Deals with Strangers

Japanese Garden, Maymont Park.  Copyright 2012: singeronthesand

Whoever makes deals with strangers is sure to get burned;

If you keep a cool head, you'll avoid rash bargains.

Proverbs 11:15 

I came to the decision a few weeks ago that a small amount of money that I had invested in one place needed to be removed from there and reinvested somewhere else.  This was not a rash, spur-of-the-moment decision, but a well-thought out, well-reasoned plan to use this money in a way that would assist my retirement.

I thought of many different investment strategies, but finally turned to the possibility of buying an investment property - a home to rent to others.  The more I thought of being a landlord, the better I liked the idea, and set in motion some inquiries to discover what might be out there in the market.  I have a wonderful real estate agent (a member of the church where I work) who helped me purchase my own house, so I called upon her to assist me with what was available in investment property.

I happened to mention these thoughts to my oldest and middle daughters, and they took very different positions on my inquiries.  My oldest was very cautious, wondering, I think, how in the world her little-old-lady mother could possibly manage to pull off this investment "scheme."  After all, what did I know about real estate?  What if I bought the proverbial "pig in a poke?"  I tried to reassure her that I did not just jump off the turnip wagon yesterday, and that I did have a brain to try and reason these things out, but she was not so sure.  My middle child said, "Well, who do you know that can help you with this, Mom?"  A capital question, if I do have to say so myself.

Who, indeed?  My real estate agent, for one, who I trust implicitly.  There is another member of the church--a member of choir--who owns a home inspection company.  He has helped me so many times with this property, and would be an excellent judge of the worthiness of anything I might decide to seriously look at.   One of my really close friends will be a wonderful second pair of eyes, and a friend of my daughters will function well as my "male brain" that thinks of all the things guys would ask that I might not.  All in all, I am surrounded by a group of people I care about, trust, and respect.  And I have a Heavenly Father who is a wonderful listener when I need to reason and talk.  One thing is for sure: I have no intention of making deals with "strangers."  That would be foolish, indeed.