Solano Real Estate Scene: Jim Porter
Article By: Jim Porter – February 6, 2026
My deadline for this column is 3 p.m. Wednesday, and when I turned in last week’s story about gold and silver, gold was selling for $5,400 per ounce and silver was $109 per ounce.
On Friday, when the paper published, gold fell to $4,715 and silver to $80. Real estate prices did not change over those two days, and market rents for Northern California housing remained steady. I thought it was funny because I often tell people if they ever hear me talk positively about an individual stock, bet it the other way.
I do not do this anymore, but I once bought 1,000 shares of Kmart – or maybe it was Sears – 25 years ago after the stock price plummeted from $40 down to $4 per share. I thought there was no way it would drop further but it went to zero after bankruptcy in 2002. My $4,000 was gone, baby gone.
Gold and silver prices have recovered a bit this week, and although I believe in a diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds, precious metals and real estate, I think a hard asset like land and real estate is better than gold. Real estate can generate monthly income from rent or agriculture, and gold does not pay a dividend.
A home can provide you with a place to live and even if you cannot collect any rent from your spouse or children, you do not have to pay rent to a stranger for your housing. Inflation is your friend when you own real estate because your rental income will rise each year by 2% to 3%, and if you are a homeowner with a fixed-rate mortgage, you are protected from rent-housing inflation.
I have a financial adviser to protect me from myself, and I recommend everyone should seek financial and real estate coaching from a local professional that has a reputation in town to protect. Be careful, do not trust strangers with your money on the internet or YouTube. There are great real estate agents, mortgage professionals and financial advisers right here in your backyard.
Jim Porter, NMLS No. 276412, is the branch manager of Solano Mortgage, NMLS No. 1515497, a division of American Pacific Mortgage Corporation, NMLS No. 1850, licensed in California by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the CRMLA / Equal Housing Opportunity. Jim can be reached at 707-449-4777.
