Listen to the first few minutes of this interview with Howard Davidowitz (at least) “Retail Analyst & Chairman of Davidowitz & Associates on NPR. OK, I don’t want to be Debbie Downer but I consider it to be my responsibility as a real estate investment professional, to report on and disseminate all that I collect and know with regards to the real estate market and those forces that act upon it.

It is clear that the economy is in some stage of crisis. Listen to the audio file above and then consider, if Davidowitz is correct, what impact this will have on your current and future position in real estate. If you were to be safe and assume the worst today what should you do?

Well, that depends on where you are in your investment cycle. If you have built up significant equity (read: wealth) in your real estate investments in the northeast over more than the last 10 years and you have any idea that you might want to get out in the next 5-10 years - GET OUT NOW. The name of the game for you today is wealth preservation. Sell. Get out.

If you are someone who is just getting started or is still in the accumulation phase this IS a good time to buy. You must be patient and you have to turn over a number of rocks, but deals with reasonable fundamentals are reappearing. One of the best reasons to buy now is that leverage is STILL so inexpensive. The single biggest benefit to investing in real estate is leverage. Real estate investing is one of the only investments you can make leveraged at 75 or 80%.

Real estate becomes a less great (yes, less great) investment as your rate of leverage inverts. It then becomes time to grow through a 1031 exchange in many cases, or else if you’re near the end of your real estate investment career, shore up your wealth in another vehicle.