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Buy Crisis Opportunity
For a while in the 1990s and through the middle of the first decade of this century, property investors the world over believed that values only went up. In 2008, we all were reminded that all markets move in cycles, both up and down, sometimes spectacularly down. If you can identify a country in a down cycle, understand why property values there have fallen, and conceive an exit strategy that makes sense in the context of what's gone wrong, how long the down market might continue, and your own agendas, both investment and lifestyle, then you can be in a position to make what likely will prove both the smartest and the most successful real estate buys of both your investor career and your lifetime.
Crisis Buy 1: Argentina—The World's Most Experienced Crisis Market
The world's best example of a crisis market is Argentina. More than any other country, Argentina goes through wild cycles, slingshotting property values up and down. To understand how the going got so weird in this country, you have to think back to populist politician Juan Perón. Perón took over Argentina in 1946 and pretty much destroyed the country's productive sector. As you might guess, with such wanton destruction to his credit, Perón remains the most popular political figure in Argentina today.
Perón introduced the concept of a national wage increase. He'd go on radio and announce that as of the following month workers were to be paid 20 percent more (or whatever). Typically prices would ...
