Recent content by tryan

They wouldn't pan handle if it didn't work. Funny story from the contractor. Labor is REALLY tight here. Good people for grunt work are hard to find. So my contractor would stop and ask pan handlers to work for the day ..."I'll pay cash at the end of the day". One guy took him up on the...

It was discussed years ago that a way to value a pension or SS is 15 times the annual payment. Idea is you'll likely collect for 15 years ... so just add it up.

Makes me think of a friend... assets in the multi millions. Empty nested. Wife working as a teacher. She wants OUT. Doesn't feel safe in the school. And he says "suck it up! you need to max out the pension after spending 8 years raising the kids". Really don't under stand this mentality.

Little bit interesting .... I tried twice to get solar. Each time best they could due was 40% of available sun (we are in a valley). My neighbor had wireless internet but dropped it .... unreliable here. Your results may vary!

When I built there was no cable or internet. Poles were 5k each to bring electricity to the build site. All that has changed ... now have fiber. Poles are 3x what I paid.

My boys were 5 and 7 when I built on a small lake in a ski resort town. Now they are 25 and 23 and the lake house is being converted to a full time house. Trick is have dual seasons (we ski). Could NEVER afford to do this now ... home values have more than tripled. Would never sell. It'll...

Just for giggles I added 15 years of SS and my pension .... Only moved the dial 1%

Point being , The carrying costs in the long term will exceed the purchase price. I would be less worried about how to pay for it and more worried about how to carry it for the long haul.

I build a second home lake front in a ski resort town. My boys were 5 and 7 now 23 and 25. The place has more nearly tripled in value. Time is on your side with real estate. We managed to do it when we were young and rented it out before Airbnb and Homeaway existed. It was a simple way to...

Mine was a 1031 exchange. A duplex in the hood for lake front land.

I said on another thread a women I know married a trust fund kid. They then hit for 18M in the dot com craze. So she lived the high life for 30 years. They separated for a decade ... separate houses. When I asked why she wouldn't divorce him and get her 1/2 she said she was "afraid" of what...

When healthcare becomes a reason to go back ... you'll never retire

... realtors control the MLS hence the need for the selling realtor. But if the internet makes the MLS obsolete ... THAT would interesting.

Seems to me this is the end of the buyers realtor .... and a boom for the selling broker. The buyers will contact the selling broker directly and the entire commision stays in the selling realtors office. Commissions will come down because there is one less realtor feeding off the sale.

A friend watched her now ex pay 6 figures for her ring. She was shocked when the top offer in the diamond district of Manhattan was 30 cents on the dollar. DECADES later. Not an investment.