I will admit I am an optimist.  Usually…  But I am also a contrarian.  So, I generally tend to run counter to most, and I look for the good.

Right now, anyone that finds anything positive in real estate is definately a contrarian.  But I am starting to be an optimist.

There are two big reasons…

• Some of the most successful investors are contrarians… like Warren Buffet.  When every stock was a sure thing, he wasn’t buying.  Now he is loaded with cash and there are bargains to be picked up.
• At each swing of the market, it seems that the VAST majority are on the wrong side.  The media, the popular sentiment, the analysts…  Everyone is saying that techs are STILL set to rocket, that the stock market is going to keep tumbling forever, that it is on the way to 20,000, that houses ALWAYS go up…

Are you getting the idea?

I have heard a bunch about the 60 minutes story from this weekend.  USA Today had a story about how the next wave of the housing crisis will dwarf what we have been through.  I’m sure there are more.  But at the same time, I see homes for sale at prices that they can be rented out with positive cash flow.  I see prices down to levels on new homes that wouldn’t buy the materials, much less the land.

I’m also seeing interest rates that are just plain low.  It is currently possible to find a mortgage under 5%.  That is dirt cheap.

So, dirt cheap properties and dirt cheap mortgages.  The question is will people that are thinking about buying watch all of the deals go away while waiting for something to be just a little better?