Buy, Buy, Buy

Went on vacation this past week and had no access to a computer to update my blog -- that's why I've been away for awhile. I do have a story that's related the different subjects on this blog -- it's about real estate investment.

The place I vacationed was Durango, CO and boy has it changed since I was there as a little kid 20+ years ago. The houses in town don't look much different, but boy has their value changed! We took a rafting trip down the Animas River and had a great guide named "Kirk." We were talking about whatever came to mind and the subject of real estate came up. He said that he bought his house over 20 years ago for $52,000 and now the average home price is $465,000. Care to calculate how much of an increase that is? Well, I'll save you the trouble, it's a 794% increase in value since he bought his home. Checking into real estate prices there through a few local publications proved Kirk true.

Just reminds me what Will Rogers said many many years ago -- "buy land, they're not makin' any more of it." I guess the 'ol laws of supply and demand are still true. There is less and less land for sale so the supply will only get tighter and tighter ... making the price go up, up, up!

Of course Durango is an extreme example of what can happen but normally your real estate investment should increase in value each year -- that's even with minimal maintenance. If you have the chance, BUY A HOME because it's one of the key ways to build wealth.