It’s no secret that the general housing market is tanking all over the place. It is especially bad here in the Tampa Bay area. In fact, the sales of new and previously owned home in this particular region have been harder hit than in most other areas. It’s a bad time to have a house on the market and I can say that from experience – unfortunately.

Just because the residential market is so difficult right now does not mean that real estate as an investment is no longer a viable option. You just have to look around for other ways to invest. Going in and buying a slew on pre-construction condos and hoping to flip them is no longer the way to make a quick buck.

TIC, or Tenant In Common, transactions, are where a developers purchase an institutional-grade asset and then offers investors a percentage interest in the property – or, fractional interest. I know this is an over-simplified explanation of the process, but my goal here is not to fully educate you on the ins and outs of a TIC as much as it is to point out that real estate as an investment is still alive and kicking. Unlike flipping a house, partnering in a TIC Investment is a long-term commitment and there are usually income guidelines. Nonetheless, if properly executed, they can provide a positive monthly cash flow.

How many times do you hear about a car accident where a driver was drunk, running a red light, speeding, drag racing, or otherwise driving like a complete idiot and then hit another car? How often do we hear that the scumbag driver either walks away without injury or is treated and released while the innocent people in the other car lose their lives?

On Christmas day, David A. Belniak of Spring Hill, FL ran a red light on U.S. 19 in Hudson and hit a truck carrying four people. Two of the four people who were in that truck have died.

Belniak, on the other hand, was treated and released from Bayfront hospital in St. Petersburg. He’s just fine. He is also a murderer.

But, guess what? It’s not the first time this man has killed someone while he had been behind the wheel of a car. In 1994, he hit a pedestrian on U.S. 19. The woman died, but Belniak was not charged.

If you think that is his only other violation behind the wheel, then get ready to be shocked. He has a long list of horrific offences. In fact, I will just make a list, because if I gave each a paragraph, we would be here all night.

Last month Belniak just completed probation after being in jail for 17-month prison for a drug conviction. In 2003, he was pulled on suspicion of drunken driving, and police found a gallon of GHB (the “date rape” drug) in his car. He pleaded no contest to trafficking and was sentenced to two years in prison. His driver’s license was also suspended for two years.

In 2002, he was arrested for DUI. He pleaded guilty to reckless driving and paid a fine.

He has several speeding tickets on his record, with one as recently as September. In most cases he was cited for driving about twice the speed limit.

If that’s not bad enough, every single person involved EXCPET Belniak was wearing a seatbelt. And yet, he is the one who has his life and his health.

Is this a man who sounds like he should be allowed to drive? Ever? If our current laws cannot keep people like Belniak off the roads, then the laws are useless. Driving is a privilege, and yet this man has killed three people in his short 34 years on this earth, all while behind the wheel.

NOTE: I need to look into the details, but it appears three were actually killed in the accident.