The Lancaster Life

Lehman Brothers stock price is down 16% for today. That's for TODAY ONLY. Fannie Mae is down 22% for the day. Who could have imagined this a year ago? An option to buy Lehman Brothers for $15/share would have sold for $80. Today it would be worthless!

While these are truly incredible times in financial stocks, the fall of these stocks does highlight the risk of investing in stocks. I used to invest in the stock market and nothing else. I got into options for a while. I have to say, it was a lot of fun. Expensive fun! While I do miss the craziness of the huge up days, I'm convinced that real estate provides the best foundation for building wealth in the long run.

By following a handful of basic principals, it's possible to earn a solid return on your money in real estate. No investment is totally risk free, but real estate risks are easier to predict and manage than stock risks. Even if your primary residence is the main pillar of your real estate investing, you should evaluate whether it makes sense to migrate more of your wealth into real estate.

Of course, you can take a shot on Lehman Brothers at $15...

Dean Rock is a full-service real estate professional at Coldwell Banker in Lancaster. Dean's professional and volunteer activities are focused on long term health of Lancaster County's economy and society.  Dean's areas of interest include historic homes, land preservation, low-income home ownership, education and youth social work. Click here to learn more about Lancaster PA real estate.

I recently bought a converted apartment building in Lancaster city. When I took my sister to see the place, she got excited about the facade. I knew it looked nice, but I didn't see much more. We stood on the sidewalk for twenty minutes while she explained various features of the house.

Turns out that this greenish stone was only quarried in a few locations in the US and Japan. The balustrade is neo-Romanesque, the moldings reflect the growing arts and crafts style of the time that was led by William Morris. My sister summed it up by saying "whoever built this house was studying the leading architects of the day."

As you may have guessed, my sister is not just a casual observer. She's an architectural historian with expertise in the region. She has a masters degree in this stuff and thinks about it every day at work. When I said I was impressed by her knowledge, she said that I could learn everything she knows and she would send me some books.

At that moment it dawned on me -- whenever a customer comes to me to buy/sell a historical home, I'm going to research the architecture. Thanks little sis!

Dean Rock is a full-service real estate professional at Coldwell Banker in Lancaster. Dean's professional and volunteer activities are focused on long term health of Lancaster County's economy and society.  Dean's areas of interest include historic homes, land preservation, low-income home ownership, education and youth social work. Click here to learn more about Lancaster PA real estate.

Everyone's talking about how bad the real estate market is. On the other hand, people commonly say that this is a good buyer's market. So which is it, good or bad?

The fact is, the market is never wholly good or wholly bad. People who say this is a bad market are oversimplifying. Too often, the people who tell us what type of market it is are the people who are trying to make a quick buck by flipping properties.

This is a bad market for flipping properties. This is a good market for expanding your real estate wealth.

Not every market is good for every purpose. But every market does contain opportunities. I believe that there are tremendous opportunities in Lancaster real estate right now. You may want to expand the percentage of your assets that are in real estate (i.e., "buy low"). Also, because high value and low value properties are subject to the same discount, it's a very good time to move up.

Dean Rock is a full-service real estate professional at Coldwell Banker in Lancaster. Dean's professional and volunteer activities are focused on long term health of Lancaster County's economy and society.  Dean's areas of interest include historic homes, land preservation, low-income home ownership, education and youth social work. Click here to learn more about Lancaster PA real estate.