This is an older post that I've updated.  I received a real estate association e-mail newsletter with an interesting list from an Illinois real estate agent, Mark Nash. I'd like to quote his Top Buyer Mistakes and give my opinion after each one:

1. Bought properties to flip at top-of-market prices

scottsdale homes for sale in a shopping cart

I still can't figure out why buyers do this. Maybe if a buyer timed the purchase around the flipping of a Scottsdale home for sale at the beginning of a seller's market, they might have seen a substantial profit. In our local market, things are slowing and I've already seen homes purchased and quickly put back on the market at a higher price (after some renovating) sitting and not selling.

UPDATE: We are still seeing flips but I do see a lot of…

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One of my life goals was to travel to distant places like Egypt and France. Can’t do that in a car. So at the age of 45, we got a trip to Cancun as a Christmas present from my then boyfriend's parents. I couldn’t turn it down. In fact, prior to going I read some books on Mexico (more on its rich history) and was excited about the trip.  This was in the 1990's.

interior of an airplaneBut I wasn't excited about my first plane ride. I had never taken a Valium but I was trolling for some. I got a couple from someone I knew. I was excited to go to Mexico but I still wasn’t looking forward to flying there.

In fact, I envisioned the scene in Airplane where a woman is going crazy and everyone goes up to her to punch her (or hit her with something) to shut her up. Even a nun hit…

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