Just keep in mind that from a purely ethical standpoint, it sounds like you violated the contract you willingly signed and the stated penalty is loss of your EM.

A strategy that makes sense to me is buy on sub 2 and lease long term until the dust settles.Renting on lease and a pure option without the option being a financing device (no rent credits) is a possibility.

Purely hypothetical situation, but could possible help some people out.

You don’t get any of the same satisfaction from viewing pixels on a screen of your investment status as you do from seeing a closet full of canned goods and critical supplies all stocked up at home, or admiring the luster and weight of a .999% pure, precious metal coin in your hand.

That is because it is all pure fiction.

I know it is en vogue to bash the market and its returns, but the pure fact of the matter is this.

I think my strategy next year depending on the market will be two fold until we can buy more investments than 4.1) To try to buy some all cash houses in the 50k price range that produces pure cash.2) To flip our cheaper mortgaged houses (2 of our houses have mortgages under 80k) into houses that are more expensive and better long term assets.

I would argue that predicting the value of a property five years from now is impossible, and any value you stick in is a pure guess.

Robert,I love this post and wish you abundant success in 2010.Strictly from a standpoint of ethical conduct and what is appropriate behavior this agent wouldn't have my business on any given day - regardless of the numbers.Anyone so maladroit in communications to send in email - for the public to see - this kind of message is operating from pure anger.

So part of me is just like "eh, pure investment duplex with a 30 year mortgage might be the way to go."