Amusingly, I received an email last week offering me 30% or more off on a selection of items offered by a well-known company. Was this well-known company offering digital TV’s? Was it Macy’s with their twice-a-week super sales? Or maybe it was something bigger, perhaps GM offering me employee pricing?
The answer to all those questions is no no no! The correct answer is: Pulte Homes! They and their subsidiaries were offering a “sale” on what seemed to be all of their developments in Florida (11 different communities!). One example*:
VILLAGEWALK OF BONITA SPRINGS
Single-Family Homes, Attached Villas & Townhomes
239-948-4141
Capri III – Homesite 808
2 Bedrooms, Open Den, 2 Bathrooms
$300,800 $234,800
YOU SAVE $66,000
Apparently, we can get more than 30% off here is we acted over this past weekend. However, before you reach for the phone, relax, because I’m sure you could still negotiate low prices. As I mentioned in some past articles, if you have CASH, you are going to do very well as the economy worsens. Cash gives you leverage and the opportunity to be in financial position to buy some great things on the cheap – not just houses in Florida, but also used cars (and new), and most other things you like.
Are you ready? Do you have cash? Fools over-leverage themselves leading into difficult economic times – wise people hoard cash. If you’d like to pay 30, 40% lower on things you like, then wait a little while longer. YOU WILL SEE IT. Cars leased by people who can’t afford the payments, houses built by builders who didn’t forecast correctly (prices falling), retailers who overstocked – all will have to lower prices, some just before they go out of business. Be ready!
By the way, today’s headline was most interesting (I wrote this article yesterday/Monday): the Case-Shiller Home price Index dropped 15.4% quarter over quarter, representing the largest drop since this index began:
As I said, be ready! But don’t be hasty…
Chris Grande
*example taken from a Pulte Homes email sent on Wednesday August 20, 2008
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