Investment Physics Are As Inevitable As Gravity — Defy Both At Your Own Risk
Posted @ 11:00 pm - Filed under Real Estate Investing, Retirement Income, Investment Lessons, Investment Physics, BawldGuy Axiom, RE Investment Practice
Part of my job as a real estate investment broker is to recommend investors do — nothing. Whether that’s the case or not, the common denominator found in all my advice to clients, or those merely seeking a little quick guidance, is to ferret out what fits the factual circumstances and the investor. It’s not always cut and dry, but there’s almost always a path combining common sense with the comfort zone of the investor. Hint: It’s not the path clearly blocked.
By far the most difficult part of what I do involves both sides of the same coin. One side is advise given, which for one reason or another is not taken. I never take it personally. They asked, I offered my professional opinion along with a Purposeful course of action, then left it up to them. The other side of that coin is when they’ve chosen either to ignore my advice and/or picked an entirely different path to travel altogether. The only time that bothers me is when it backfires on them. It’s like when we challenge gravity — paid for with a trip to the emergency room, some stitches, and a bill — and that’s when we’re relatively lucky.
Whether it’s clients who’ve decided they can go it on their own, or those who never really bought into the principle of generously funded cash reserves, unintended negative consequences still hurt. I take it personally when those who don’t follow prudent principles lose hard earned money.
Clients have been financially injured by insisting the use of their best friend as their investment property lender isn’t the horrible idea I suggested. Losing over $25,000 due to fraudulent lending sadly proved me a seer. That particular one happened a couple years ago, yet I still become furious when it’s brought up. The topper to that one? It really was one of their best friends — or used to be. So besides the huge financial loss, they lost a long time and pretty close friend.
That’s what we call a bad day.
The last few weeks have brought in more than the usual number of real estate investors from around the country, asking if I’d listen to their stories a few minutes. That’s like asking a five year old if they’d like some ice cream. Most of these conversations end with me telling them to stop investing. Sometimes doing absolutely nothing for awhile is the best course of action. (inaction?) If I can’t help, at least I can avoid making things worse.
As I wrote earlier this month, doing very well investing in real estate almost always relies on following foundational principles which have been proven effective for centuries. Your properties can be mundane. Your locations average or better, but not excitingly cool. But the perfect property sitting in an A+ location, will turn to dust when these principles are violated with a cavalier attitude. See, it doesn’t matter if you jump on the roof in ripped up Levi’s or a designer tuxedo — yer still gonna be hurtin’ when the fall concludes.
The physics of investing don’t care who you are, how much you’re worth (or not), or if you believe in them. They just work every time they’re tried. Apply them prudently for a very long time, and your retirement income will demonstrate in an empirically financial way how wise you’ve been.
BawldGuy Axiom: Defying the laws of investment physics will have the same sad ending as those who’ve challenged gravity once too often. The consequences are inevitable — sometimes fatal.
It’d make my year if what you take away from today’s missive is how investment physics are crucial to your retirement income in both quantity and quality. I call them investment physics ‘cuz they work like the physics we learned in school. The respect and yes, sometimes fear of gravity is what keeps us from hurting ourselves. That respect will often help us avoid the fall headed our way. There are times when that simply means holding on ’till help arrives.
Every time you invest, think of gravity, and ask yourself how many times in your life it’s failed your expectations? Then remember investment physics will be just as reliable — in fact, inevitable.
Let’s find out what’s possible and talk about your future, OK? Moving folks to a superior retirement is what keeps me high, and I need my daily fix — sometimes more than one. I’m fully trained and very experienced in the correct usage of investment physics as applied to real estate investing.
Contact Me — I’m Jonesin’ over here for Heaven’s sake.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 11:00 pm and is filed under Real Estate Investing, Retirement Income, Investment Lessons, Investment Physics, BawldGuy Axiom, RE Investment Practice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
