About two months ago I wrote a post that included information from a monthly magazine, (sic), I read religiously. I like the magazine because it gives me a more clear picture on the credit industry given the article writers are industry insiders.
I received my January 2009 edition this past Monday and found some interesting perspectives about the coming year. I thought I would share them with you and let you ponder them to see if they jive with your thoughts.
Credit Industry Tones
Darren Waggoner is the editor and writes a column called editor’s letter. In this edition he quotes the results of an informal poll the magazine ran this past year. He says the tone of the response from the readers is summed up thusly:
The impact with Obama and a Democratic-led Congress will be horrific to our industry (credit and collections). Those fortunate to survive this recession will then be faced with more regulations. Consumer advocates will thrive and collection agencies will be riddled with compliance and regulations that will literally render us ineffective.
As I read those words, I had to ask myself why the big worry? Nobody with oversight authority has done anything so far to enforce the already in existence regulations and laws that govern credit and collections. I’m thinking 2009 won’t be horrific for the industry worker bees, it’ll be horrific for the average working stiff consumer.
Credit Card Charge-Offs And Housing Prices
Another article in this issue quotes Daniel Ludwig who is president and chief executive officer of debt broker National Loan Exchange, Inc. as saying newly charged-off credit card accounts are currently fetching about 7 cents on the dollar, on average. So I said to myself, if this is true of credit cards, I bet it is true of real estate as well. Not that real estate is selling for 7 cents on the dollar but it is selling at discounted prices and will continue to sell at discounted prices.
I took Mr. Ludwig’s remarks as reinforcement that great real estate deals are not only here but will be thrust upon us during 2009. You can say I’m stretching a point but in previous articles in the magazine the correlation to credit card debt and housing prices was laid out with clarity. I leave it to you to accept or reject this thought theology.
Finally, Darren Waggoner sums up John Q. Public’s sentiments by saying (s)he is bitter, bleak, scared, angry and on edge. Who can blame the public for being anyone of these, right? On the other hand, if you are a real estate investor, can you really afford to be any of these? I don’t think so. In fact, at least according to me, if you are happy, positive, open minded and have a plan, you should do very well in 2009.
Here’s wishing you and yours a very happy new year and huge success in your endeavors.
Related posts:
- Information and its Relevance: An Inside Look at the Current Housing Mess
- Apartment Building Investments – Understanding Debt Service Coverage Ratio
- Assessing Distressed Debt Opportunities
- Real Estate Investors: Should This Be Your Most Important Task of 2009?
- Fortune Magazine’s 10 Worst Real Estate Markets for 2009.
Article Author: Tom KoziolTom has written 88 articles for us.
Visit Tom's Website: http://www.moneyferret.com
Joshua Dorkin
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Tom – I agree with your wrap up completely! “if you are happy, positive, open minded and have a plan, you should do very well in 2009.” Now is the time to get that plan together so you can capitalize on the opportunity!
Buy too soon; sell too soon–and buy when blood is running in the streets –Baron Rothschild
Roberta Murphy’s last blog post: San Diego Home Builder Files for Bankruptcy
Great quote, Roberta!
Best to you in 09 as well, Johnny!
hope it turn out to be good. i truly hope 2009 turn out to be fruitful for all of us. thanks for the post.
Johnny Moon’s last blog post: Beats365 Hip Hop Beats
This is a great article which really gives a good look at the overall credit market.
Really like your positive attitude for the new year as well!
Thank you to everyone for the positive words. I can’t help but believe success is the order du jour for you.
I’m hopeful for 2009 with Barack Obama as President and a new beginning for America but at the same time I realize that things may get much worse before they get better. It’s a battle for me between optimism and pessimism.
Marvin Music’s last blog post: John Paul Jones Was Born On January 3, 1946
What new beginning is Obama going to bring to America? He’s planning on moving our troops to Afghanistan with no exit strategy, he’s been mum on the middle east situation, and his plans for rescuing the economy include putting us in an additional Trillion dollars in debt. Politics as usual.
Here are the words Obama uttered at the beginning of the election:
“We live in the greatest nation in the world. I hope you will join with me in changing it.”
I ask you, if you had the greatest investment in the world, would you change it? If you had the greatest marriage in the world, would you change it?
I could ask a host of similar questions but you get the point I presume. I also hope you are doing some research on the people who BHO is surrounding himself with in D.C. If not, you really should.
Here is the number one question nobody wants to answer. Is he really a citizen? If so, what is the problem with him producing his REAL birth certificate. I had to produce mine to get a commission in the US military. My son had to produce his to get a passport.
Funny how the state of Hawaii sealed his records. Funny how Harvard has sealed his records. Why is this one single human being so important that he gets extra special kid glove handling?
My guess – his handler is really a Jeff Dunham type of guy. Read what you will into that statement…