They say that if you put a monkey in front of a word processor (yes, it used to be a typewriter) and let it hit the keys at random, given enough time the monkey will produce all the works of Shakespeare.

You know, that might be true.

So I tried to hire that monkey to write this blog for me, but he was working on a script for Law and Order (the original one) and wasn't interested.

It actually hadn't been my intention to start a real estate blog so soon after setting up my ActiveRain page.  My eyes were still crossed from figuring out HTML, and I figured I'd wait until I stopped sobbing uncontrollably.  I was just innocently surfing the web.  That's when I found out that Google said I had a blog.

This surprised me.

But if Google says I have a blog, and goes so far as to provide a link, then By Golly I've got a blog.  I've seen Google change my Internet search page so that I can't find anything anymore, and it takes two hours & a lot of cursing to get back to where I was before I accidentally hit the wrong button.  I've been doing this long enough to know that you don't mess with Google.

Just like I've been in this business long enough to know that sometimes all you can do is grit your teeth and work harder to get through the down curve on a real estate cycle.

When I got into this business in 1990 (no, I'm not telling you how old I am . . . there are web sites that will tell you that, whether I want you to know or not), the Capital District was coming off the peak of a real estate bull market that had started around 1985.  (Yes . . . good timing.)  Starry-eyed with dreams of easy money, like a lot of the agents who came into the business post-2006, I didn't realize that the cycle was on a downward trend, and it was going to take a while to get back up.

I also was unaware that Congress had passed a bunch of laws (around 1986 or so, by my not-always-100%-accurate-memory) prohibiting banks from continuing the bad lending practices (like wrap around mortgages) that were leading to waves of foreclosures across the country, and reducing home values.

Sound familiar?

Not knowing any of this at the time, I just decided that - unlike the promises made by infomercials - real estate was not a fast lane to get rich quick, but a steady walk down roads lined with homes, and homeowners who had plans & dreams that I could help make come true.  If I put in the effort to find the people who wanted to buy and sell, and then treated them well and did my best for them.

Then, as now, we are fortunate that the Capital District has a pretty secure employment base, built on health, education, government, service and hi-tech jobs.  This, combined with continuing low interest mortgage rates, and a stabilized real estate market, makes owning property a great investment.  Because the cycle continues to turn, and - barring the History Channel's Mayan Prophecy of Doom (12/21/12, folks!) - real estate values will rise & equity will build again.

Just hang in there.  Like that typing monkey.