So here you are...(okay here I am...)...Barely making it thru the economic downfall, yet throwing all caution to the wind and reinvesting in Real Estate.

Smart? Foolish?  Does it really matter, I think we all know that Real Estate used to be considered a "retirement fund".  It was part of the "I'll buy this now and in 20 years it will be worth alot more, than I'll sell it and be rich and retire happily."  Well my friends these are Baseball Card Dreams.

We all know that the market is incredibly unstable, we all know that most of our pocket books are incredibly unstable, yet the urge to protect our futures by investing in property continues to call us.  The American Dream of a White Picket Fence and an Apple Pie cooling in the window carries us thru the days when we can only afford a Snickers and a Diet Soda for Lunch.

How do we do this right?  How do we become educated in the Art of buying a home? "Art?" you say?  "Buying a house is an Art? This chicks' lost it, go to the next blog..." 

Don't turn on me yet!   

You have to watch the movements of the painters' (The sellers) and the Galleries (the dreaded Real Estate Agents, and Brokers. They really are not that bad, I'm even friends with some) then you have to choose your favorite one based on the qualities that make you the happiest, and negotiate with a stranger (that's where the "Art" part comes in to play, you can be really good or really bad at this...) on a price that won't make you throw up, and the seller won't laugh at. How do we become good at this Home Buying thing??  How do we make our investment really turn into our Apple Pie?  How do we protect ourselves against the future?

I don't know.  But in the last few years I have gained perspective on a couple of key ideas that I will indulge upon further down below.  

My husband and I lost everything that we had during the Economic Downfall that I will be calling "the Episode" from this point out.  "Pre-Episode" My husband ran a successful business with 5 employees (all of which had healthcare as a sidenote), and we owned 2 properties, a Lodge and Sporting Camps business and life was good. 

Then it happened.  The Episode.

All H-e-double-hockey-sticks(...it's a family show...) broke loose with the US Economy that caused an immediate Snowball affect that in turn caused a dramatic avalanche with millions of people being buried!  MILLIONS OF PEOPLE!!  No Beacons, No warning devices, no little pack shovels in our pockets just in case. Just a big wall that hit while we were busy trying to keep up with the Jones'.  How did it happen, here's my opinion, just what you wanted to read right, one more uneducated synopsis on "The Episode":

• Banks Stopped Lending because the entire American Population was completely tapped due to overspending and credit card debt. (which obviously run hand in hand)
• Because banks stopped lending, people stopped buying...ANYTHING
• People stopped buying, and the Construction trades stopped working
• The Construction Trades stopped working and employees lost their jobs

(do you hear the avalanche coming RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!)

• The Employees who lost their jobs stopped paying their mortgages and debt, as the Employers of these people try valiantly to hold on to their decade old companies.
• The Employees, and Employers file bankruptcy and lose everything they worked for decades to achieve....I didn't say it had a happy ending. 

LUCKILY, We learned from this.  WE did learn from this, I swear on my 18% interest Credit Card...  

Learn to watch the market trends.  If you're going to buy anything  DO YOUR RESEARCH!  START SMALL! and remember CASH IS KING!!  Don't allow yourself to let someone else do the work for you. You are not stupid.  If you want the best deal don't pay someone else to find it for you! Pay them when you've found it.  An Agent is indispensable when it comes to helping arrange the purchase and to execute a sale, and they earn every penny you're paying them. But Negotiate your agent fees so that every penny you're paying them is not every extra penny you have!!

Don't buy the first cute house that you see...(unless of course it's one of mine, then please feel free)...Educate yourselves.  Spend the hours you would have spent blogging, tweeting and FB'ing to teach your self how to recognize buying trends.  Right now in my area we're in a buyers market. There are not alot of people buying but there are some great deals out there, and they (the great deals) are selling! 

I'm not even joking, I've seen it happen, people are happy and they're spending money.  

The Housing market is starting to become an even ball field again.  Before, Buyers were trying to hit home runs on a field with no wall in sight. Prices were WAAYY out of wack, and a good deal was a $200,000.00 Studio Trailer, on a Postage Stamp lot with no running water, and the nearby puddle was considered Water Access. (Don't tell your local town office, they probably have a tax for that...)  The field has shrunk it's size now, and buyers should be able to clear third base now if not slide in to home!  Prices are coming down to where they should be.  You can actually buy a house that has running water, and sewer without breaking the bank. 

Don't believe me?  Watch the home sales in your area.  Right NOW is the perfect opportunity to get the house or property of your dreams.  People are walking away from Mortgages that would have left them in the avalanche struggling for air, and the banks are going to have to turn those properties over quickly to stay afloat.  Normal People (non-banks) are selling their homes to get cash flow back into their wallets, and trying to pay off the debt that got them into this position to begin with.  (Not only am I a member, but I'm also the president!) 

The American People and the Housing Market will slowly dig their way out and breathe again...we will need life support for a little while, but as long as we continue to risk our fragile pockets on a commodity that fluctuates more than Gas (Talk about extreme metaphors...is that even possible?) eventually it will come back to life. 

So be smart.  RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH, then do some RESEARCH! Pretend like you just partied for 5 days straight at college and the year long assignment you haven't started yet is due tomorrow. Watch your local market trends, and watch the trends of the nearby cities.  Are people moving out and into the country, or is everyone scrambling for a Condo on the park. Put the word out there that you're looking for some cheap property, talk to your friends, and neighbors, Network, and check every listing on every website.  There are actually US listings on Canadian and UK For Sale By Owner websites. Do Your Homework.  

And If you're selling your home, use the free marketing at your fingertips...THE INTERNET!!  You should seriously sew your computer a Super Cape, because it's more powerful than a speeding bullet (although we'd all like to shoot them sometimes) and, it has no affliction to kryptonite.  Everything you need to market your property (or your neighbors, depending on how nice they are...) is right at the tip of your fingers.  

So what did we learn?  Research everything, Negotiate your agent fees, Pay cash for as much as possible, Start small, even thou that 25 bedroom, 13 bathroom compound has a beautiful copper roof.  Network with anyone you run into anywhere, Use the free marketing and information at your fingertips, and Don't pay for overpriced property...unless of course, again, it's one of mine...