by John McClellan on August 31, 2010
Dead Cat Story
Close your eyes. Relax. Think back to a simpler time—a time before cell phones, before email, before PDAs and internet search engines. Think back to a time when real estate agents had
glamour-shot photographs on their business cards and
online was not around.
Now, ask yourself these questions: How did real estate agents look up properties in the MLS? How did they know a house was for sale? How did they know which house was for sale or a bank foreclosure? How did they know if the house had 3 or 4 bedrooms? The answer to all these questions could be found in an invaluable source real estate agents called “the book.” Yes, the Austin MLS published a book once each month that contained all the listings. So, if real estate agents wanted a virtual tour, they had to drive to the property to take an actual, visual tour themselves, take notes with pen and paper, and then run to the nearest payphone to call their clients to let them know they had found a house for them to preview. Talk about putting some miles on your car!
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by John McClellan on August 31, 2010
Your grandfather always told you, “Location, location, location.” I am here to tell you that it is all about timing in specific locations. Investors have always given a lot of weight to the location of real estate, and this strategy has worked well in the past. However, to maximize rate of return investors in today’s highly competitive market need to understand that, even though location is a very important part of the puzzle, timing in specific locations is even more important.
I like to compare real estate to a roller coaster. “How so?” you ask. Let’s take the example of the California market over the last seven years. If you listened very carefully seven years ago, you could hear the tic – tic – tic of the roller coaster of real estate as the appreciation rates climbed and demand grew. As long as that soothing tic – tic – tic sound was heard, the market continued to grow at a fantastic rate. About a year and a half ago that sound stopped. [click to continue…]
