The Search for Post Bubble Income

OK, let’s get this out of the way right now:

My first blog-related experience was HousingPanic.com where my questions about the fall 2006 housing market were finally answered in a way that made sense to me. We moved to Las Vegas in the summer of 2006 and something negatively impressed me immediately: “There were TOO MANY BIG HOUSES!!!” Even my landlord wanted to sell me his half-million dollar house that I rented for $1650 per month. (He admittedly subsidized the rent for us with his intention to flip the property within one year.) He said no matter my income, he could get me approved with only $5K out of pocket expenses.

I did not drink the Kool-Aid on this deal. Our income of $65K was NOT enough to qualify for a traditional, affordable mortgage on a house selling for $525K. After all, my wife & I were licensed to sell real estate for a while back east in a traditional mortgage environment – you know the kind where the fundamentals made sense, low income to debt ratios, PITI was affordable on you CURRENT un-inflated income, and so on. But this mortgage environment was unreal. I guess we all know what’s happened since then. No way there are enough people making the incomes needed to support the small Mini-Mansions $250-375K, or the mid-sized $400-650K market. Those housing developments over this 2006 price range are even worse off. Just wait – in my opinion.

Well my suspicions were warranted. The economy is in panic mode all around us.

Is this by coincidence? Or by plan? Or a combination of both? There are theories to support each point of view, and only time and historical hindsight will display accurate results.

Of concern to me and my family, friends, neighbors, associates and - hopefully some of you folks who took the time to visit this site - is the big question:

How do I do more than just SURVIVE this environment, but ultimately THRIVE on the current and forthcoming predicament?

These are the questions that beg for answers on this site. This is my first effort in the blogging world. Reading for 1.5 years has filled me educationally and emotionally. It’s time to act. Basic downscaling has already been enacted. Seeking to eliminate unnecessary debt is a given. Frugality has becoming a daily partner in my actions and a constant consideration for expenditures.

Now it’s time to make some BUCKS from this action.

Don’t get me wrong. Not off the backs of, or by taking advantage of others – no, not that way – rather, just by being a wise steward of that which has already been entrusted me for my safekeeping. Sure I’ve made a ton of mistakes financially up till now. But there’s still time to succeed. We’re still in the game.

So let the forum begin. All ideas are welcome and will be addressed.

The DA