Recession is going to end this year?  I personally don’t think so.  Unless he is strictly talking economic measurements and indicators, which he probably is, we all know that the real estate market is getting worse and many people have lost their savings, investments in real estate opportunities.

Just take a look at this condo conversion community at the beaches in Jacksonville, FL.  This is just an example of many communities here in Florida that went through the conversion craze over the past 6 years.

http://jacksonville.com/business/2009-03-11/story/condo_developers_working_through_fractured_times

i just sold my apartment building here in jacksonville, fl.  This was originally to be a long term hold asset, but the declining markets obviously hurt everyone.

This particular buyer got a great deal!

PARK VIEW PLACE APTS. IN JACKSONVILLE SELLS $2.9M <

http://www.costar.com/News/Article.aspx?id=120A898402E5D226E629824803447435>

Here’s a great example of networking at its best:  http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2009/03/09/story4.html

We all know it’s tough in the real estate market.  We are generating multiple proposals on a regular basis for lenders and their special assets divisions.  For those of you in the commercial or even residential market and are finding it difficult to survive in today’s market, i would recommend you searching your local networking groups, such as this, to try and expanding your sphere of influence.

well, we have just finished our kickoff meeting for 2009 - much of what we already know has been reinforced. 2009 will not be a kind one to commercial real estate - we should see the effects of loans made through the CMBS markets the past 5-7 years hit harder than it has the past year.

the smart buyers, the ones that have been sitting on the sidelines the past 4-5 years, should be in a fairly strong cash position to take advantage of distressed deals flowing through the pipeline.

more later…

ok now this boggles the mind. almost every commercial real estate investor that i am talking to is sitting on the sidelines waiting for the economy to pick up…

Whatever happened to buying low and selling high? i dont know about the rest of the country, but i think i have a pretty good pulse on the economy (who doesnt these days, just pick up the newspaper or watch the news) and i would have to say the economy is somewhere at the bottom of the cycle. is it at the complete bottom? probably not, as evidenced by the Orlando Business Journal’s perspective on the Florida economy: http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2009/01/05/daily15.html?ana=e_du_pub

It’s tough to time the market, everyone knows that. but the conventional wisdom about real estate investments (ok forget the past 4 years) is that there is a tremendous fudge factor for those that dont want to try to time their purchases. Buy real estate and it invariably increases in valuation, even if you know very little about real estate investing.

soooo, interested in buying low? if so, call me!

Wow, I can’t believe it’s a new year already. just when i thought a nice quiet 2 week holiday away from the office would get me focused on new business, I go through our kickoff meetings this morning that i didn’t get as much done as I would have liked.

You know the one thing that envy the most about kids? it’s the fact that they can enjoy life without many of the stresses that we as adults have to deal with.

but over the past several years, a proud parent of 2 very smart and cute twin boys, i have come to realize that kids have their own stress to deal with. whether it’s having friends that like you, having cool clothes to wear, the right haircut, fitting in, etc. it’s all pretty rough on the little guys.

why do i bring this up?

I am sitting here reviewing my agenda for an important meeting this afternoon and the load of juggling my job, which is 100% commission based, managing my team of people, and launching a real estate investment fund all of a sudden hits me. stressed? definitely. but i think about putting my sons to bed and one of them asks me “daddy why do you chew your teeth when you sleep?” i assume that he now realized that i am one of those people that grinds their teeth, so i answer “it’s because i am stressed”. So my son tells me not to worry so much because he loves me…

So am i stressed? absolutely, but i also know that my son loves me and that there are more important things in life, and that’s what i think about when i get stressed - a nice 4 letter word: love.