Main Line Real Estate Agent Encourages Practicing SIN When Investing

Christopher Benedict, one of the top real estate agents in the Main Line area, has launched a new campaign via www.AskTheBigGuy.com . The Main Line real estate investment agent focuses on providing investors, new and seasoned alike, a chance to practice investing in SIN, or "Strength In Numbers."

While the weakening dollar and sub-prime mortgage meltdown has depressed real estate prices, the tightening credit crunch is making it harder even for well-heeled investors to land investment properties without putting in substantial down payments, as high as 25 - 40%. To offset the typical "go it alone" mentality of investing in real estate, Main Line REALTOR Christopher Benedict, most notably known as "AskTheBigGuy.com," is encouraging investors to pool their cash and buy larger, more stable commercial and residential apartment investments while the prices are in good territory.

Mr. Benedict is angry at how many pockets have been picked, often helped by buyers' own greed. "I was surprised to find out how many well-intentioned new investors flocked to seminars, forked over cash and immediately lost money in the real estate market," Benedict said. "I knew several good people, some with much more than $100,000 to invest, take on real estate investing as a part-time job, with the hopes of making their real estate riches, forgetting that the race is a marathon, not a sprint. If I had been able to pool those people together, I could have structured a sound investment plan for many of them, possibly helping them as a group purchase apartment buildings in the price range of tens of millions that they would not have ordinarily even considered a potential as a solo investor. Larger investments tend to be more stable in an area of high demand like center city Philadelphia and the Main Line. They are more easy to leverage and can produce a nice steady cash flow or tax shelter if packaged properly."

As banks restructure their lending practices and hedge their bets on more conservative loans, Mr. Benedict believes that the SINful approach will be the next wave in real estate investments. "I would love to say that I am the first to encourage people to work together, but we have been told this time and again. Just like in Aesop's fables, the strength of many twigs is firm, while a single twig can be snapped with the greatest of ease."

About AskTheBigGuy.com:
Christopher Benedict coined the brand, Ask The Big Guy in 2001. Something of a maverick on the ritzy Main Line, Christopher is developing a network of young, high-energy professionals who share his "Strength In Numbers" philosophy. Christopher Benedict specializes in working with investors, as well as continuing to provide real estate services for buyers and sellers on the Main Line and the greater Philadelphia region. Visit www.AskTheBigGuy.com to learn more.