CW 439: Rent-to-Value Ratios, Bitcoin, & The Case-Shiller Index with Jason Hartman

There’s a nostalgic feeling to today’s Creating Wealth Show as Jason Hartman provides a live recording from the 2014 Meet the Masters event in Orange County, California. This gives listeners a taste of what they can expect from the January 2015 event in Irvine, California, and also provides a good opportunity to see how far the financial and real estate worlds have come over the past months. Key topics covered include the Case-Shiller index, reassessing Rent-to-Value ratios and the development of bitcoin.

Key Takeaways

04.30 – Jason Hartman’s investment strategy doesn’t focus on appreciation – if it happens, it’s a bonus.

07.45 – Bitcoin and its competing alternative cyber currencies really came about because people are starting to doubt the fiat money Central Banking model that we’ve become accustomed to.

10.50 – Despite being the most commonly used index, Jason Hartman would only recommend 6 of the 20 markets proposed by the Case-Shiller index.

14.08 – As humans, we find it inherently difficult to know when to cut losses and just walk away.

15.50 – Niall Ferguson claims that the most powerful part of the financial system is the bond market, and we would all do well to remember that.

20.09 – Real estate is not a very liquid market and so even when prices drop, they don’t drop as quickly as most other asset classes.

26.18 – Rent-to-value ratios change totally if you think about the actual utility cost per month – how much is your renter paying to use your property, and how does that compare with what you think the value is?

31.23 – The forms and uses of money have changed many times throughout history, and now we’re dealing with the technological side of currency, which has led us to bitcoin.

39.50 – Jason Hartman goes through step-by-step considering the relative merits and failings of the dollar, bitcoin, gold and income property.

Mentioned in this episode

The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson