Monday, September 21, 2009

The Psy-Fi Blog: Sexual Trading

I think we need to think about what is talked about in this post in terms of our local real estate market. Have a read.

The Psy-Fi Blog: Sexual Trading

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2 comments:

Unknown said...

It's obvious that the mob mentality has been going strong in the lower mainland for a while now. What really shocked me was that when it shifted the other direction last winter it shifted back again so quickly. I remember hearing general ads on the radio saying now is a good time to buy, with no specific company attached to it. It was probably REBGV or something trying to get the hype back.

The whole thing stank of desperation and I laughed at it. I thought there was no way people would be suckered in by an ad ending with "because your white picket fence can't wait forever".

What a cheesy chiche but it didnt seem to hurt as the recovery, bolstered mainly by cheap money, came through. It seemed like just as soon as it was the concensus that it was a bad time to buy, people changed their mind again. And I have heard so many people saying that the cheap money will run out soon, so now is a great time to buy. I try to tell them that the rates are only 5 year, maybe 10 year max if you want to pay for it, and then you still have 20 years of whatever rates are at. They generally dont seem to care as 5 years is ages and the place will be worth millions by then. They dont even listen when I ask if rates are high then, wont it bring down prices?

Anyway the article mainly seems to say what Buffet has been saying for a while, be greedy when others are fearful and be fearful when others are greedy.

mohican said...

Humans are not well adapted to information based decision making and we tend to make herd based decisions. It must be a good idea if so-and-so is doing it seems to be a popular rationale for decision making.