Mercer Island Real Estate

The Wise Words of Ludwig von Mises

Who in the world is Ludwig von Mises? He was an Austrian economist who was known for his contrarian views on how markets and people interact with each other. Mises had insightful views on business. Here’s one:

“ It is not correct foresight as such that yields profits, but foresight better than that of the rest. The prize goes only to the dissenters, who do not let themselves be misled by the errors accepted by the multitude.”

 For the past year, I’ve been counseling buyers, particularly Seattle area investors, to act and not to wait until all signs point up, because when everything looks positive (or when everything looks negative), the multitude is in control.

Today, negativity still pervades the market, making it a buyer’s market. (In 2006 and early 2007, we could have said there was a “multitude” of positivity, which made it a seller’s market.)

The problem is, it’s difficult to stand against the multitude, even though it’s often in our best interest to do so. Many people find it uncomfortable to separate themselves from the crowd and look past today’s problems to today’s opportunities.

Fortunately, to be a successful dissenter, we only have to be mostly correct, not completely. You would be mostly correct in assuming that buying real estate at today’s prices and at today’s rates will prove very profitable a few years from now.

To learn more about the opportunities available, please feel free to contact me.

Mises, a contrarian economist