Recession Proof Your Home And Your Money Against Falling Oil Prices!

Are you afraid that oil prices are going to destroy our local economy?  That we are going to have a repeat of the 80's?  That people will be stripping the carpet, light fixtures, cabinets, appliances out of their homes and selling them and leaving state with every little penny they can scrape up?  That's what speculation is and yes we study history and the current markets to get a better idea of WHAT may happen, but don't let fear and speculation paralyze you from making some incredibly smart moves to protect your family today!

Home prices

We don't expect a crash in the market and I'm not saying that say all the potential buyers in the market this year feel better about buying because I'm
prepared either way this market goes and I'll be selling lots of home either way!  Guess who lists foreclosures and short sales?  Realtors.  Guess who sells low priced homes to buyers.  Realtors.  Either way, a Realtor is going to be involved more than 90% of the time.  With that said I do not think now is the time to sell of your current property and start renting because you are afraid of a market crash.  If you have a home that is beyond your means and making you feel suffocated from the monthly payment and maintenance, then downsize now because all the speculation is doing is magnifying your concern that was already there before the oil prices dropped.

If you own an investment property and it has poor cash floor or you don't enjoy being a landlord, then sell it and 1031 exchange into something that is a better investment.  Guess who can help you analyze what makes a great investment and if your current equity in a property is better cashed out and immediately reinvested in another property? The Croom Team!  Myself and Rod Klann are ready to help you go through the numbers.  Either way, people have to have a place to live and you can either be the homeowner or the tenant and I know which one I want to be, do you?  We have seen some movement for our clients that were planning on downsizing from their large family homes into smaller homes for either retirement reasons or that they realized their family doesn't need as much space anymore and they are pulling the trigger on making that move now instead of later.  But honestly, they were planning on doing it anyways, the dropping oil prices just accelerated their timeline to now. 

My 5 Best Tips for Recession Proofing Your Family

1)  Pay off debt as quickly as possible.  Even if it means stopping your retirement contributions.  The last thing you want when the economy changes is a bunch of debt.  Did you know banks don't reposess paid off cars? ;)
2) Live below your means.  One of the best things I heard when several families that lost everything in the recession in the last decade and they were interviewed by Oprah was that they were living off every penny that a two wage earner household was making.  If you are in the same situation, what financial moves can you make to live off only one of the wage earner in your households income?

My coin from Dave Ramsey Financial Counslor

 Training!

3) Don't leverage all your money on investment properties.  I studied finance in college and if you want me to map out on Excel spreadsheets how to leverage your money from here to the money and speculate the huge returns you can get on your money, I can do that. But you know what I know about leverage?  It means you owe a lot of people money and don't probably OWN much outright.  If you own it, they can't come take it away!  What if there is a recession and you owned your home outright?  Or what if you owned a condo outright that you rent out now and worse case scenario you sell your house and live in a condo that's paid off!
4) Cash is king in a recession.  Credit is going to be hard to come by.  Most families live paycheck to paycheck.  Work your way up to 12 month emergency account.  I'm not suggesting 12 months of money saved in the bank is necessarily a good idea long term, but if you are so nervous about oil prices, starting adding as much cash as you can to your emergency account now and once you get a better grip on all this oil price speculation and realize we are going to be okay, throw half that emergency fund into an investment and carry on.  You likely will not lose much money from being out of the investment for a year.
5) Work, it's a sure fire money making scheme.  Dave Ramsey says that often on his radio show.  If you are worried about losing your job later, why not work more now?  Take on a second job to stock pile some cash or pay off debt?  The last thing you'll find in a major recession is a bunch of part time jobs waiting for you to make a little extra money to get you by in tough times because everyone that lost their full time job is now scooping up all the little jobs they can find!

I'm a huge fan of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and have taught the class and if you are looking for a place to start to learn more about smart finances and increasing your wealth, I highly recommend you check out DaveRamsey.com!