Jason Hartman

Right.

Right.

Right. One comment on that, though. One mistake that a lot of people make, you know, where they're bashing the dollar and they're bashing, you know, fiat money, right, government money, is they say, well, the government's not backed by anything. And that's not true. You know, Nixon cut the last tie with gold standard on August 15th of 1971. And so it's not backed by gold.

Right. One comment on that, though. One mistake that a lot of people make, you know, where they're bashing the dollar and they're bashing, you know, fiat money, right, government money, is they say, well, the government's not backed by anything. And that's not true. You know, Nixon cut the last tie with gold standard on August 15th of 1971. And so it's not backed by gold.

But it is backed by aircraft carriers, missiles, standing armies. And interestingly, the American brand backs the dollar. Think of the biggest brands in the world, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, whatever, right? America is the world's biggest brand. And I think a lot of people don't understand that that brand has incredible value. Now, It's been diminished and it's on the decline.

But it is backed by aircraft carriers, missiles, standing armies. And interestingly, the American brand backs the dollar. Think of the biggest brands in the world, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, whatever, right? America is the world's biggest brand. And I think a lot of people don't understand that that brand has incredible value. Now, It's been diminished and it's on the decline.

Hopefully now it'll turn around, but it's still the world's biggest brand.

Hopefully now it'll turn around, but it's still the world's biggest brand.

I've done north of 3,000. Yeah, but that's, you know, through my different companies over the years and all.

I've done north of 3,000. Yeah, but that's, you know, through my different companies over the years and all.

Well, you know, a big part of it is inflation. And how much inflation will we have? We're not going to have deflation in any significant way. There's just nothing to support that idea. You know, there may be little bouts of it or declining inflation. But overall, the macro trend is inflation. And with inflation, real estate benefits huge amounts. I mean, bigly, as Trump would say.

Well, you know, a big part of it is inflation. And how much inflation will we have? We're not going to have deflation in any significant way. There's just nothing to support that idea. You know, there may be little bouts of it or declining inflation. But overall, the macro trend is inflation. And with inflation, real estate benefits huge amounts. I mean, bigly, as Trump would say.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Benefits bigly. And inflation is the hidden wealth crater for real estate investors. And we can talk about that more. But in terms of the forecast, you know, the last 21 years I've been forecasting the market, and my predictions have pretty much all come true except one major prediction, interest rates. I have been wrong about interest rates. Those are very hard to forecast.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Benefits bigly. And inflation is the hidden wealth crater for real estate investors. And we can talk about that more. But in terms of the forecast, you know, the last 21 years I've been forecasting the market, and my predictions have pretty much all come true except one major prediction, interest rates. I have been wrong about interest rates. Those are very hard to forecast.

Of course. Of course. I'm not going to try and do it anymore. Okay. Fair enough. But in terms of the market, this year is the hardest year ever to predict the real estate market. Why? Because there are so many wild cards. Trump is the wild card of wild cards. You know, the tariff issue, the construction workers, your prior guest was talking about that. That's right.

Of course. Of course. I'm not going to try and do it anymore. Okay. Fair enough. But in terms of the market, this year is the hardest year ever to predict the real estate market. Why? Because there are so many wild cards. Trump is the wild card of wild cards. You know, the tariff issue, the construction workers, your prior guest was talking about that. That's right.

The average construction worker now is almost 50 years old. In the past, you know, it was guys in their early 20s, you know, framing houses. Nowadays, these guys have aged. They're all 50. And there is a giant shortage of construction workers. And that's going to make the supply-demand equation out of balance. That's going to push the price of housing up. These tariffs will push the price up.

The average construction worker now is almost 50 years old. In the past, you know, it was guys in their early 20s, you know, framing houses. Nowadays, these guys have aged. They're all 50. And there is a giant shortage of construction workers. And that's going to make the supply-demand equation out of balance. That's going to push the price of housing up. These tariffs will push the price up.

There's a lot of upward pressure on prices and just general inflation and housing shortage. Right now, we have less than 700,000 homes on the market in the United States.

There's a lot of upward pressure on prices and just general inflation and housing shortage. Right now, we have less than 700,000 homes on the market in the United States.