A man had to go on a long journey.
Before embarking on his journey, the man walked up to God and sought his blessings.
God offered him a choice.
“Take along with you 5 litres of water or 10 litres of ice”.
Greed nudged the man to choose the latter(10 litres of ice).
The journey commenced. The weather was cold. The man walked on and on with an air of contentment and joy that emerged from his choice; the 10 litres of ice that he had chosen.
Soon he grew thirsty. He looked at the ice block. It was rock solid.
He walked on with the conviction that the weather would soon them warmer and the ice block would start melting and he would be able to quench this thirst.
But the weather wouldn’t relent and the ice wouldn’t melt.
His thirst by now grew by gigantic proportions and he felt miserable and grew desperate.
His 10 litres of ice which had once made him feel comfortable was now seeming like a hard rock of solid weight ; a white elephant which instead of providing comfort was causing him severe stress.
How now wished he had chosen the 5 litres of water instead.
Realisation soon dawned upon him that although ice and water both had the same chemical formula they were not same.
What mattered most was the state of their matter ( liquid vs solid)
This story is the story of scores of people who have amassed huge amount of real estate and who believe they are wealthy.
But the fact is quite the contrary. Their wealth is just a mirage ; a state of mind and a false belief. Their wealth is like the ice that wouldn’t melt.
Unless and until you can liquidate the asset by converting its form into liquid cash what our the purpose of that wealth which you believe belongs to you?
If your asset cannot meet your immediate need of security, education, health, holiday, etc etc then what is its purpose?
Real estate is largely like this. It is illiquid.
Try selling your house in an emergency and you will realise how difficult it is to find a willing buyer.
By the time you can sell your house more often than not it is a little too late and your need would by then have transformed into a lost opportunity.
Artharthi 