Investing During Economic Apocalypse

These are historic times but not for the reason you think. The wailing and gnashing of teeth from the national media and noodle spine non-leadership from our politicians might tempt us to give in and assume we’ve already seen Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the Fourth is just over the hill.

Not so fast. Keep your eye on the prize and your dollar on the following.

The Best Investment
There might never be a better time to buy real estate in your life than right now. Ponder that for a moment.

Times are scary, there’s no doubt. Times are always scary when you lift your head out of the idiot box and look around, but if we can stop hyper-ventilating and analyze the historical picture one thing becomes crystal clear – bad times always end. Why not take advantage of that fact?

J. Paul Getty famously said, “Buy when everybody’s selling; sell when everybody’s buying.” This is just another way to say buy low and sell high. Everybody knows it. Few actually do it. Fear stands in the way like Darth Vader, ready to remove your head with a flick of the wrist.

Buy low, the man said. By all definitions, we are living in low. You should give serious thought to buying right now. Once this train leaves the station it likely won’t be back again soon, maybe not in our lifetime. But how do you know when a market has truly turned and when it’s just a dead cat bounce?

At Holistic Survival, it’s our business to provide the right kind of information – the kind to help you survive the coming economic apocalypse. Put simply, to help you stop struggling with scam-filled world of stocks and make the decision to begin the wealth building phase of your life immediately with income property investments.

Supply and Demand
The law of supply and demand is standing stage left, waiting to make its presence felt. If you recall, last time we talked about the simple but crucial idea of buy low and sell high when it comes to property investing. What happens if you wait too long to get your piece of the action? Supply and demand tells us that the inventory of available properties will, at some point, dry up like an Arizona creek bed. The first wave will be the opportunists who realize real estate is at bargain basement prices. They’ll leap in to snatch up as much as their pre-determined risk tolerance allows.

This heavy buying will leave fewer properties on the market. Prices for remaining inventory will rise rapidly as the latecomers resort to panic buying at the thought of missing out on the deal of a lifetime. You do not want to be left picking over the remainder bin when it comes to property investments.

The second aspect of this scenario is that the prices have just shot up over a short period of time. This rapid property appreciation is money you left on the table. Our affiliate, JasonHartman.com can directly recommend investment properties in any of the 37 local markets around the country they specialize in, no matter where you live.

This is no shot in the dark. Hartman has more than 20 years of real estate experience that allows him to teach you to hone in on great property deals with the precision of a laser. This is not about gambling or taking chances. This is about making the decision to change your life for the better right now.

Foreclosure Equals Investment Opportunity
Recall the old saying about how bad things don’t last? The flip side of that is that good things don’t either. There’s nothing amusing about a family being forced out of their house but to avoid the foreclosure market through some sense of chivalry isn’t going to help you and your family reach your financial dreams. Every day brings you one closer to retirement and most of us have considered (at least occasionally) how our golden years will be spent – on our own terms or greeting people at Wal-Mart to make ends meet?

The stock market chaos right now should give you an upset stomach if that’s what you’re banking on.

Alternately, the hot foreclosure market is begging you to jump on board but who knows how long it will last? Lick your finger and stick it in the wind and your guess will be as good as ours. As we speak, bills are grinding their way through Congress to let off the hook people who bit off more than they could chew for a house payment.

Loan modifications they’re called and it could be the end of the lucrative foreclosure market. Once the government decides to interfere with valid loans it’s a good bet that the sort of deals you could take advantage of today will not be around indefinitely. Will it last weeks? Months?

Investing in a foreclosure is not always a good deal due to massive repairs that can eat away the profit. Traditionally, Holistic Survival has avoided recommending foreclosures for that very reason. But lately we’ve noticed a trend toward foreclosures that are still in very good shape and need only minor repairs such as carpet or paint. You might be surprised how little money it takes to get into an investment property deal like this.

What Inflation and Deflation Means to You
The United States economy exists in a perpetual balancing act between hot and cold, called inflation and deflation…or does it? That’s what we’ve been led to believe by simplistic public school education but maybe it can be both at the same time. Consider this – it’s common knowledge that printing money causes inflation. This has been true ever since we rudely severed the relationship between the dollar and gold. But what about falling prices of certain consumer goods like computers, homes, cars, and clothes?

The government prints more money AND prices are falling? Sounds like inflation AND deflation to me. This is a very good thing for you as an income property investor. Contrary to what many believe, debt is the best inflation shield for a normal middle class person, specifically high-quality, long-term, investment-grade, fixed-rate debt tied to a quality piece of rental property.

When you borrow, you get to pay the debt back in eternally cheaper dollars because the dollars you repay decline in value over time. This concept is referred to as the time value of money and it can make you wealthy as it protects that wealth. With your mind firmly wrapped around the long term benefit of inflation and debt, let’s think about deflation. Say you are in the market to buy your first income property. Lucky you. Home prices have been dropping. You’re buying a devalued asset and then turning around and financing it with a mortgage that is actually an asset.

This preceding discussion, friends, is exactly where your head should be as we begin a new year filled with global economic turmoil and chaos. The only thing for sure is that no one knows for sure what’s going to happen. Good luck out there!

The Holistic Survival Team

 

 

 

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