With the real estate market in the toilet, most people would never dream of investing in property right now. "It's going down!" How do we know that? Because reputable sources like BusinessWeek tell us it is.

And then there are the people who have made fortunes in the industry, and they see it differently. In an interview with Portfolio, Related Companies founder, chairman, and CEO Stephen Ross explained his decision to make huge new investments in Manhattan real estate"

"Too many people believe that when things are bad, they don't know how they can get good and when they're good, they don't know how they can get bad."

Ross has ambitious plans for the next few years: a $3 billion mixed-use development in Los Angeles, a $3 billion Colorado ski resort, and a 144-acre development in Phoenix, one of the hardest hit real estate markets.

Maybe the naysayer journalists know something Ross doesn't, but I somehow doubt it: he's number 68 on the Forbes list.