Real Estate Lament

I hesitate to make a list

Of all the countless deals I’ve missed:

Bonanzas that were in my grip-

I watched them through my fingers slip.

The windfalls, which I should have bought

Were lost because I over-thought:

I thought of this, I thought of that;

I could have sworn I smelled a rat.

And while I thought things twice,

Another bought them at the price.

 

It seems I always hesitate,

Then make my mind up much too late.

A very cautious man I am.

 

And that is why I never buy.

 

How Nassau and how Suffolk grew!

North Jersey!  Staten Island, too!

While others culled those sprawling farms

And welcomed deals with open arms-

A corner here, ten acres there,

Compounding values year by year.

I chose to think, and as I thought,

They bought the deals I should have bought.

 

When tracts rose high on Sixth and Third,

The prices asked I felt absurd;

Whole block-fronts – bleak and black with soot

Were priced at thirty bucks a foot!

I wouldn’t even make a bid,

But others did- Yes! Others did!

 

When Tucson was cheap desert land

I could have had a heap of sand.

When Phoenix was the place to buy,

I thought the climate much too dry!

“Invest in Dallas- That’s the spot!”

My sixth sense warned me I should not.

A very prudent man am I

 

And that is why I never buy.

 

The golden chances I had then

Are lost, and will not come again.

Today I cannot be enticed

For everything’s so overpriced.

The deals of yesterday are dead;

The market’s soft—and so’s my head!

 

Last night I had a fearful dream;

I know I wakened with a scream.

Some Indians approached my bed-

For trinkets on the barrelhead

(In dollar bills worth twenty-four,

Nothing less and nothing more)

They’d sell Manhattan Isle to me;

The most I’d go was twenty-three.

The Redman scowled: “Not on a bet!”

And sold to Peter Minuit.

 

At times a teardrop drowns my eye

For deals I had but did not buy.

And now life’s saddest words I pen-

 

If only I’d invested then!

 

Author Unknown. This poem was published in Farm and Land Magazine – October 1917

Posted in  Blog, Sam's Real Estate Club

Reset password

Enter your email address and we will send you a link to change your password.

Get started with your account

to save your favourite homes and more

Sign up with email

Get started with your account

to save your favourite homes and more

By clicking the «SIGN UP» button you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Powered by Estatik
Skip to content