Even Those Who Diversify Their Portfolios Are Feeling the Pressure
This is a very general statement, but living in the San Francisco Bay area for most of my life, I have not seen the economy take its toll the way it has this past year (even during the dot com bust.) We have had financial centers, various technology centers from bio-tech to IT, a strong service industry, and certainly numerous enterprising entrepreneurs that were constantly rising to the top in spite of what many other areas of the country were experiencing. It was reflected in the real estate prices here too, they kept going up and up, even though logically it didn’t make sense, everyone loved it.
Now, I am seeing a struggling that hadn’t been as apparent before. Maybe it’s because I am a landlord so I’m closer to some of it. I am one of those who has diversified my portfolio, not just investments of precious metals, stocks, foreign currency and real estate, but also my business life is diversified as well. I have an offline business as well as online, never wanting to leave my destiny to someone else. Thank goodness I do this though, because the pinch is everywhere and has a trickle down affect.
I currently have a tenant who needed to break his lease for a variety of reasons I won’t go into here….but I have always had wonderful tenants and haven’t had a problem “finding them”. However, what I am seeing interviewing potential new tenants is something I have NEVER experienced before. Out of 10 families this past week, 8 of them had lived in their own homes anywhere from 5 to16 years and are losing them. 7 of these 10 families have filed bankruptcy. These are people who are successful in their fields with long term employment track records. These are not slouches, or “low lifes” or people looking for a hand out. The reasons they are in this spot now are as varied as the people themselves. Some have lost their jobs, have gone through 2 years of savings, and are starting over on the pay scale. Some had health issues, some had structural problems on their homes and had to correct them before they could sell, and now the house value has dropped so much they can’t recoup anything. These are people who in running credit checks had spectacular credit until this last year. It is very humbling. It breaks my heart to hear these stories, and it breaks theirs to share their financial history with someone they don’t know. I can see in their eyes their spirit is broken, and they are just hoping someone will take a chance on them.
Wow!! I just am feeling very sad today. Sad for all the people who have played by the rules all of their life and now they don’t know for sure where they and their kids will be living next month. Sad for all of the people who have been accustomed to making enough to live on and who can’t even get a $10 per hour job. Sad for our country as it struggles to get a foot hold again….
If you’ve read this far, thank you, and remember ~ “Take control of your destiny or someone else will”, because even when you do the pressure is still on!
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November 13 2009 02:35 pm | Misc Ranting
