Interesting article

[Sasha]

Posting a link to an article in the Star.  Apparently now is time to start 'stocking up' on real estate, market almost bottomed to be followed by recovery.
http://www.thestar.com/Business/Investing/article/533467

Sasha

[Pfm1011]

That article refers to US real estate and the writer writes mob books, not financial . Might as well take britney spears advise on being a good mother

We are nowhere near the bottom, We have another 20 points to go minimum.  Next summer is when the reality will hit , the spring sales will suck , and the toronto real estate board will still spread their BS but people will start to see the real trouble next summer.

O% down  Mortgages end in April which will dry up the lower end of the market and  the real contraction will follow. BC is already saying another 20 to go and thats the realtors..which means 25 and 30 in reality.

"Sales of new cars and trucks plummeted 32% in October, dropping to levels last seen during the deep recession of 1975, as credit-tightening and recession fears kept buyers away. Ford, Chrysler, Nissan, Honda and Hyundai, which with GM and Toyota account for more than 90% of the new cars sold in the U.S., each reported sales declines of more than 25%."To see the future..Just watch the cars, First cars, then airlines

The billions that went away in the stocks last month are out of the car and housing market . Since their is no appreciation in the homes now the speculators and fools who buy on credit based on appreciation are out ,

Everyone is dancing over 400 points up at the TSE today, Big deal, you are 5000 off in the last 2 months. Gold is down 25 points on the year, Oil down 60% on the year, All the RIM heros are down 66% , Retail down ..Every form of index is down substantially .. There is absolutely no positive news in any markets

"Canada's Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy said last week that total bankruptcies in September jumped 28.4 percent from the same month a year earlier. Individual bankruptcies were up nearly 30 percent nationwide, but businesses also posted a 9 percent increase.

Economists at Bank of Montreal said this year-over-year surge in consumer bankruptcies marks the fastest rise since the mid 1990s"

And thats before the Sh*t hit the fan in October

As the US gets nastier , The car makers pull canadian jobs, Every job lost at GM is 4 to 5 others down the line

Government is now talking essentially Hoover dam projects for the economy...

To invest in standard real estate now is a suckers bet, let the chips fall, let the damage be done and then go shopping. Sit this out till it settles. Lose 20% on a house and you are years to recover, Let someone else lose it

[Sasha]

Okay, you're probably right, housing market down 14% according Globe article today and TSX down again.  Downward trend started last December, went up after the new year for a while and down again, steadily in the past few months.  We were forewarned when the U.S went into recession and hoped we wouldn't 'catch their cold'.  We got it.

What struck me about the article is the 'club' of investors that are 'cleaning up'.  You guys have a similar sort of 'club' with your get togethers and exchanging of ideas and advice.

How does a guy that piloted L1011's know so much about the economy, real estate and the stock market?

P.S.  Keep giving advice, most of it useful.

Sasha

[Frank]

How does a guy that piloted L1011's know so much about the economy, real estate and the stock market?
Sasha

Actually, I am good friends with some AC pilots, and they are very good at giving 'high level' advice.  I guess when you travel the world, make good money, and have time to research markets...you have no choice but to get good at it.   

[Pfm1011]

Actually I know nothing.......Just like to make long winded monologues and go on for hours on end about topics I know absolutely nothing about..

Also if these guys were " cleaning up" they sure as hell wouldn't be telling everyone.. It doesn't say they are cleaning up, they just are buying US real estate which has been a good buy ( look six months back on this site as we discuss buying land in Florida IE Steve .  He made 20% in the last 3 months just with the dollar correction back down to 84 as he bought around the 102 )

This is an investment group..Look at the last year of posts..Frank has given a ton of info that you couldn't buy at any price , Steve ET AL was telling us to buy in Florida last spring and if we followed the advice we would be up a minimum of 20 points just due to exchange rates,  Last spring I said 84 cent dollar and 80 oil by late fall .  We have been taliking about the fall real estate slide since last winter and we had it nailed to within weeks.  We have teams of people running around telling us if land sucks.  We have helped  members dodge  toxic site bullets .  After deals go down we discuss them and pickup tons of info on why we overpaid or why we missed a good deal

The difference here is that there is no scammers trying to get you to invest in a crap stock that they have hoping their BS will drive the price up so they can dump it, No one is trying to get you to join Amway or whatever they call themselves now . No wigs ( women investment groups) emerald scams, art scams etc .  Additionally we are all up front that we are at war with each other and don't have to put up with the BS from scamming couples spewing get rich quick schemes just before they go bankrupt. . We are faceless and there is literally no pressure or egos to stroke ( other then mine of course) . We can take or ignore advice at will.  All of us have spewed opinions, and all of us have been proven right..or wrong on various occasions and when we are wrong , there is no whispering..we are corrected immediately..

If you look at this site, how many people have made money in the last year..I'm betting everyone here who won a bid is up ( except for the insane overpayers who did not heed advice on here) .and if you didnt win , you didnt lose ....versus anyone in stocks who is down minimum 35 % if they are lucky , If they have Teck, Rim , Nortel they are down 70 to 80%. At least with stocks you are guaranteed to lose you shirt every 7 years wiping you out completely.

I have picked up more valuable knowledge and opinions  (or had my opinions fixed) on here then anywhere I have seen, read or been spewed by "experts".

The biggest problem we have on here is not one of you greedy people has told me where the property with the hidden gold mine is.

[26.2]

If the article is based on US properties I agree.
I have been looking at Florida prices since Speeds post and some of the prices are crazy low.  Not just foreclosures, regular mls properties. One property that sold for well over 200 a couple of years ago resold twice last year once for 80  now listed for 120.  I feel bad for any retiree who needs to divest to move into a nursing home.    I am sure there are some real estate agents out there cleaning up big time. Many of the properties being sold are owned by realators. The timing is bad for some but good for others including the intrepid taxsale investor.  When tax sales look bad with those crazy Hamilton  high rollers we have Florida.  If we could only get the dollar to co-operate.
If we see a swing up here like Florida hold on to your heads.
I agree with Pfm 's longer view in regards to the economy. I believe most of us tend to be to impatient with economy and think either  apocalepticly or short term [me included, I am more hopeful for November and December, usually good - October usually bad for the TSX].
The market dumps on average every ten years.  But safe to count seven if you don't want to go through this again.