Perhaps Michael Jordan’s fame is so broad that it transcends fields from sports, to technology, to real estate investing. He does not play basketball for the Chicago Bulls anymore and has had his share of failures upon his NBA return with the Washington Wizards and as a professional baseball player.

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The issue of foreclosure is so sensitive to some people that they are hurt by merely bringing it up in a conversation. Why would it not hit them hard? A house is considered a person’s prime investment in his lifetime. When he loses it to foreclosure, it is inevitable to feel a sense of failure to keep the property, which in the case of many people, has served as the canvass of their memories.

But while most Americans dread it, even just thinking about it, some of has have learned to embrace the fact that their property was foreclosed. A news report featured the stories of some families who are slowly adapting to their situation.

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When we’re stressed with real estate investing or any other field, a nice massage surely helps. It doesn’t solve your problems; it merely relaxes your muscles. It takes away the fatigue your physical body feels due to working long hours; it does not erase the fact that you are in debt by at least $3,900 through credit cards and around $44,000 all in all. A massage is therefore a temporary reprieve from the toll you take from the “recovering” economy.

The financial state of people can be really stressing, as a recent Associated Press-GfK poll showed. The survey found that around 46% of Americans suffer from debt-related stress. You could be one of them. Good bet is that you are. Maybe it’s time for a massage. Try real estate investing “massage.”

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Today is perhaps the beginning of the end of the foreclosed Watergate Hotel’s sad days as a dilapidated property. Reports said a European group bought it for $45 million and plans to renovate it. Now that’s a huge rehabbing job – if they rehab it.

As far as the blogger is concerned, the hotel – famous for being the scene of a botched burglary that led to then President Nixon’s resignation – has over 250 rooms! It’s not clear what the company will do with it after the two-year renovation period. It doesn’t look like a fix and flip (apart from the obvious fact that two years of holding a property is not a flip anymore). So they will probably keep the property and monetize it. This is a case of millions of dollars of investments and is certainly not short-term real estate investing.

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Real estate investors, and people in general, should learn how to value other people’s time.

Unlike money, time is something that cannot be brought back. It is not a fixer upper home that once rehabbed can be restored to its previous glory. It’s not a house that can be wholesaled from one real estate investor to another. Time is of essence and learning to value your own and other people’s is something real estate investors should start doing.

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News of falling home prices will inevitably affect some real estate investors, neophytes in general. What seasoned investors do in times like these is ease the concerns of their apprentices. That’s because they know that whether prices of houses go up or down, it will be business as usual for those in real estate investing.

It can be recalled that home prices slid for the sixth-straight month in March according to Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city composite index of home prices. Economists said they think it’s just the beginning of “weakening” prices. They think the conclusion of the government’s first-time home buyer tax credit will further weaken home costs. Now, seasoned investors know that real estate agents, and not real estate investors, should be more concerned with this news.

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In real estate investing, we will encounter problems, petty and mundane. What separates successful real estate investors from could-have-been winners is the way they confront these problems. Sometimes we grow too smart in what we do that we “skip the obvious.” Hence, this story shared by my rehabber friend.

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Making bad REI decisions is probably inevitable at first. But if you’re already in the real estate investing industry for more than five years, these bad decisions should be rarer than a blue moon. You have actress Lindsay Lohan to teach you that.

Nope, the “Mean Girls” star hasn’t ventured into REI yet. Instead, she made headlines recently for sporting an alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet, again. It was ordered by the judge overseeing her probation after the former Disney star failed to show up for a hearing. Her lawyers said her passport was stolen in Cannes, where she attended a famous film festival. However, photos of Lohan partying in a yacht on the wee hours of the morning she was supposed to be back in the country for the hearing didn’t help.

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A friend who has been in the rehabbing houses business for a little over two years now recently called to share his good news. He bought a drum and percussion kit. At the age of 46, he might be a bit old for those instrumens but he says no one is too old for music. When asked why he bought just now, he said his wallet never actually allowed him to before.

So now, he says, he is rehabbing his childhood dream. Those were his exact words, “rehabbing my childhood.” Man, he has three grown-up kids and his thinking about his childhood. When I asked what his children thought when he bought the kit, he said two of them even accompanied him to the store. The eldest, studying out of state, sent him recommended models through email. As for his wife, she didn’t bother. But she did say she wanted a red kit over a black one because “black seems fit for an atheist.” Now that’s a supportive family, rehabbers.

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An interesting article that’s not really related to real estate investing came out online recently. It listed some of the things Americans simply can’t live without. And yes, many of us are guilty.

Among the things that were mentioned were coffee, alcohol, TV, and movies. Interestingly though, education was part of the list. The author of the feature mentioned the story of a family that was fast heading into bankruptcy last year. They chose to let go of their two cars, their two residences, and other important possessions. However, they decided to continue sending their son to a private high school. Why so? Americans simply feel that education is very important, in the same way that real estate investors feel that deals are important.

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