After the Fall: Opportunities and Strategies for Real Estate Investing in the Coming Decade

Afterword

I began writing this book in the winter of 2008 and finished the last chapter just about the first of August that same year.

However, 2008 was a tumultuous year and I remember as I was writing the book that it was difficult to stay ahead of the news. Eventually, events did get ahead of me because by late summer and early autumn, the financial world shifted; Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taken over by the federal government; Merrill Lynch, Washington Mutual, and Wachovia were sold; Lehman Brothers went under; and AIG needed federal intervention.

Fortunately, I got the manuscript back around the first of October to do some editing, and I was able to update the book where it was relevant. I have to admit I was a little nervous because, although I was, in some regards, predicting where markets will be in the near- to mid-term future, I was wondering if the calamities of third quarter 2008 would alter the courses of the particular asset classes about which I was writing.

Much to my relief, the corporate changes among the financial institutions didn’t change my assertions. The reason for that was I mostly focused on market fundamentals and trend line progressions. There is the possibility that the vast new financial landscape could slow down the trend lines and postpone the recovery of individual markets. On the other hand, the changes could actually speed up recovery because the new institutions that control real estate would more likely move the bad stuff off their books, ...