Just wondering... What was REI like in the 1980s when mortgage interest rates used to be well over 10%?

I lived in Houston and the early 80s were crazy with new subdivisions popping up overnight. Then came the oil crash and IIRC the average house in Houston lost about 1/2 its value between 84-86. By 87 both the VA and the Resolution Trust Corporation had 2 page ads every Friday and Saturday with all of their properties for sale. In 1988 we submitted bids on about 100 or so properties. We won TWO of those bids so I guess we weren't overpaying, I saw a lot of places go for retail market or higher. I ended up buying most of my 15 acquisitions by finding distressed looking properties in neighborhoods that that assumable VA or FHA loans. Even if I was "overpaying" I knew I could flip them in two days with my ad that read 3/2/2 in XYZ neighborhood, owner will finance with $2500 down. No buyer asked the price, they were like new car buyers that just look at the monthly payment. With an 8% underlying mortgage at $40,000, a sales price of $65,000 and a payment to me based on a $62,500 mortgage at 11% I was doing quite nicely. If they defaulted, which a few did I could get the place back in less than 60 days. I also prepared my own documents, warranty deed, deed of trust, note and HUD1 and charged (back then) about $350, same as the title companies.

Can't really comment on the whole market since I was really too young, but what I can tell you is my parents bought the house I grew up in in suburban DFW in 1975 for $44K. They sold it in 1996 for $125K. Today it's probably worth $250-275K. So looking back at that and as rough as it may have been, there sure was a lot of appreciation during that time, the meat of which was the decade of the 1980s. Therefore I'm sure there were ways to make money in real estate just as there is today, but probably using different methods.

What were you doing in the 1980s?What were you doing in the 1980s?

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What were you doing in the 1980s?

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