Investment Real Estate Loses Value
REM # C748
By Ilyce R. Glink
Summary: A ThinkGlink reader bought real estate as an investment based on the advice of a friend. Now its value has dropped and he is unable to sell it. Ilyce explains that in the world of investments, the buyer must beware.
Q: In 2005, a "friend" got me to buy real estate in Victorville,
CA through his wife who is a real estate agent. He said the prices would keep
going up and that it would be easy to sell the house.
The exact opposite turned out to be the case as the real estate market crashed. Did my "friend" commit an act of fraud against me and is there any legal recourse I can take? Or, do just have to deal with the consequences?
A: That’s some friend you have. In some ways, I think you’d be better off buying from people you don’t even know.
Unfortunately, in this situation, you have to deal with the consequences of buying real estate blind. It sounds as if you simply took your “friend’s” advice without doing any real work to figure out if what he was telling you was true or not. Your friend’s wife may have pocketed a huge commission off of your ignorance but many people made lots of money this way as the real estate market prospered.
At some point the market peaked and you were the one that got hurt. You probably would not be complaining about your friend if you had bought the home a couple of years earlier, and it was now worth twice what you paid.
Buying and selling real estate, as any other investment, has risks. Those risks include losing money.
As they say in real estate, caveat emptor which means "buyer beware."
NOTE: This column is distributed by Real Estate Matters Syndicate, PO Box 366, Glencoe, Illinois, 60022. This column may not be resold, reprinted, resyndicated or redistributed without written permission from the publisher.
Quit Claim Deed Transfers Property Taxes
Quit-Claim Deed Question
Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure Will Hurt Credit Rating
Voided Contract Leads To Suit
Finding Historical Data About Property
Link to This Article
Like what you've read? Spread the word! You can link to this article
from your website by copying the following code and adding it to
a page on your website:
Copyright ©2001-2007. ThinkGlink, Inc.
All rights reserved. Reproduction of material from any www.ThinkGlink.com pages without permission is strictly prohibited.
Site designed by Walker Sands Communications
