Is It Time To Buy??

This home is listed for $399,000 right now... On Awbrey Butte!
I'm thinking about making an offer!

The past several years have been, well, poopy..... to put it in PG terms.  We've all been affected by the economic changes, at both the national and local levels.  However, I know a long list of people who still have a significant balance in their bank accounts, and I know there are hundreds of thousands of investors out there wondering "is it time to invest in Real Estate yet..... have we hit the bottom?"

Now, I am not going to pretend to have the magic ball here.  I would roll my eyes at even the most educated economist who claims to know what real estate's immediate future holds.  In Central Oregon, I think we will see a year or two more of foreclosures pouring onto the market, so we won't see these opportunities going anywhere in the near future.  However, I am fairly confident that prices have finally stabilized and buyers are starting to act on the incredible deals that are out there right now.

I am one of those people who has finally "got off the fence" and am considering purchasing a home for investment purposes.  Though short-term profits exist, my approach is more of a long-term one; I'm in the market for a personal residence that will fit the needs of my growing family as my wife and I settle into our marriage and begin to make babies!  I am beginning to discover that the absolute steals, the bank owned properties that have minimal risk in investment, are getting snatched up FAST!!

Now, here's my opinion on whether or not you should get in on real estate investment right now: YOU SHOULD HAVE THE LIQUIDITY TO PUT 50%+ DOWN ON THE PURCHASE PRICE!!!  I firmly believe this for several reasons:

1) If the economy rebounds in the next 5-10 years, and you want to capture the equity in your investment, you've likely paid 80-100% interest on the funds you have borrowed!  That's a difficult percentage to make up for in appreciation!!  The longer-term loan you apply for, the more front-loaded the interest expense will be.

2) After what we've just been through, why wouldn't you want to do this?  Yes, interest rates are low, but refer back to point #1.

3) .... and this is coming from a Realtor; you shouldn't be investing in real estate right now if you don't have the extra cash to do so!!

That's right, I think there's safer investments out there that will produce a solid return for you.  There is always the risk-return ratio to consider in any investment, but I definitely believe that the front-loaded mortgage interest is commonly misunderstood and needs to be STRONGLY considered when purchasing real estate.  If you are not comfortable putting a VERY significant down payment on your home, you should rent.... at least for now!

More to come!

Please let me know what you think by leaving COMMENTS!

Best,

Matt

Hi There!!

Friends, Family, Associates, Acquaintances, and Random Browsers,

Welcome to the first C.O.R.E. (Central Oregon Real Estate) Investor post!  For those not familiar with me, Matt Robinson, let me provide a bit of a background to establish some credibility:

I am a native Oregonian, and one of the rare few who decided to become a Husky!  I graduated from the University of Washington in 2005 with an honors degree in Finance.  I then made the move over to Bend, Oregon to work for my father's business partner in land development.  I purchased my first home at the age of 26, and right at the peak of real estate appreciation in Central Oregon.  After a year of "fun" development (a.k.a. making money), and a year of uncertainty, I witnessed one of the greatest real estate crashed in US History first-hand.  Initiated by the economy, and made worse by the tragic suicide of my boss, I suddenly found myself as the sole employee of a development company with over $100 million in debt (on about $15-10M worth of assets).  My father, a multi-family developer in the Greater Portland region, and I spent two long years working with various lenders to finally reach a resolution that allowed us to walk away with all of our personal assets and narrowly avoid bankruptcy.

It was a learning experience beyond comprehension (does that makes sense?), and out of incredibly unfortunate events has come wisdom and a desire to harness what I've learned to capture the boundless opportunities that exist out there, even within a tiny demographic like Central Oregon.

What I'd like to do with this blog is create weekly posts that demonstrate various thoughts on approaches to investing in Central Oregon Real Estate (CORE).

Thanks to those who follow, and I look forward to a prosperous future for us all!

Blessings,

Matt