“A year or two from now, we’ll all be living in trailer parks.”
I’d fallen into a discussion of economic conditions with an old friend who’s one of Chicago’s most experienced and successful real estate developers. He said this in all seriousness.
Comments ( 3 )
Well, there goes the neighborhood.
I guess some of us can always sell pencils and apples in the streets.
I disagree with his prediction. The thing about real estate is that once constructed it is a sunk cost.
Developers may go out of business, people may lose money in the stock market, banks may be taken over. But the thing about real estate is that it is a waste if not being used. People will wind up occupying much of this nice new construction and condos over the coming years. Prices may have to come down but people will occupy them.
I hope you’re right, Bob. But I have a bad feeling that a lot of the hastily-constructed cinder block condos are going to be the ghettos of the future, especially ones where the construction stalled repeatedly, leaving interiors and foundations exposed to the elements.
Well, there goes the neighborhood.
I guess some of us can always sell pencils and apples in the streets.
I disagree with his prediction. The thing about real estate is that once constructed it is a sunk cost.
Developers may go out of business, people may lose money in the stock market, banks may be taken over. But the thing about real estate is that it is a waste if not being used. People will wind up occupying much of this nice new construction and condos over the coming years. Prices may have to come down but people will occupy them.
I hope you’re right, Bob. But I have a bad feeling that a lot of the hastily-constructed cinder block condos are going to be the ghettos of the future, especially ones where the construction stalled repeatedly, leaving interiors and foundations exposed to the elements.