Buying & Selling: A Speculator's Story

This is something of a departure from my usual fare, but it's a tale I thought you fine folks out there would appreciate:

Last week I was attending a swanky business mixer in Bethesda when I met a woman who claimed to be "in real estate." Now, to put it kindly, this woman was not what I'd call terribly professional. She was dressed like she worked at a retail chain, had a mouth to match, and her business cards were large square pieces of orange paper, with no e-mail address, phone number, or physical home address.

What was on them, you ask? Just a huge admonishment to attend her seminar in Silver Spring that Saturday to learn how to get rich in the home buying market. According to this woman, she owned four houses in Baltimore, and was looking at buying two more--apparently from foreclosed or distressed properties, but I wasn't clear on that part.

I listened to her talk to a few people about real estate in the D.C. area, and it just blew me away how they continued to spout all of the inanities that brought about the bubble and the slump--"Credit's so loose now that anyone can buy! Homes are more affordable than ever!" So on and so forth.

What disturbed me the most about the woman and her spiel was that it was the actions of flippers and speculators that most directly contributed to the housing bubble and the current downward spiral we're on. People throwing around wads of cash, bidding insane amounts of money on homes not worth a fraction of the price, and pushing for more, more, more. It was just ignorance combined with greed and selfishness, and apparently there are still people who don't realize how that sort of business makes it tougher for real homeowners.

It's a good reminder that there will be "get rich quick" types in every sort of boom--tech, gold, real estate, you name it--and that to avoid being suckered by hucksters requires education, foresight, awareness, and most of all, patience.

Had I the presence of mind, I'd have attended her seminar and taken notes. :) I'm sure I wouldn't have learned anything, but it would have made a hell of an entry transcribed for this little blog here. ;)

Posted at February 26, 2007 05:54 PM

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This is something of a departure from my usual fare, but it's a tale I thought you fine folks out there would appreciate: Last week I was attending a swanky business mixer in Bethesda when I met a woman who claimed to be "in real estate." Now, to put it kindly, this woman was not what I'd call terribly professional. She was dressed like she worked at a retail chain, had a mouth to match, and her business cards were large square pieces of orange paper, with no e-mail address, phone number, or physical home address. What was on them, you ask? Just a huge admonishment to attend her seminar in Silver Spring that Saturday to learn how to get rich in the home buying market. According to this woman, she owned four houses in Baltimore, and was looking at buying two more--apparently from foreclosed or distressed properties, but I wasn't clear on that part. I listened to her talk to a few people about real estate in the D.C. area, and it just blew me away how they continued to spout all of the inanities that brought about the bubble and the slump--"Credit's so loose now that anyone can buy! Homes are more affordable than ever!" So on and so forth. What disturbed me the most about the woman and her spiel was that it was the actions of flippers and speculators that most directly contributed to the housing bubble and the current downward spiral we're on. People throwing around wads of cash, bidding insane amounts of money on homes not worth a fraction of the price, and pushing for more, more, more. It was just ignorance combined with greed and selfishness, and apparently there are still people who don't realize how that sort of business makes it tougher for real homeowners. It's a good reminder that there will be "get rich quick" types in every sort of boom--tech, gold, real estate, you name it--and that to avoid being suckered by hucksters requires education, foresight, awareness, and most of all, patience. Had I the presence of mind, I'd have attended her seminar and taken notes. :) I'm sure I wouldn't have learned anything, but it would have made a hell of an entry transcribed for this little blog here. ;)