A
ll successful scams and cons have two things in common:
1) All scams involve a ‘hook’ designed to play on our natural greed and opportunism by asking us to do something that seems only slightly unethical (on the surface) in exchange for a huge monetary pay off. 2) All scams then count on our shame at accepting illicit terms to make sure we don’t report the crime or pursue justice.
Both Abu Dhabi and Dubai are currently facing the issue of lack of housing for the local population. It is ironic when you consider the enormous amount of construction that has taken place there over the last few years.
The US housing market is in dire straights, no one could argue with that. House prices are down, house sales are down and developers are cutting prices on new developments left, right and center. But where does that leave the homeowner who needs to sell, whether from financial difficulties or some other reason?
Quite apart from the small investors and home owners, it appears that some of the big boys are taking a hit or two in the sub prime crisis as well.
It’s unlikely that the chairman of Citigroup or Morgan Stanley will have their houses foreclosed upon, but, in a sick way, it’s nice to know the banks have been caught with their pants down as it were. According to Mike Mayo of Deutsch Bank, Morgan Stanley will be writing off $3 to $5 billion this coming quarter.
Buying a house in order to sell for a profit has become quite popular thanks to the plethora of property shows on British TV. Is it really as easy as they make it seem?
Despite some construction firms’ attempt to halt the slide with massive price reductions, (several Vegas builders are taking as much as 20% off the cost of a new home,) the US housing market continued it’s slump, with used home sales reaching a 10 year low.
I’ve known a lot of people who have lost money when they sold their homes. In fact, I’m one of those people, and it’s happened to me more than once.
There are a number of factors can cause a financial loss when you sell your house, including the need to sell at the wrong time due to divorce or an impending foreclosure, or a downturn in the local real estate market. However, it’s also common to lose money simply by making too many expensive changes to the house before putting it on the market. This is how I lost money on real estate, before I wised up.
