For those who are old enough to remember, or who know history, there were economic downturns in 1974 , 1982, 1988 and 1998 . . . and during those downturns banks quit lending to investors and they approved only homebuyers with down payments . . . and eventually the lessons learned in those downturns were forgotten, or faded, and the lending requirements were loosened and the real estate market climbed uphill once again. . . .

And, of course, you do know that history repeats itself, right?

It’s a matter of holding on to your properties, buy and hold!

When you buy and hold, you don’t use each opportunity to play the game to score a touchdown. Instead, you use each opportunity to gain some yards. Just a few yards on each play keeps you in the game! Eventually, you score! But then you do it again, methodically working toward the score, but never taking huge risks. It’s called working the fundamentals. It’s neither an attractive nor entertaining way to win games, but it does keep you playing the games.

Unfortunately, in stressful times, it’s not easy to stick with the fundamentals of buy and holding. You know, dig leading, talking to bankers, talking to real estate agents, talking to other investors, working the system (not just any system, by the way) . . . . it’s laborious, even boring, and only the most disciplined investors can achieve it. That’s why so many investors are falling out of the game. Of course, many of them never had a system to work, and in many cases, their systems only worked in less stressful times.

Also, one day the dollar will be worthless, and in order to retain your financial status, you will need to have your money in hard assets.  So why not put it in real estate.  I don’t know when the market will change, but I know it’s worth holding on!