Global Mortgage Group is proud to bring you these quotes from some of history’s smartest people. In their own simple, yet clever way, each quote shows that real estate could be the best way to increase wealth.

Real estate is a numbers game. But that doesn’t mean a few words can’t help investors dominate the market. In fact, real estate investing is an extremely emotional pursuit. Between investors’ swing moods, that many times drives the market, to the risks that are involved with investing, emotions can sometimes run high. GMG has a unique line of mortgage products regardless where you want to invest, be it the US, Australia, Japan, Thailand, Canada, or the UK.

Enjoy the selection of quotes from some of history’s greatest minds and investors, including Warren Buffett, Mark Twain and Teddy Roosevelt.

Real estate cannot be lost or stolen, nor can it be carried away. Purchased with common sense, paid for in full, and managed with reasonable care, it is about the safest investment in the world.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, U.S. president

Buy land, they’re not making it anymore.

Mark Twain, writer and humorist

Ninety percent of all millionaires become so through owning real estate. More money has been made in real estate than in all industrial investments combined. The wise young man or wage earner of today invests his money in real estate.

Andrew Carnegie, billionaire industrialist

Buy on the fringe and wait. Buy land near a growing city! Buy real estate when other people want to sell. Hold what you buy!

John Jacob Astor, real estate and business mogul

Buy on the fringe and wait. Buy land near a growing city! Buy real estate when other people want to sell. Hold what you buy!

John Jacob Astor, real estate and business mogul

In the real estate business, you learn more about people, and you learn more about community issues, you learn more about life, you learn more about the impact of government, probably than any other profession that I know of.

Johnny Isakson, U.S. senator

Some people look for a beautiful place. Others make a place beautiful.

Hazrat Inayat Khan, spiritualist

Games are won by players who focus on the playing field—not by those whose eyes are glued to the scoreboard. If you instead focus on the prospective price change of a contemplated purchase, you are speculating. There is nothing improper about that. I know, however, that I am unable to speculate successfully, and I am skeptical of those who claim sustained success at doing so.

Warren Buffett, billionaire investor

Landlords grow rich in their sleep without working, risking or economizing.

John Stuart Mill, political economist

Every person who invests in well-selected real estate in a growing section of a prosperous community adopts the surest and safest method of becoming independent, for real estate is the basis of wealth.

Theodore Roosevelt, U.S. president

Don’t wait to buy real estate. Buy real estate and wait.

Will Rogers, actor

Buying real estate is not only the best way, the quickest way, the safest way, but the only way to become wealthy.

Marshall Field, entrepreneur

I still think buying a home is the best investment any individual can make.

John Paulson, billionaire

I have always liked real estate; farm land, pasture land, timber land and city property. I have had experience with all of them. I guess I just naturally like ‘the good Earth,’ the foundation of all our wealth.

Jesse Jones, entrepreneur

If you’re not going to put money in real estate, where else?

Tamir Sapir, business mogul

To be successful in real estate, you must always and consistently put your clients’ best interests first. When you do, your personal needs will be realized beyond your greatest expectations.

Anthony Hitt, real estate professional

The best investment on Earth is earth.

Louis Glickman, real estate investor

A funny thing happens in real estate. When it comes back, it comes back up like gangbusters.

Barbara Corcoran, real estate investor

It is a comfortable feeling to know that you stand on your own ground. Land is about the only thing that can’t fly away.

Anthony Trollope, novelist

In my experience, in the real-estate business past success stories are generally not applicable to new situations. We must continually reinvent ourselves, responding to changing times with innovative new business models.

Akira Mori, real estate developer

Now, one thing I tell everyone is learn about real estate. Repeat after me: real estate provides the highest returns, the greatest values and the least risk.

Armstrong Williams, entrepreneur

Real estate investors need to stay motivated and open to new ideas, loan programs and suggestions. Hopefully these quotes will help prospective investors and veterans alike get there.

Mortgage rates have recently been seeing higher upticks, indicating a steady economic recovery. Last week (from 15 to 21 February), the rates took the biggest leap in more than a year. According to Bankrate data, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage reached 3.04% on 22 February, which was 2.8% on 10 February.

Mortgage rates are still near record lows, but the continuous growth could trigger some trends that may not be positive for the housing market, especially for the consumers.

The receding curve of COVID-19 infection, recovering economy, unemployment reduction, and the government’s monetary stimulus packages have encouraged the buyers to return to the housing market. Additionally, cheap mortgages and possible inflation predictions have fueled the demand, creating an imbalance in supply and demand.

The interest rates are unlikely to take a U-turn pretty soon, and experts don’t expect skyrocketing figures either. In truth, rates are still relatively low, as the 30-year rate was nearly 5% even a decade ago. Yet, what could be the impacts of the steady rising rates?

Treasury Yields Could Increase Even More

After bottoming at 50 basis points, the 10-year Treasury yield has been growing since August 2020. On February Friday, it was 1.35%, which has a high chance of growing even more and reaching 1.5%. 

However, the yield won’t increase rapidly unless inflation breaks out or the Fed tightens the policy. Even if inflation happens, it is unlikely to go out of control. Any policy change is not on the horizon, too, since James Bullard, the St. Louis Fed President, dismissed this possibility.

Refinancing Applications Drop

The increasing mortgage rate has caused a decrease in refinancing applications, which is understandable because a home loan refinance directly relates to the ups and downs in the weekly mortgage rates.

The good news is that even with a slight downward curve, the refinancing rate is still much higher in the year-to-year index. It fell just 5% from the previous week, but the rating is still 51% higher than the same period in 2020.

The gap is minimal if you consider the total refinancing applications. It decreased just 0.9% from the previous week’s 70.2%.

Buying Trend Will Continue

Interest rates creeping up have curbed the refinancing trend slightly, but rates are still low enough for buyers to apply for a mortgage. According to the data from the National Association of Realtors, the housing market is hot as the year-to-year home buying rate in January 2021 jumped 24%.

The data indicates a booming buying trend all across the country. The demand is much higher than the number of homes in the market. Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s head of global macro strategy, Jim Caron, thinks that the buying trend will take a huge leap in the coming months.

The new stimulus package will grant individuals a $1,400 stimulus check (the previous one was $600), which will give people more buying power. Caron reckons that a considerable portion of that money will go into the housing market.

Sources: Marketplace, CNBC & Financial times