| Success Stories from The Great Depression by Gregory Rand |
The most common feedback I get on this blog is from people who are annoyed that I am daring to be optimistic. I don't totally buy into the doom and gloom, and believe much of the pessimism out there is drummed up by the media.
Yes, people are losing homes and jobs, but IPads are also flying off the shelves. Just saying, things aren't all bad.
The relentless analogies to the Great Depression have caused me to learn about it for myself. Yes, I am reading everything I can find, but I am also talking to people who lived it. That has been the most interesting experience of all.
I interviewed one such Depression Survivor this week on the radio. Take a listen:
Setup to the interview: The Great Depression
The Interview with Vincent Pribish |
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| Calling the Recovery by Gregory Rand |
| These are very interesting times for the real estate market. As I’m sure you are aware, the housing market is cyclical. That cycle is very predictable if you view it long term, and watch certain key indicators. We are at the inflection point in the cycle where the lines are intersecting, which means the cycle is resetting.
This chart illustrates the cycle in all it's splendor. See how home prices (the green line) trends up duri ...Read More |
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| Rand on Real Estate on 77 WABC by Gregory Rand |
| I am pleased to announce that I have been engaged by 77 WABC radio (the most listened to talk station in the nation) to do a show called Rand on Real Estate starting this Saturday. It will air at 5am, so if you are not a early bird you can catch it on the web.The mission for Rand on Real Estate is to provide advice to independent real estate investors, answer questions, and refute the misinformation spread every day by the media.This show wi ...Read More |
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| Commercial Real Estate Bust? Not For Everyone! by Gregory Rand |
| Entrepreneur.com has seen fit to give me a column on real estate investing for the small business owner. This month's installment focuses on the commercial "bubble", which is widely publicized and even more widely misunderstood (particularly by the people publicizing it)Here is the link. I hope you enjoy it. ...Read More |
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| Housing Market Grew in January, Economy Grew 5.9% in the 4th Quarter by Gregory Rand |
| A bit of very good economic news came out this week. The 4th Quarter GDP numbers were revised to a 5.9% increase and January home sales were up 11.5%. Unfortunately, most of the media chose to run with the story that home sales were down compared to December. I want to remind everyone that year-over-year analysis is the standard. Month-to-months is a new approach that is not indicative of the market's progress. We are definitely in ...Read More |
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| Home Sales Up 15% in December, National Association of Realtors Reports They Plummeted. by Gregory Rand |
| You have to love the National Association of Realtors. The housing market is experiencing a remarkable recovery during turbulent times, and they spin the numbers to create bad news.Home Sales rose 15% in December compared to last December, which is the standard by which professionals track the housing market. Any comparison of December to November is useless because home sales ALWAYS go down in December. People avoid closing and moving duri ...Read More |
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| Hooray for Hollywood on the Hudson by Gregory Rand |
| Congratulations to Paul Ader, Executive Director of Rand Commercial Services for being featured on the cover of the Westchester Business Journal for his exceptional work bringing a film studio to life in Yonkers.See the article here.There is no better example of what is possible when you combine creative vision, skill and pinpoint execution. Paul has been at the center of many major feats of economic development in our region, including the ...Read More |
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| Media is Supporting a Housing Recovery - Happy New Year! by Gregory Rand |
| In our last few manager meetings I tried to make the case that the first half of 2010 was going to be a very strong market, in part because of a positive change in consumer confidence.
- 4th quarter home sales were going to be so far ahead of 2008 that the media would cover it as “The greatest increase in home sales in history.”
- Retail sales, which were predicted to be about flat, would be “higher than expected”.
- &nb ...Read More |
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| Housing Recovery is due to the Free Market, not Government Intervention by Gregory Rand |
| It was pleasing to see the national media jump all over the fantastic November Home Sales report by the National Association of Realtors. We've been saying here that the 4th quarter home sales were going to break records, and the reports are now coming in. Unfortunately, the analysis was out of touch again with the realities on the ground.NAR and the Federal Government want us all to believe that their tax credit is the main reason the market is ...Read More |
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| Why is the Government's Loan Modification Program Failing? by Gregory Rand |
| Unfortunately, this program was doomed from the beginning because those homeowners who needed assistance became political pawns. Public officials who wanted to get their faces on the front page were racing to get out front and proclaim they were the hero to the people. This arlticle from the New York Times shows the frenzy of politicians trying to score points with this bailout.In the end, they publicized a bailout program only for homeowner ...Read More |
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