All Forum Posts by: Chuck Robertson

Speaking as someone who went to a private college back when a full year's expenses (including room, board, tuition, books and a little spending money) was about $3,800, I am appalled at the prices families have to spend on a college education. Even community colleges are getting out of hand. If you finance the whole thing, then your debt burden is so heavy for the first several years out of college that it is hard to form capital for investments of any kind (generally speaking).

I have no children, but if I did I think I would encourage them to work and go to school at the same time or alternate semesters or even co-op in their chosen field. I have a cousin who did this and he is doing very well in his career. I went full-time on grant money and loans from the bank and my parents. Although I cherish my college years and wouldn't trade them for anything, I wish I had worked more in the real world at the time. It would have given me a better perspective on what I was doing in school and what I wanted to do with the rest of my life - at least career-wise.

I'm one of those who never used their major in the business world. I never even took business courses until much later at a community college. BTW, online is great! If you can be disciplined enough to make time for the assignments the freedom of not going to a regular classroom can help you to get education that you might never have been able to get.

I guess the point I'm getting at is that in this day and time young people and their parents really need to look to see if the traditional college experience will actually be beneficial in their lives or if more creative ways of educating oneself will fit their lives and plans much better.

After all, whatever type of education you get, the point is that it is helpful and not harmful to you down the road. Just ask my college roommate. His major was Telecommunications - never got a job in that field - went back to school - became a Professor of Accounting and loves every minute of it. I think he may have chosen a different major in retrospect.

Thanks for reading!

Thanks Jerry!

Thanks Christian!

I've been to Harrisburg once before for a wedding. I stayed with a friend over in Lancaster County. Beautiful country.

Hi everyone,

I'm Chuck Robertson from Birmingham, AL and I was introduced to this site by my new boss. It looks to be a great place to network and gain new ideas and insights into our wonderful business of real estate.

I love the diversity in real estate. There are so many niches and specialties, you can almost always find a way to have a fulfilling career - and hopefully make some money.

I have been a real estate appraiser for 11 years and had a real estate sales license for almost as long. Right now I am concentrating in residential investment sales and along with that analyzing our purchases to make sure the after repaired value will make the investment worthwhile.

I look forward to meeting other members and having some conversations. Or at least say hello. I have started a blog here about real estate education, so check it out from time to time and see if you can gain any knowledge (or even share some).

Take care!!!

I come from a big football state (Alabama) and here the state religion states that you must be an Alabama or an Auburn fan, but I am a heretic. My team is The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB - not Alabama-Birmingham like ESPN keeps calling us).

We are rebuilding (don't you love that expression?) and though we were off to a good start, we let victory slip through our fingertips last Saturday in a 2 point loss to SMU. We are now 1-1 in conference and in overall play.

The Blazers will be facing the Trojans of Troy State there next Saturday. This matchup is turning into a big in-state rivalry. Not like the one between those two ancient institutions in our state (where there have been recorded fist-fights and deaths from heart attacks - in beauty parlors - during the AU - UA games).

Enjoy the season and don't get too uptight. Tailgating is lots of fun and it's a good diversion from what's going on in the RE market. And of course, it's a great way to network.

May all our teams have winning seasons!!!!

OK. I apparently didn't read the formatting instructions correctly.

I'll get it right next time.

To know if we are going to see another bubble, we need to understand the causes of the last bubble. Dr. Thomas Sowell has authored one of the first look-backs at the previous bubble called (i)The Housing Boom and Bust(/i). I heard him interviewed about it and he seems to have a good grasp of all the factors that contributed to our problems.

I have not yet received my copy, but having read some of his other works, I can strongly recommend him as an author who knows economics. This is not an ad for his book. I just think that the truth needs to get out there instead of all the finger pointing by politicians, who confounded the problem, but want to stay in office.

I'm interested to hear if anyone has read it yet or has some other suggestions for books, articles, web-sites or blogs.

Happy investing!!!