with their spare time. The kind of people that will stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon and are scared that they may uncontrollably jump to their death should probably be in stocks. The kind of person that is a player not a spectator needs to be in real estate. The kind of person that goes out there and gets the beautiful girl and makes her his trophy wife needs to be in real estate the kind of guy that marries the first girl that will let him needs to be in stocks.
Bluemoon - interesting perspective… I assume you married the trophy wife… :O)
Overall, I agree with your thinking… And this is probably the reason why I am so excited with real estate.
have a good one.
When I was in college I picked 5 girls that I was going to marry one of them. I basically dated them until one by one they were eliminated for one thing or another. The last one left standing I married. Kind of like the Flavor of Love except I look good and this was in the 1980s.
2of the girls were runner ups in Miss America, one looked like Susan Lucci, the one I married is just as pretty as the rest but her dad had a bunch of money and a boat in Houston but he lived in El Paso…so I got a wife and a boat.
hahaha… Bluemoon - the interesting thing is that you believe you picked your wife… you are so naive… we don’t pick our wives… They pick us… They are the ones making the decisions… We only play along.
I keep telling my wife that I chose her. But deep in my heart I know that I was luck that she picked me… I guess she wanted a chalenge in her life… She got me… :O)
Have a good evening!
Bluemoon,
There is little doubt that you know the real estate business and how to make money…Not that it’s very complicated,unlike the equity markets…But what amuses me is the long winded BS you feed this forum on a consistent basis…Do you actually believe the BS you spew?..Miss America and choosing wives,boats,PHD’s,building castles in the sky…Quite frankly I’m amazed that you remember your dreams so vividly after you wake up…
You should take up story telling to children…because anyone who believes a word out of your mouth has the brain capacity of a 6 year old…
When I was in college I co-oped at a chemical company. Looking around I realized that as soon as I graduated I would start to work and instantly be surrounded by 40 year old women. The only time that you will be around 5,000 eligible girls was in college. That is when I decided to narrow my list to these 5 girls. These girls are my age, they are smart and although I didn’t marry one immediately, I kept up with them and ran them through their paces. I guess I have always been a planner. I feel a duty to tell people what I know and it regularly causes people to be jealous. But you must remember that modesty is a tool of the mediocre.
I feel a duty to tell people what I know and it regularly causes people to be jealous. But you must remember that modesty is a tool of the mediocre.
Wow! :rolleyes
I have no need for modesty at all.
phlemboy,
I’d be very wary of shallow analysis like this:
Real estate is a business. YOU have more control over it because it is a business. Stocks are more of what people call investment. Because the variables that determine if you make money or not are completely in your hands in real estate it is seen as less risky than stocks. Because the variables that determine if you make money or not are completely in your hands in real estate it is seen as more risky than stocks.Some people just want to park their money somewhere and cuss at the screen when fate happens to them. Those people need to be in stocks. Everybody doesn’t want to actively run a business, they would prefer to play fantasy football and watch Sanjaya on American Gladiator with their spare time. The kind of people that will stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon and are scared that they may uncontrollably jump to their death should probably be in stocks. The kind of person that is a player not a spectator needs to be in real estate. The kind of person that goes out there and gets the beautiful girl and makes her his trophy wife needs to be in real estate the kind of guy that marries the first girl that will let him needs to be in stocks.
Here is a list of today’s top percentage gainers in the stock market:
http://www.tradingday.com/tbs.html?http://www2.barchart.com/padvance.asp?code=BTDY&what=all
By studying the root cause of why these particular stocks rose today…you’ll find that there are often actionable trades.
It’s as though a thousand people are trying to get in a door at the same time, you don’t have to be the first, just near the front, to then sell your ticket to the ones who come through behind you.
Hard work pays.
Shallow analysis just does a disservice to those that are trying to learn.
-Mike
Bluemoon06,
I enjoy your “lessons”. So just carry on.
Furnishedowner
allagash, I didn’t write that quote. Bluemoon did…
I didn't write that
I know…
Be wary of crackpot generalizations like this.
They’ll only set you back from investigating what could be an extremely lucrative path.
-Mike
Oh. I see what ypu mean. I think when it comes to RE, its easier for me to wrap my mind around the concepts because I own a home and have done repairs/improvements. I’ve seen how investing in RE can work and how it can’t. When it comes to investing in stocks, I would’nt know where to turn to get accurate information to propperly educate myself on the subject. I’m sure I could learn. The same way I learned home improvements.