“… my wife has given me until July 15th to make the purchase regardless of whether the market is going up or down…”

I don’t respond well to ultimatums myself, but dude it looks like you’re finished… Even if RE starts sliding today, you won’t see the trough until 3-5 years from now.

As for living in a basement, don’t listen to all the wack jobs here who are telling you that it’s sinister. We’ll see who laughs last…

what I have learned over time is that being a business owner (LTD) and investing in selective real estate in certain areas have made me my money. Stocks have hurt me as well as so many other people and perhaps thats why these investors I know are now 55% in real estate 30% in gold, silver, oil, lithuim, iron (minerals), bank stocks and 15% cash.

Your thoughts?
————————————-

I’m more into the rare earths than the lithiums simply because there’s more supply shortages with rare earths and there’s a lot more uses. So many uses that it’s scary. Again, China owns 95% of the mines and continues to enforce laws on exporting these elements. This is one resource battle that will get interesting in the coming years. No matter where you turn, these elements are needed.

See, you’re good at picking real estate. You’re able to sift through the garbage and find gems. There’s a lot of people that are able to do that with stocks. The problem is: when casual investors are buying stocks in droves, even good stocks pullback. The same goes for real estate. Yes, the action will vary, but you can’t assume that the gem areas will escape unscathed. How many pockets or great areas in the U.S haven’t seen declines? Like many people if the average home is $500,000 in one state and $190,000 in another, I’d consider taking my family to the state with lower prices. It’s this attitude that skims prices off the top of the great areas.

I don’t know, I like to look at things in a macro perspective. Only time will tell how this all unfolds. Maybe you generate ridiculous amounts of cashflow in ways I know nothing about. Maybe in the worst case scenario, your holdings and lifestyle remain steady.

Entry timing is everything for me. There was a blogger on here weeks ago with a great story that talked about a bull market in beef where he was buying beef for $300 and was able to sell them for $10,000 a few years later. Is beef a great buy today? I’m not sure. I’m not going to buy some just because of the run-up it had. A portfolio with 55% real estate purchased in 1995 (in Toronto) is probably great, a portfolio with 55% real estate purchased in 2007 (in Toronto) is bad (in my opinion of course). 15% portfolio in Oil, uranium etc purchased in 2007 might look ugly now, the same purchased in march 2009 probably look great.

I’m very agressive but stay in cash a lot as well. This is why I find Garth’s blog very beneficial as he gives info on the best ways to get sound and steady returns with little effort and activity.

Anyhow, thanks, and best of luck to you.

Who’d have thought the number one design/decor trend of the beginning of the 21st century would be the same exact Victorian and/or worse yet, prairie farmhouse style of the beginning of the 20th?

Bleech.