Real Estate Gridlock Is Suffocating the Market. Here's What to Do.

TLDR

The real estate market is in gridlock. It’s not crashing, it’s not growing, it’s just stuck. I’ve been buying houses since 2011, and money gets made when the market has momentum. Right now, I’m only buying porno deals, cutting every expense I can, and stacking cash to hit the next wave.

Table of Contents

• Should You Be Buying Right Now?
• What to Focus On During Gridlock
• Stack Cash Like Buffett
• Prep for What’s Coming
• FAQ

Should You Be Buying Right Now?

Short answer: only if it’s a porno deal.

Back in the sixties, there was a Supreme Court case trying to define hardcore pornography. The justice said he couldn’t define it, but he’d know it when he saw it. That’s how I’m buying right now. I can’t tell you exactly what a phenomenal deal looks like. But I’ll know it when I see it.

Real estate is a pretty clear fortune teller. Houses in this neighborhood in this condition sold for this amount. So if I get this house to that condition, it’s likely to sell for that amount. But that prediction only works when the market has momentum one way or the other. Gridlock breaks the crystal ball.

Pro Tip

A phenomenal deal can come from the price or the terms. Seller financing. Creative terms. A no-brainer walk-away-rich setup. Either way, the point is taking the risk out of the equation.

I have contractors out there who rely on me for work. I want to keep them in the system for when I’m ready to buy again. So instead of buying houses that need renovation, I’m doing some new building on extra lots I already own. Land doesn’t get hit hard when the market crashes. If I lose half the value on a thirty-thousand-dollar lot, I lost fifteen grand. If I lose half the value on a two-hundred-thousand-dollar house, I got a real problem.

If the market is stale, either buy only the can’t-miss deals or sit and wait.

What to Focus On During Gridlock

You need to act differently. First thing: maniacally cut expenses.

In a growth market, you might have some fat on your body. Meals, entertainment, office space, payroll. That stuff piles up. In gridlock, every expense needs to have a direct line to return. If you spend a dollar, you get two back. If not, it gets cut.

Here’s where the fat usually hides:

The one-person model is what I’m doing now. I’ve cut my payroll and I use VAs, overseas contractors, and AI to get things done. That’s a huge weight lifted. Most people’s businesses become a prison that locks them away. Stay light so you can live your life while you build wealth.

I used to be a personal trainer. The first thing I’d tell clients is track your calories. Just write it down. That alone changed things almost every time. People find the same thing with their finances. Once you add it up, you realize you’re making mistakes.

Common Mistake

Finishing a flip without thinking through whether to sell it. A flip and a rental are almost the same thing. You sell the finished house to a buyer, or you sell it to the bank through a refinance and put a renter in it. Put the flip on the shelf, collect rent, wait for the market to move, then sell later.

Stack Cash Like Buffett

If you follow the news, Warren Buffett is stacking cash right now. That guy probably knows a thing or two. He knows if the market drops, opportunities show up. The way to capitalize is to have cash in the bank.

As a real estate investor, you can get money from banks to buy houses. But you still need your own cash to grease the wheels. Here’s what I’m doing:

HELOC. A home equity line of credit. I take houses that have a lot of equity, go to the bank, and try to open a line. If I pull fifty grand to use as a down payment, I pay interest only on what I pulled. When I refinance or sell, I pay it back off. No interest while it’s sitting.

Cash-out refinance. Same equity, different tool. Instead of a line, I get a new mortgage on the house and put the cash in the bank. I pay interest on the whole thing, but these are generally easier to close than a HELOC.

SBA loans. If you have a business that qualifies, this is a solid way to get extra cash. Banks push these because they’re backed by the SBA.

Start a cash business. If you’ve got the time, do something in home services. Handyman. landscaping. Cleaning. Something that gets you in houses, in your pocket, and teaches skills that translate to real estate.

The ability to go find cash fast is one of the most valuable skills in this business.

Prep for What’s Coming

Eventually momentum returns. Maybe up, maybe down. Either way, I want to be ready. Here’s my prep list.

Marketing Direct to Seller

When things break open, everybody’s going to be on the MLS. Everybody’s going to be on online auctions. If it’s easy to find a deal, it’s not a good deal. I promise.

First, set up a home base so sellers know I’m not some fly-by-nighter. A website. A phone number. A local address, not a PO box.

Then outbound marketing. Two options.

Mail runs about fifty to seventy-five cents a piece. Three thousand pieces costs fifteen hundred to two thousand bucks. You send to a targeted list of owners who might want to sell, get some calls back, some appointments, some contracts.

If you don’t have the money, you do the work. Pull a list of owners in your target neighborhoods. Get that list skip traced to pull phone numbers. Cold call them. Say, “Hey, I’m looking to buy a house in this neighborhood. I saw yours. Any interest in selling?” They’re going to tell you to bleep off a hundred times. Then one will say yes. That’s how it works.

Build Your Contractor Bench

Your contractor pipeline is a depth chart. Starting quarterback, backup, second string, third string. You always want to keep stacking.

Right now, the market is stale. A lot of investors aren’t buying. That means contractors are hungry for work. Perfect time to interview and recruit the guys you want on your bench when you start buying again.

Always be recruiting.

Sharpen Your Underwriting

Use the gridlock to build knowledge. knowledge times experience equals skills. Skills are the wealth. Skills let you invest at will and build wealth at a rate that most people never see.

You can take actionable steps without risk. Practice finding the after repair value on houses you have no intention of buying. Practice underwriting deals. This sounds boring. It’s the key ingredient of becoming a phenomenal investor. Getting great deals on the front end starts with being able to see them faster than anyone else.

FAQ

Is the market actually going to crash?

I don’t know. Nobody does. I’m not trying to be Miss Cleo and predict it. All I know is right now things aren’t moving, and I’m taking specific actions because of it. That’s different from predicting a crash.

I’m brand new. Should I even get started in a gridlock market?

Yes, but go slower than you would in a rising market. Use this time to build your skills. Practice underwriting. Set up your home base. Start your outbound marketing. By the time a great deal lands on your list, you’ll be ready for it.

What counts as a phenomenal deal right now?

A great price, great terms, or both. Seller financing at a low rate. A massive equity gap on the front end. A property where even a crashing market still leaves you in the green. The test: no matter how bad the market gets, the deal still works.

How much cash should I stack?

Enough that when you see the deal, you can move on it without begging anybody. For most solo flippers, that’s at least thirty to fifty grand liquid plus lines of credit on your existing properties. Scale up from there.

Why should I be building now if I’m not buying?

Because your contractor pipeline, your underwriting skills, and your deal flow take months or years to build. If you wait for the market to turn, you’re behind. The investors who win the next wave are the ones who prepped during the flat.