The future looks bright!..?..

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The future looks bright!..?..

Ryan R.
Real Estate Investor · Central, TX · Member since 2012 · 479 posts · 165 votes

As I map out my investment strategies for the next 5, 10 and 20 years, I can't help but surmise that RE investing will become easier. I could be wrong, but here is why I think I'm right.

My generation, (I'm almost 30) by and large, has no definition for the term Wealth Building or Sacrifice. They seem all too eager to play video games, live with their parents, buy cars and trucks they can't afford and purchase clothes that are marked up 300% . They appear to be very successful at first glance, but their savings accounts reveal their inability to survive even one month without their paycheck.

Most don't even know how to take care of a house. If the toilet quits working, they immediately call their dad or a plumber. They don't know how to start a lawnmower and wouldn't know what to do with it if they could. Their idea of maintenance is to let things deteriorate until they completely stop working. All their free-time is spent on an iPhone, the internet or TV, absorbing garbage.

They don't know how to think for themselves, and they don't want to. If a company doesn't provide a paycheck for them, they would starve before they figured out another way to make money. They cannot solve problems with critical thinking. If a job doesn't involve "clocking in" its "TOO MUCH WORK FOR THEM"!

They have been groomed into a society that never pays anything off. They have literally become slaves to the lender; And they're okay with it. I don't like to refer to them as helpless, but it does effectively encapsulate their condition.

They only know of 4 ways to become wealthy. Become a musician/actor, professional athlete, get lucky in the stock market or win the lottery. Outside of these means, they then look to the government to provide for them.

As such, when troubles come, they cannot endure the storm. They have no savings, they have no back-up plan. I think we will see instances of foreclosures increase and more opportunity for disciplined investors. The one caveat to this is property management will change. It will be called property babysitting and it will be in high demand.

What do You think?

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  • Rob K.
    Investor · Southeast, MI · Member since 2012 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    13y

    I think every generation looks at the next generation as a bunch of slackers. I agree with you to some extent. Many young people are the way you described. A lot of people grew up on welfare and now look at that as a way of life.

    When you read stories about some of these young soildiers fighting wars, it gives hope to the young generation. Some of these 20 year olds have been through incredible sacrifice and will be able to conquer anything.

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  • Ryan R.
    OP
    Real Estate Investor · Central, TX · Member since 2012 · 479 posts · 165 votes
    13y

    Rob K, I'm not passing judgement on the next generation, I'm talking about my own generation. Slackers is a great term to describe them.

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  • Harry M.
    Real Estate Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2010 · 449 posts · 173 votes
    13y

    Interesting topic... I do believe there will great opportunities for those that hold real estate as there will be a lot of renters going forward. Many folks in their twenties are more or less living month to month, and have a lot of student debt, and can't/won't save the money for a down payment on a place to own. Also, I believe that the idea of owning a home is less attractive to younger folks. The crash in 2007/2008 pretty much wiped out the notion that real estate was guaranteed to appreciate, and it has left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths. Combine that with the fact that people are more mobile than ever, and the idea of wishing or needing to move to another city for work but owning an underwater home, and I think the idea of owning is as likely to make a person feel trapped as it is to make them feel the pride of ownership that the previous generation had.

    Regarding the attitudes of 20-somethings, yeah, I agree, with caveats. I'm 42, so I have a decent perspective in that I'm old enough to see the differences, but not so much older that it's a different world. What I have noticed is a growing sense of entitlement, though there are definitely exceptions. Maybe it is just me. I lost my parents young (Mom when I was 15, and Dad when I was 21), so I never had a safety net as a young adult. I knew that it was on me, and that whatever I wanted in my life, I had to make it happen myself. It's served me well in my career, and more recently in having the discipline to save money for rentals, and also being patient to make sure I'm building this thing on solid foundations. I don't see a whole lot of that in the younger folks coming up, though like I said, there are exceptions. In my day job, a lot of people think that they have already paid their dues by completing a college degree, and don't realize that this is just the beginning, and they have to scratch and claw and fight to make the things they want come true.

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  • Ryan R.
    OP
    Real Estate Investor · Central, TX · Member since 2012 · 479 posts · 165 votes
    13y

    Good points Harry M. You're right about people being more mobile than ever. In times past, a family's home was the hub of their lives. Now, peoples careers are their hub. They go wherever the job takes them.

    If all this is true, there will be a greater need for people to find rentals than there is today. Perhaps someone should create a type of MLS just for rentals. It doesn't seem like what is available today is very comprehensive.

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