How to Invest Wisely and Diversify: 3 Current Economic Issues. Gold, World Currency Reserves, and World Housing Bubbles.
I’ve done my best to remain diversified. I don’t mean simply having 10% in a global mutual fund, 20% in a small-cap fund, 40% in a blue chip fund, and 30% in bonds. You can rearrange the numbers a bit but there is this intense belief bordering on religion that by having your money in different mutual funds you are really diversified. If this economic crisis is showing you anything, it is that across the board stocks can fall and fall hard.
Shadow Housing Inventory: Getting an Actual Housing Picture of California Foreclosures and REO Numbers.
I’ve been seeing many articles asserting that currently the housing numbers for states like California are not reflecting the actual housing inventory on the market. Many of the articles argue that lenders through the process of taking back properties via auction are holding off on putting properties onto the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). As I discussed in an article highlighting the tools on the market, trying to get a general ballpark figure for the California market is rather simple and I think relying simply on one data source for all your information can be problematic.
Housing: Google Maps, Redfin, and Zillow: How Information Fueled the Housing Bubble and is changing the Real Estate Industry
Information is true power. The idea that only certain experts can explain economic phenomena is falling by the wayside. What has occurred over the past few years is a rapid shift in how people digest their information. In the housing sector, information is absolutely vital. Not only is information important but having accurate information. You need to remember how homes sold in the “old” days to have a perspective of why things got so out of hand so quickly. Information was fuel for the housing bubble but on the flipside, will actually make the correction much slower.
Foreclosure Decision Tree Analysis: Thought Process of Many in Foreclosure.
One of the most stressful events in life has to be losing a home. Not losing a home through a disaster but losing it through a foreclosure. The foreclosure process is a long drawn out drama that can put undue stress on a family’s financial bottom line. Home to most people means a place over your head and a place to set your roots. Only until this past decade did as a nation, did we collectively get caught up in transforming a home into a speculative commodity. Sure, we’ve had previous real estate bubbles in Florida, Boston, Los Angeles, or even Tokyo but nothing on a global scale like the one we are currently living in.