re: How many of y'all were personally affected by the 2007-08 financial crisis?

quote:

---

The big fortunes are made by upping your contribution during the low and wearing that motherfricker out on the down years.

---

Unless you were about to retire or pay for college

Lots of people who were about to retire couldn't because their portfolio sank like a rock. People were getting laid off left and right and struggled to find jobs that were paying similar wages. I had friends that had just entered the workforce but couldn't find a job in their field because the middle level workers were laid off and were taking the entry level jobs.

It worked out well for me because I was able to buy a foreclosed home in a great neighborhood that I otherwise would not have been able to afford. My father had expendable money so he was able to buy a few nice homes cheap and use them as rental properties.

The only thing I remember was my cc kept lowering my limit. So I just eventually paid them off and never looked back

quote:

---

People were getting laid off left and right and struggled to find jobs that were paying similar wages

---

We were 20 years old at the time, and we were in a tough spot.

We had 2 significant contracts out for recompetetion and I knew if we didn't get them both back we would have to lay people off that were damn good and didn't deserve to be
unemployed in that shite job market.

So I prayed for wisdom, made an innovative pitch on one, and cut the price to the bone on the other.

We won 'em both, and actually added people.

As a business owner I knew it was my job to live up to the trust my employees and customers place in us.

I didn't want to let them down.

I was a spec home builder and had 6 houses going up when the bottom fell out. The last 2 houses took me over ayear to sell and I made $0 on them after paying the mortgages to carry them. I also had several lots I had purchased that I eventually sold for a loss.

I was also a partner in a store that sold cabinets, flooring, and countertops. I had to walk away from it as it was losing money monthly. My partner tried to hold on but in doing so it led to stress for his family and eventually a divorce.

For about a year or two the only thing I had to make a living was a gas station I owned. I initially bought it from foreclosure to flip but soon it was my primary income. It paid the bills but was far from what I was used to and I hated everything about running it including the employees who steal from you without a second thought. The day I sold it was one of the happiest days of my life.

Then one day a company found me through a referral and said they needed a contractor to manage repo houses in Louisiana for them. They had thousands. I started working in the field again for about a year then started hiring crews in other parts of the state. Then I expanded to West Texas, then Mississippi, and eventually, I had contractors working for me in 14 states.

I am down to 8 states now since Covid shut the industry down and the hot RE market led to fewer houses being foreclosed on.

2008 initially hurt me badly to the point I was considering bankruptcy but then it gave me an amazing business opportunity that I still operate today.

Good things can come out of tough spots.

Or, as I like to say, "there's profit in chaos".

quote:

---

that's stupid,

---

Agree.

It was a damn mess in 7-8, and the only reason it wasn't really terrible here was b/c of Katrina money.

I switched up my investments ( by luck) and didn’t lose much at all. Stagnant for a long time

Got some great deals on repo homes