One of my favorite movies of all time is Forrest Gump.  This film is an extremely deep comment on life and how we approach things that come our way.  After sitting through a presentation by an investment counselor on Wednesday, I immediately thought of Forrest and Lieutenant Dan as they were out at sea on their shrimp boat in the midst of one of the worst hurricanes to hit the Gulf of Mexico.  Their shrimping business had been a total bust up to that point.  As Forrest captained the ship through the storm, Lieutenant Dan sat atop the mast and relished the moment.  They did this as every other shrimp boat sought the safety of the harbor.  As you will recall, every other shrimp boat was destroyed while Forrest and Dan came back into port with a huge catch.  Due to their willingness to brave the storm, they went on to be extremely successful and ultimately owned the largest fleet of shrimp boats while others went bankrupt.

We are currently in the midst of one of the worst housing hurricanes seen in decades.  The winds are extremely volatile and everyone has been running to a safe harbor.  Needless to say, it is those who brave the storm and seek out opportunities while everyone else waits for the market to strengthen who will fare the best.  Whether you are considering purchasing one, two or more rental properties or are looking to upgrade your own personal residence, I don’t believe you will experience a better time than now to make the move.  Prices are have come down dramatically and interest rates are still quite low.  Weichert Financial, Wells Fargo and Bank of America (my three preferred lenders) all assure me that they have plenty of money and that you can secure personal mortgages with 10 percent down and investment loans with 20 percent.

To give you an idea of what is out there, in the past month a $2.8 million property in Great Falls sold for $1.1 million and potential rental properties in Sterling have come on the market at $80,000 – $100,000.  I am currently negotiating the sale of a $5+ million home for less than $3 million and working on several other incredible opportunities for my clients.  With 20 percent down, the PITI for an $80,000 rental property in Sterling would be somewhere in the area of $600 per month.  Rent for such a property would be around $1,000 per month.  My assumption is that in five years time, these will be back to selling at $250,000 – $300,000.  A potentially huge return on a $16,000 investment.

My buddy Frank Barlow told me a few months ago that when you are in the middle of a hurricane, it seems like it will never end. It always does and the sun always does return.

Contact me if you are ready to move towards owning a fantastic personal residences or your own fleet of rental properties before its too late.