打下2011這幾個數字，我突然想起了2001，那個在紐約發生的悲劇，馬上就要十個年頭了。那一天，我太太出差在波士頓，看到劫機情形，立即打電話給她：無論如何不要上飛機。那個悲劇發生後，公司開始大規模裁員。第二年，我買下了第一個投資房，在某市的九十六街。
回首這些年，我心存感激，趕上了一個房市的上升期。沒有市場的順風船，發展就會慢很多。買下九十六街的時候，跟我太太說，我爭取每四，五年買一個這麽大的東西，用二十年的時間，達到總套數二十個，就可以了。八年後的今天，那個目標已經被超越了。
去年開始，我是這麽說的：“There will be modest and careful expansion of portfolio this year. But leaving enough reserve is always important. I hope I can add one multifamily property this year, with odd condos and SFHs on the side from either REO/Short sale or trustee auctions. The altimate goal is to increase size with healthy cash flow.”
今年，我在年初，到Central Florida，買了四個condo。現在都在出租。除此之外，沒有在買別的東西。
在十多年沒有回國後，我今年回了國，看了世博，帶老婆孩子去了北京，上海，南京，山東，看了孔子墓，爬了泰山。孩子們第一次回了老家，所到各地，感受到濃濃的親情。中國的發展，真是翻天覆地。
後來又回了一次國，一是參加同學聚會，而是參加展覽會，尋找商機。我一直想找到一種方式，參加中國的發展，但是不回國。這次回國，我到處走，北京，西安，濟南，青島，鄭州。整個中國都在搞建設，整個國家像一個大的建設工地，熱火朝天，但也是髒亂不堪。同學聚會，和二十幾年沒有見麵的同學聊天吃飯，參觀法門寺，瞻仰黃帝陵，去了延安，感覺很有意義。
我花了幾乎一年的時間，想出了一個產品。找了一個設計師，把我的想法變成產品。新年後，第一批產品將裝船啟運，到中國試銷。我用心控製規模，以便不成功的話，不要損傷太大。
不管怎麽說，房子 is my compfortable zone. T市年終傳來好消息，能源價格攀升，該市經濟開始活躍，房租開始攀升，整個小鎮，全部滿租，很多人要在旅館裏住著等空房。另一方麵，房價還在買方市場。我決定在該鎮增加投資。I have three units in town right now: two houses and a condo. I decided to increase the units to a maximum of ten. So I started to make offers, my first batch of offers ended up with three offers accepted, which will be closed in January.
For 2010:
1. Continue to make offers in T town, close the three accepted offers, and purchase another four units, to make the total number of units to ten.
2. Keep working on the product, ship it to China. Keep developing contacts in China.
3. May make small investments in China. Keep them small, in various forms.
4. Sell at least one of the two properties in Texas. Look for multi-family property once the capital is free. Look to phase out of Texas, or buy a much bigger property.
5.Try to increase the number of units in Central Florida.
6. B town experienced extreme hardship this year. Need to monitor it more closely in the new year.
All in all, I feel extremely lucky to still have capital to make more purchase in this kind of hard environment. I will continue to be careful, and only make purchases that make cash flow sense. I have to remember to keep a healthy level of reserve fund, because when things go bad, only reserve fund can save the situations. I probably should not go to new places for RE, rather, expansion should be in existing locations.
