New In love with the coral and coconuts in Key Largo
. Recently moved from beautiful Laguna Beach California to Florida. The warm water and tropical colors are awesome.
My wife and left So. Cal. 2 years ago because of the homestead laws in Florida. We abandoned 10 properties
during the Real Estate depression, (PNC mortgage reniged on a loan for a property we finished building just when all lenders stopped lending left us high and dry that was the proverbial straw that broke the camels back) just finished our last short sale 2 months ago
. In order to protect against possible collections from a couple of the banks that rejected short sale attempts we put our cash into a home in Florida and walked away from a couple million in debt
, while our net worth dropped about 5 million
. The equity lines still have claims after the short sale. Dreams dashed to pieces we felt broke and hopelessly lost, our marriage on the edge,
being poor was a difficult transition. We are aware that we got out fairing much better than most.
ok I'll quit with the faces. Just having too much fun.
We paid cash for our Key Largo home that has appreciated by double after our purchase and rehab efforts, estimated value about $400k. We managed to collect (after years of intense negotiations that drove us to the brink of divorce) on some real-estate notes and recently got a cash settlement of $350,000 but we left $250k on the table. (That still may be collectable but will be a battle and possible legal nightmare.) If anyone has knows real-estate law and trust law I will tell that story.
I think I can make it as a retiree with what I have. $400k real estate equity and $400k cash each, $200k cash each per husband and wife. We still don’t know if we will stay married.
I am 57 and have not been able to get a real job in Florida, just handy man work. Not enough income to pay for utilities. Based on actuarial tables it looks like I have a 30% chance of living another 30 years. I am healthy and am planning on 40 years. It seems that if I keep my expenses below $1500 per month each I have a reasonable chance of ending up at zero in 40 years, providing there are no major expenses and I can do a great job of investing. I didn’t put in any social welfare it would add about $800 per month about age 62 wife would get about $1200 per month. I also did not adjust for medical expenses. We have a high deductible health insurance policy with Blue Cross, I think this is the week point with my plan. I saw what it cost for my dad as his health declined.
My wife has dual citizenship and is spending a lot of time with her aging mother. She is on the British National Health Service, if I move over I can eventually get FREE medical. This sounds like an excellent benefit to moving somewhere so cold.
The key I guess is in investing and not blowing it, so far I’m down $5,000 with Apple in the last month.
I am leaning toward doing more real-estate projects; I have a good track record, but cannot get a loan now because of my recent financial downfall. I have dabbled with stocks but have not made enough to live. I don’t have enough money to do a real estate project where I am living now. Minimum purchase prices are around $400k. I would have to relocate to another area to safely take on a project with the cash I have or sell my home and then I would have cash, but the logistics are difficult.
Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated. PS I cut my kids off 3 years ago. They are in college and have disowned me
, they want money and I think it would be a mistake for me to support their expensive life styles; they haven’t made the connection; before real estate depression and after. I do miss them luckily their mom is able to take care of them, but there is a price to pay, I wonder if I will ever be invited to see grand kids. I feel that if they can’t bother to email or text me why should I help support them, I don’t know what to do about that either.