Solano Real Estate Scene: Jim Porter
Article By: Jim Porter – January 30, 2026
The lyrics from Burl Ives’ classic Christmas song are relevant today: “Silver and gold, silver and gold, everyone wishes for silver and gold, how do you measure its worth? Just by the pleasure it gives here on Earth.”
A few of my friends have been screaming about buying gold for years because of the idea that the dollar will lose value as we print more money to pay for our $38 trillion in national debt.
Silver was selling at $29 per ounce in January 2025 and today, a few of my friends that loaded up on silver over the past 20 years can sell it for $109 per ounce.
Gold was $2,800 per ounce in January 2025 and as of this morning, gold is selling for $5,400 per ounce. A $10,000 investment in gold 20 years ago would be worth $95,000 today and $10,000 in silver would be $120,000.
A $10,000 investment in the S&P 500 index with dividends reinvested would be worth $69,000 today and $10,000 invested in the Nasdaq 100 index over the past 20 years would be worth an estimated $110,000 this month.
Consumer confidence just came in at a 12-year low; the dollar has been losing value, and everyone is talking about this K-shaped economy where the top 20% of the population is doing good while the bottom 80% are struggling.
Buying real estate is like gold and silver; it is considered a flight to quality when investors sell stocks and buy hard assets. You can touch it and feel it and unlike a stock, the value is determined by the pleasure it gives here on Earth.
Renting stinks and owning a home and the land it sits on is an absolute pleasure, and as long as you pay the mortgage, taxes and insurance, nobody can take it away from you nor do you have to worry about a K-shaped, V-shaped, U-shaped or L-shaped economy if you have an income that is secure and somewhat recession-proof.
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.
