Don't focus too much on trends

There has been a lot of talk lately about market trends. Is the market going to continue to drop? Is it bottoming out? Has it turned around and coming back up? Who knows for sure?

All of this discussion can lead to paralysis in investing. Nothing creates more fear than volatility in a market when hundreds of thousands of dollars are at stake. Therefore, I think many new investors are stuck in a quagmire waiting to see how things shake out.

This is a huge mistake. Regardless of the market trends, there are always good deals out there. In fact, more scenarios that are primed for creative financing exist today than at any time that I can remember.

With people losing jobs, with businesses failing, and with all sorts of turmoil in people's lives, we can find circumstances almost daily that lend themselves to no money out of pocket deals. Sellers are much more likely today to consider lease options, seller financing, and in some cases even suspend payments altogether in order to get someone into a property, if anything just to stop the decay of the property.

The other thing that must be realized is that foreclosures and REO's aren't the only deals out there. There seems to be a lot of focus on those, and the media attention on that particular segment of the economy is staggering. But foreclosures are just one facet of a huge opportunity that is staring at all of us. With financial stress, there are plenty of divorce situations that will lead to good deals, there are always estate and probate situations that will be good deals, and that doesn't include sellers who are just bored, tired, or disenfranchised with their property and just want it gone.

So, although prudence is advised, and any investment scenario does need to consider market trends, don't let that analysis prevent you from taking action and finding deals. They are out there in any economy, and can be found if an investor looks for it. So research, learn, study, and watch the trends, but don't let them hold you back from investing.

My brother and I are closing on a house tomorrow...$40,000.00 below appraisal. It needs some work, but has great potential. So what if the market drops another 3%? We'll make that up in curb appeal. Everything else is gravy.....