Breakfast anyone?

There are more similarities in these two names than one might think. If you’re into numerology, you’d notice that both names are spelled with an unusual combination of a consonant, followed by a vowel, followed by two consonants….you get the idea.

“Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.” said Buffett. Historically, this has proven to work wonders for him (for the most part). He ranks number 2 in the United States with an estimated net worth of $50 billion.

During the depression, Kelloggs and Post (the cereal companies) took two different paths. James Surowiecki eloquently wrote a piece in this past week’s New Yorker about this. Kelloggs, with their contrarian business model proved to be more successful. As we continue to grow our company organically in this market, I find myself asking mentors about this philosophy. They all overwhelmingly agree with Buffett and Kellogg, although it’s always easier to give this type of advice from the outside looking in.

We are clearly in a buyers market which means that those who are brave (and smart) enough to take advantage of this historic moment, should come out long term winners. My advice, from the inside looking out, is to seize this moment and embrace the opportunites this market brings. I know there will be some echo’s of 1998 to 2006 where the bears were saying “I could have, should have, would have…” 

Don’t be a foolish bear. Be sly like a fox!

Who hasn’t had this situation? You are out hunting for the perfect apartment with a first time buyer. Your buyer is a young professional that needs the help of his/her parents for the down payment or even a full cash offer. You look at a variety of apartments and you manage to narrow the search down to three that meet all or at least 95% of your clients needs.

Then it’s time for the parents to come to town to approve the selections available for their child’s perfect first home in Manhattan. Very often it is the parents first time to New York but it becomes readily apparent they are experts when it comes to the city’s real estate market. Soon all of selections have been eliminated and you will need to start your search all over again. This happened to me recently when I had found a $600,000 one bedroom with outdoor space and a doorman. The parents just couldn’t picture themselves living in this place given that they just paid the same amount for a five bedroom McMansion.

The bottom line is, a lot of times the parent’s approval is harder to get than to pass the toughest Fifth Avenue coop board! What do you think?