Stop Complaining, You'll Miss The Silver Lining Otherwise!

Today's blog comes to you from only one hand, because I accidentally ran full pelt into a gate last night. Ouch!

Anywhoo, I'd like to discuss a flat with you all. This flat is in the lovely (hmm...) town of Sandy, Bedfordshire. A nice two-bedroom number on the top floor near to local amenities etc. Mrs Max and I were looking to buy this little place a while ago as our first home. We were as excited as, well, two people buying their first home would be. Well... excited wasn't really the word by the end of it, as it was such a pain in the proverbial to try and sort it that it felt like kicking the business end of a meat-grinder would have been mildly more enjoyable. The guy who owned the flat seemed to disappear from the face of the earth after accepting our offer, meaning that we got bored with waiting. Then we found out that the ceiling in one of the rooms was, and I quote from the survey, "about to fall down" and they couldn't explain why the last guy had put new wall coverings in the living room. Not to worry, there was another place on the ground floor that was exactly the same, so we tried to get that one. No joy, he wanted full price (despite it being so damp you could call it a water feature and so much mould it was practically a pet) and then decided to rent it out at the last minute. By this point, we were so sick of the whole shooting-match that we gave up and rented.

Now, you're probably wondering why I'm telling you all of this. Why is a story of flat-buying woe of any relevance to you? Well, the important point here is the date of all of this: September 2007. If you need reminding, then this was just before the start of the whole "credit crunch" malarkey or, as those who work in the property industry will call it, "right at the top of the house-price bubble". We didn't buy then, and we're so lucky that we didn't. Just to give you an idea of the scale of the averted disaster, the ground floor flat was up for £125k. A year later, it was £97k. Sucks to be him, especially as his new tenants moved out after six months. I'm probably on my own with this one, but I'm pretty darn grateful that we ran into so many problems trying to buy, because as much as I complained about them at the time, they saved us from what could have been a financial disaster. Any idea of moving a few years later to a nicer place would have been out of the window.

This now has me thinking. At the time, it was simply a problem that involved a lot of wasted time and dashed hopes. The sellers had messed us about, and we'd run around for nothing. What it actually was, was a blessing in disguise. Sure, it would have been nice at the time to not have had all that running around, but it saved us years of worry, problems and not being able to move out of the dungeon of dampness. It was really frustrating to have had our hopes raised then dashed, but I bet nowhere near as frustrating as the owner was after losing out not only on tenants, but on £28k in a year. Clearly, it was an opportunity wearing an odd disguise. That could have been me, right there! So if this problem was actually an opportunity in disguise, what else could have been? Well, Mrs Max and I went travelling about five years ago, which obviously meant that we weren't working while we were away and had no guarantee of a job when we got back. In fact, that was the case for a short while. We had to make do with temping jobs for a while, but ended up working in jobs far better than our previous "safe bet" ones. In fact, if I'd decided to be safe and not leave, then I would have actually been made redundant six months later. How awkward would that have been?

So for this reason, I can't help but look at what is happening in America as they argue over borrowing money and try and find a hidden opportunity. I found it truly hilarious that for a while, Apple had more money to spend than the most powerful nation in the world. For just shy of a week, there was a real worry that America would not be able to pay its way. Now, I didn't think for a second that this would actually happen, but I know some banking types have been using this as a way to get some cheap shares. Anyone ever wanted to start buying shares and whatnot? Well that was the perfect hidden opportunity. See what I mean? A guy I know once lent a mate of his £1,000 a while back, much to the naysaying of many. He could have done with that money at the time, but instead lent it at interest. When he had it back, he simply kept on lending money to people. This little business became known as Loans.co.uk and made the owner a lot of money. I'm not going to tell you how much, but feel free to look it up yourselves.

So we need to look at problems from a slightly different angle. Rather than worrying about a new problem, regardless as to how big or small it is, we need to start looking at what opportunities this presents us. This very PR company was started from such a predicament. Rather than being resigned to losing their jobs and suddenly being on the dole, they took the opportunity top start something new based on what they were good at. They set up, went out and signed up some fantastic clients and the rest, as they say, is history. It sure beats moping about a problem, that's for sure. Every problem is a potential opportunity for something new. The trick only rests in seeing it.

Now if only I could find the opportunity in my busted arm, then I'll be sorted for the day. Ouch!

Tweet