Do it now
2011 is the year for remodeling & acquisition.
That doesn’t mean it’s the year for “everyone” with a piece of real estate, but for income property owners and single homeowners (where your house or property is your largest and most tangible asset in a reeling economy), read on…
Under The Influence: The combination of a stifled real estate market (on account of the economy), rising interest rates (on account of the federal debt), the weakening dollar (on account of inflation), and the rental market growing (on account of foreclosures), is creating an environment which one could argue ”has never been a better time to invest in remodeling for your home”.
Frankly, it’s that or gold. This is also a good year for “investment properties”.
No matter what the economy does (or how the dollar performs), there are many good reasons to mantain and improve your primary residence. Maintenance and Remodeling both have a practical impact on your lifestyle. Clicking around this site, you’ll quickly see that we’re big fans of having control over your lifestyle.
If the economy does do what many economists are predicting, you’ll be glad that your home is upgraded and ready to weather the next 5-10 years (when everything is uncertain, you’ll have peace of mind that your home is intact and a safe harbor from the external world – you have control over the level of stress in your life).
You can read the articles on this site about “gold” and investing in “real estate in 2011″, but the short version is:
$25k in a mortgage remains the “same monthly liability”, regardless of what the dollar does, regardless of what the real estate market does…and regardless of what gold does. Then there’s the potential upside:
Dollar goes down: You will be paying your debt with a weaker dollar (if the dollar goes down by 10% that means you’re paying back your loan at 90cents on the dollar – does that make sense?).
Real Estate Market (recovers eventually): You sell your remodeled home with a better return on investment (at then market rates). Ideally, that happens after the period of inflation has run its course (or even the predicted hyper-inflation).
Hyper Inflation: If consumer prices rise to an extreme – to the extent that you and everyone else can’t afford gas & groceries – seriously, if you have to consider bankruptcy to keep you house, wouldn’t rather have a decent house (instead of one that still needs the work you put off until then).
Retirement: You can invest in gold (letting it sit and do nothing) and cash out later or you can invest in your home (enjoy it now) and still cash out later.
2011 is a great year to invest in your primary real estate (home or otherwise – and an even better year to acquire real estate). Distressed properties are making investor acquisitions more attractive…and the growing rental market is a good excuse to own a rental property.
How many new local bank and credit union buildings have you seen under construction this year? Why do you think BANKS are building real estate when they can buy gold? Would you borrow money to invest in the stock market or buy gold?
We aren’t financial advisors – we’re biased – construction and real estate development are our business (ask around and determine if you agree with us or not).