Bubbles

I remember when the “Housing Bubble” began. Overnight it seemed like real estate developers up and decided to charge double or triple for the same home. Boom, just like that, kind of like how prices seem to rise and fall at the local grocery store. There is no logical progression of price increase. They just go up. I wondered then what in the world happened? Reality in America went right out the window. Estimating a home’s worth and paying a price that reasonably compensated everyone that need to be compensated was over. Price gouging began. A “Bubble.” The second American bubble was the “Internet Bubble.” It popped losing many investors money. It was just a matter of time before the same thing would happen again. It took a long time for it to happen, but it finally did. The myriad of “complexes” being designed and built are now sitting idle with no prospect of completion. The lesson? We have to be realistic in of the value of commodities in our socio-economic system. American can not survive with false, inflated values being pitched as truth. This trend continues today in my home town. It is obvious, because if you have lived here since your childhood you know what things are. There have been various attempts to glamorize property to make money. Is it ethical to smear sugar on a turd and sell it as pastry? That is what is happening. The ghetto is the ghetto. A rail yard is a rail yard. All the fancy names, flashy signs, and elaborate décor will not change the reality of what the consumer is buying. Ultimately they are going to be disappointed, because they REALITY of what they own will become known. I know first hand about this, because I have lived in over ten apartment complexes, each one worse than the previous. Rental agents work hard to make you think you are getting something you are not. A good rule of thumb is try to spend the night at a place in which you have interest. Camp out in your car across the street and watch and see who comes home at three in the morning. Who has a barking dog? Who has a garage band? Who kids are juvenile delinquents? My theory is a home is no longer equity, although the financial investment is still the soundest way to save money. When you buy a home you are buying NEIGHBORS, close neighbors. You can not control your neighbors. You can not control your city or the Public Works Commission. You can not control your school district. You have to cut the grass each week, keep the trees pruned, and kill your weeds. You have property taxes. You have home owners insurance. You have to paint. Keeping a home is a life long investment, and not everyone wants it. Some people prefer to focus on other things in life. The picket fence, the two car garage, the dog. Was that the American dream? That went out when soccer moms came in. A single income no longer can support a family of four. Sorry kids. Mom has to work, and so do you! Get off your lazy arse and get a job! The American Dream is dead. Real estate developers are not helping the American people. Houses would not be sitting if they were priced according to their real value. Real estate, not falsified estate. When the Housing Bubble began, so did the process of building much shoddier homes. I was surprised to see houses springing up nothing more than a thin sheet of OSB (oriented strand board) and a thin plastic sheet. That is a wall? What happened to ¾” plywood, sheet rock, and brick? Did hurricanes just suddenly disappear? Beach front property has always been inflated. Then the reality of a hurricane becomes known. What is the real value of the property, if it can suddenly be swept into the sea, inundated with water, or blown to bits by a tornado? These are the things that should determine what a house is worth. Practical things. Miami is good for one thing. They know how to build apartments out of cinder blocks and concrete. I wouldn’t buy a home built in the last fifteen years. I’m not sure I’ll ever buy a home, because I don’t want a yard. It pains me to see deception in real estate. An unknowing home buyer from out-of-town is susceptible to misguidance, misguidance to make the real estate agent money. Why must greed supercede the integrity of our social system? Can’t we leave the immortal pursuit of the dollar behind and live comfortably in reality?