Rely on Common Sense - Vol. 1

Working in the construction industry for the last 20 years, I have always had a healthy interest in all things that dealt with my industry and chosen profession. As with most people, I loved all of those shows that dealt with DIY, home improvement, and real estate. The only shows that started to wear on me over time were the shows about house flipping. Especially the ones that were based in major cities that had highly bloated housing markets. In 2006 I remember watching a house flipping show that showed a couple buying a house in California for $400,000. They added a little paint, changed the light bulbs and put it back on the market for $650,000. And they sold it for that. This didn't amaze me.....it worried me. Living in Minneapolis at the time, the house in the TV show that just sold for $650,000 was nothing special and would have sold in Minneapolis for maybe $200,000. I understand that California is a more desirable place to live for a lot of people and that the market is worth more. But all I could think when I saw that house sell was, "where do people that work at McDonalds live in that town"? How can someone making less than $20 per hour afford to live in that town? How can that market sustain such a high cost? Common sense was screaming at me that this was not sustainable and that something bad was eventually going to go bad. Well, fast forward a few years, and that is exactly what happened. Ever since that moment, I have begun to realize that my common sense was worth something and that I should follow it whenever I felt the need. That is why I am really starting to leverage my common sense in order to live a life and set myself up to be as protected as possible financially speaking. We are on the brink of another financial disaster that is going to be the worst thing we've seen since the Great Depression. I for one want to be prepared for the worst and I hope others will be right there with me going forward. Looking forward to leveraging Common Sense and writing Vol 2.