Take it from someone who grew up with parents who didn't make a lot of money at their jobs, invest in real estate. [/b]
Uh, you sure about that one, chief? You not reading the papers?
Just cause markets are down now doesn't mean investing in real estate is a bad idea. You don't get a return on rent payments.
Yeah, wouldn't now be a great time to invest considering that both the market is down and interest rates are as low as they're ever gonna be?
You may think so, but there is one HUGE item you're missing. Banks have been rocked so hard right now by defaults that obtaining credit for housing purchases is extremely difficult right now. And with the exception of Florida, California and a few other states, the housing market isn't bad across the board, so you are not necessarily going to see huge discounts in housing prices.
Now if you live in a state that has a lot of supply and you have a lot of cash for a down payment + great credit, then perhaps you might be able to find something. But this housing market doesn't quite work like the stock market (i.e. you are not necessarily going to find easy steals in a downtrodden economy).
Take it from someone who grew up with parents who didn't make a lot of money at their jobs, invest in real estate. [/b]
Uh, you sure about that one, chief? You not reading the papers?
I think this investment opportunity, like most, comes with caveats.
Others have pointed out that this might be an ideal time to invest. BUT, if you are planning on moving or don't know where you'll be in a few years, it sure ain't. You could end up stuck with some house who price hasn't come up. My boy just paid out $9000 to close the sale on his old condo, because he got a good job and moved. By the end, he was happy to write the check, and get it over with...
Or, my parents, who sold two houses in the midwest, and moved to the Northeast at the top of the market...and were FLOORED by the cost of living increase. They got some cheap apartment, and couldn't be happier renting and socking away money. They met with a financial advisor, and when he saw what they were paying in rent, his advice was: RENT.
Point being. It CAN be a great investment; it can also go bad. Just do your homework, don't rush in, and don't be stupid.
Take it from someone who grew up with parents who didn't make a lot of money at their jobs, invest in real estate. [/b]
Uh, you sure about that one, chief? You not reading the papers?
Just cause markets are down now doesn't mean investing in real estate is a bad idea. You don't get a return on rent payments.
No but the money you save by not paying mortgage or property tax could be better invested elsewhere.
Real estate is a good investment insofar as you also need a place to live. But speculation via real estate as strictly investment property is expensive and not very fluid. If a stock goes back, you can get out within a few minutes. Not so with real estate.
I think it's a good idea for people to try to buy a home for themselves if it's within their means. It's an important step towards wealth accumulation that your children can benefit from. But real estate as investment is something else entirely. I don't think it's a terrible idea in principle but it's certainly risky in its own way too.
Real Estate investment is NOT A SURE THING! People were convinced that was the case when things were good and everyone and their mother became a broker... that's one of the main reasons it's such a mess now. When you look at the history of the real estate market and the stock market, the crashes are a direct result of an influx of moron steak heads that think they're gonna get rich instantly. People stop doing their due dilligence and things get out of hand. It's a market just like any other and carries significant risk. Never forget that.
There's an old saying, "you can never own too much property". Here's the deal. Real estate is not a short term investment. If you are going to be conservative and are not trying to get paid now, the returns are very hard to beat. For most strutters, who are under 40, this is a very good look. Oliver is right about buying a domicile first. But don't stop there. In a few years look to branch out to another SFH or duplex. After 5 years, take the equity out and flip it into to 6 units, etc, etc. This is how real estate moguls get their start. Real estate has some huge advantages over the stock market. For one, you can improve the quality of your real estate investment. If you own IBM your are stuck with their management decisions. Real estate is a local asset. It's use cannot be shipped to China or Indonesia. Real estate is a finite asset. There's only so much of it in the world.
The market is tough for the moment in so much as people may have trouble getting financing for investment properties in certain parts of the country. Fine, look in other parts of the country. There is no rule that says you have to invest where you live. From an historical perspective interest rates are at a ridiculously favorable place. Do yourself a favor, tie up property at these rates. With the increase in rents in the next decade you'll laugh at your monthly nut. Don't believe me. My parents were acquiring property in late 70s when interest rates were over 15%. Today's market problems ain't shit compared to then.
Real Estate investment is NOT A SURE THING! People were convinced that was the case when things were good and everyone and their mother became a broker... that's one of the main reasons it's such a mess now. When you look at the history of the real estate market and the stock market, the crashes are a direct result of an influx of moron steak heads that think they're gonna get rich instantly. People stop doing their due dilligence and things get out of hand. It's a market just like any other and carries significant risk. Never forget that.
Yeah, but I think it had more to do with giving just about anyone a mortgage. I've read about to many people getting things like a $350,000+ mortgage while making $25,000 off 40 year loans with almost zero down. That's just a shit storm waiting to happen. And it really didn't help when those companies sold them shits off to large investment firms...
If you can put down a decent downpayment (20+%) and can carry your mortgage & bills. I'd say it's a decent time to buy.
i love my job and i can bike to work (5 minutes) but i dont get paid well at all. but i havnt watched a clock in 5 years and i get good health benefits and can take free classes at UPenn (mixed blessing ). i was promised a raise 16 months ago. never got one, besides the piddling 2-3% raises they give out each year
Take it from someone who grew up with parents who didn't make a lot of money at their jobs
My parents were acquiring property in late 70s when interest rates were over 15%.
Plaese to explain how people who didn't make a lot of money at their jobs go about "aquiring property".
1) My parents were incredibly disciplined in their spending habits. They did not take vacations, except with their kids. I honestly can't remember my father buying himself much of anything except the occasional piece of horrible silver jewelry (it was the 70s) or a record or two. They shopped smart for our necessities, drove unfancy cars. Over time they were able to save a small nest egg. They took that money and started investing in property. First a duplex, then a four unit building and then larger. Now that I run the business I follow much the same principles. I drive a beat up 1989 Ford Ranger without a functioning radio. I could afford a much nicer ride but I don't have one. Why? Cause I spent $3500 on my rig, it runs great and gets the job done. I figure I have saved at least $20k over most of the contractor/developers I run with. That's 20k I have to invest. Every penny counts. You'd be surprised where most of your money goes when you don't pay attention.
2) To save money on those investments my parents did most of the maintenance work themselves. When I was 10 I was already pulling weeds and helping clean up apts. All of the profits from those ventures went back into the buildings to make them more valuable and desirable. We tend(ed) to get better tenants because we have top shelf properties. Better tenants=less work=less wear and tear=greater profit=more investments. That's how we roll. I also learned to manage money when I was young. I got paid to work and had a savings account. I had to pay for part of my camps growing up, etc. I didn't always love it but I learned to respect a dollar.
3) Investing in real estate is like having another job. When you first start out you will work very hard but it will get easier as time goes on.
4) Look to build partnerships. For example, eventually, my grandparents saw how well my parents were doing and invested with them in even more real estate. Everybody came out ahead on the deal.
5) The end result is my mom is set for life. I have a terrific gig where I work with my family doing cool and interesting things every day. I have time and resources to work as activist in my community. On top of that I work from home so I see my kids a lot. So does my brother and my mother.
my last job was at a liquor store and i was fired may 18th, 2006. i now do freelance web design / development by myself and sometimes for a company in nyc. i generally work about 10-20 hours per week and get paid pretty well. i could work much more, but don't really feel like it -- i can't let something like work get in the way of my swap meet game.
This isn't a "How much do you make in a year" type of thing, but I'm just wondering because I wish I was making more money. Seems like the whole working in an office thing is not the way to really achieve your financial independance.
Oh, and Nate, I think your definition of "paid well" might be kind of anyhow. Perspectives shift you know?
I don't work while I'm at school aside from flippin gear from thrift stores and boutique sales on ebay, but over the summer I go back to a waiting job that I've had for about to four years. I make a little more than minimum wage plus tips which works out for me. I make enough during the summer that I can live the good life while I'm working and not really worry about what I spend, but I also save up enough to keep the bank account full during the school year. I'll let you know if a Music Business major gets paid well in a few years.
I make 30K working for a not for profit children's museum. It's really cool and disorganized but a great environment to work in every day. I get to see kids flip out when there turned loose in the museum, it's great! Money aint a thing.
Nah. Or maybe I do but spend too much on weed and rekkids.
Im just lucky I aint got kids, a mortgage or fuck with chicks that expect me to buy them styuff... or else I would be officially povo (oz slang for a broke ass muthafucker).
Its also about living costs compared to earnings. Like you can make 20 gs and only need to spend 10 of it to survive, or make 60 gs and spent 80gs a year on your lifestyle. It goes hand in hand. My dad always said 'the more money you make, the more money you spend'....
I have a reasonably comfortable life where I am able to buy what I want when I want to an acceptable level. I'm well aware that I'm never going to be absolutely filthy rich and in fact never really desired to be. My only regret is that my comfortable life comes from a conversation killer kind of job rather than the creative life I originally desired when I left uni. However I made the choice to do the job to get money and have always seen work as a means to an end rather than life itself.
On the down side, I haven't saved a penny throughout my thirty years on this earth, have no pension scheme, and will be paying off the mortgage on my house for around 200 years (props to me for purchasing it a month before the crash).
I think I can continue to live happily as long as I either a) never get fired/retire or b)kill myself at 65.
Take it from someone who grew up with parents who didn't make a lot of money at their jobs, invest in real estate. [/b]
Uh, you sure about that one, chief? You not reading the papers?
I think this investment opportunity, like most, comes with caveats.
Others have pointed out that this might be an ideal time to invest. BUT, if you are planning on moving or don't know where you'll be in a few years, it sure ain't. You could end up stuck with some house who price hasn't come up. My boy just paid out $9000 to close the sale on his old condo, because he got a good job and moved. By the end, he was happy to write the check, and get it over with...
Or, my parents, who sold two houses in the midwest, and moved to the Northeast at the top of the market...and were FLOORED by the cost of living increase. They got some cheap apartment, and couldn't be happier renting and socking away money. They met with a financial advisor, and when he saw what they were paying in rent, his advice was: RENT.
Point being. It CAN be a great investment; it can also go bad. Just do your homework, don't rush in, and don't be stupid.
wife and I are currently home owners after living in new york and renting all my life. I can tell you that I think 70 percent or higher of NY'ers rent. We are putting our home up for sale because its really not what we are all about. The american dream is to own a home and blah blah blah. Really we have rented for years. We move through neighborhoods and apartment sizes whenever we feel like it. The responsibilities of home ownership is really just not for us. I dont mind renting and basically helping others pay for their home.
I figure we're all going to die in a ball of fire in twenty years tops so fuck it, i'm enjoying myself. Money isn't a huge problem for me, if i need more I work more until i have what i need. My job is pretty much a money tap. I prefer to work less and live more, and I've been pretty lucky all things considered to live a very comfortable life. I'm not ducking bullets or bombs n shit, I get munted with good friends a lot and laugh heaps at my own stupidity. works for me.
I graduated college in '06 with a degree in a subject i very much enjoy. I was able got get a decent job offer in my town about a month before I graduated but in the national scale I was underpaid. I started at 33K a year after being offered 30 initially. After six months, I was offered another job and flipped that offer into a raise giving me 45/year (i was valued at that company). Then a year of working there and we got notice that we lost a big contract and I was layed off. The day after my first day off, I was offered a new job for not much more but with way way way better benefits. I work in a research lab for a University helping implement the research work into real life applications for various contracts. The job is way better, i get paid more, get better health insurance, have a pension plan, free classes at the University, got my own office, and super casual dress code here. I am probably going to finish a MS here and then get a much better paying job.
I worry about pay because my entire life was spent on assistance or we where dead broke. My mother moved to this country as an adult and when my father passed, she was stuck trying to work without more than a 8th grade education. She eventually finished up some schooling and got a really decent job by the time I started college. At this point though, I really worry about her post work life. I know she doesnt have anything in savings and will be struggling without a job. I hope to be making at least 110K in like 4 years since I know i will have to help her out.
do any of you guys have to worry about helping your parents out?
Comments
Uh, you sure about that one, chief? You not reading the papers?
Just cause markets are down now doesn't mean investing in real estate is a bad idea. You don't get a return on rent payments.
Yeah, wouldn't now be a great time to invest considering that both the market is down and interest rates are as low as they're ever gonna be?
You may think so, but there is one HUGE item you're missing. Banks have been rocked so hard right now by defaults that obtaining credit for housing purchases is extremely difficult right now. And with the exception of Florida, California and a few other states, the housing market isn't bad across the board, so you are not necessarily going to see huge discounts in housing prices.
Now if you live in a state that has a lot of supply and you have a lot of cash for a down payment + great credit, then perhaps you might be able to find something. But this housing market doesn't quite work like the stock market (i.e. you are not necessarily going to find easy steals in a downtrodden economy).
I think this investment opportunity, like most, comes with caveats.
Others have pointed out that this might be an ideal time to invest. BUT, if you are planning on moving or don't know where you'll be in a few years, it sure ain't. You could end up stuck with some house who price hasn't come up. My boy just paid out $9000 to close the sale on his old condo, because he got a good job and moved. By the end, he was happy to write the check, and get it over with...
Or, my parents, who sold two houses in the midwest, and moved to the Northeast at the top of the market...and were FLOORED by the cost of living increase. They got some cheap apartment, and couldn't be happier renting and socking away money. They met with a financial advisor, and when he saw what they were paying in rent, his advice was: RENT.
Point being. It CAN be a great investment; it can also go bad. Just do your homework, don't rush in, and don't be stupid.
No but the money you save by not paying mortgage or property tax could be better invested elsewhere.
Real estate is a good investment insofar as you also need a place to live. But speculation via real estate as strictly investment property is expensive and not very fluid. If a stock goes back, you can get out within a few minutes. Not so with real estate.
I think it's a good idea for people to try to buy a home for themselves if it's within their means. It's an important step towards wealth accumulation that your children can benefit from. But real estate as investment is something else entirely. I don't think it's a terrible idea in principle but it's certainly risky in its own way too.
Basically.
The market is tough for the moment in so much as people may have trouble getting financing for investment properties in certain parts of the country. Fine, look in other parts of the country. There is no rule that says you have to invest where you live. From an historical perspective interest rates are at a ridiculously favorable place. Do yourself a favor, tie up property at these rates. With the increase in rents in the next decade you'll laugh at your monthly nut. Don't believe me. My parents were acquiring property in late 70s when interest rates were over 15%. Today's market problems ain't shit compared to then.
Plaese to explain how people who didn't make a lot of money at their jobs go about "aquiring property".
Is that Kahn Souphanousinphone???
Disconnected from '80s infommercials!
Yeah, but I think it had more to do with giving just about anyone a mortgage. I've read about to many people getting things like a $350,000+ mortgage while making $25,000 off 40 year loans with almost zero down. That's just a shit storm waiting to happen. And it really didn't help when those companies sold them shits off to large investment firms...
If you can put down a decent downpayment (20+%) and can carry your mortgage & bills. I'd say it's a decent time to buy.
but i havnt watched a clock in 5 years and i get good health benefits and can take free classes at UPenn (mixed blessing ). i was promised a raise 16 months ago. never got one, besides the piddling 2-3% raises they give out each year
1) My parents were incredibly disciplined in their spending habits. They did not take vacations, except with their kids. I honestly can't remember my father buying himself much of anything except the occasional piece of horrible silver jewelry (it was the 70s) or a record or two. They shopped smart for our necessities, drove unfancy cars. Over time they were able to save a small nest egg. They took that money and started investing in property. First a duplex, then a four unit building and then larger. Now that I run the business I follow much the same principles. I drive a beat up 1989 Ford Ranger without a functioning radio. I could afford a much nicer ride but I don't have one. Why? Cause I spent $3500 on my rig, it runs great and gets the job done. I figure I have saved at least $20k over most of the contractor/developers I run with. That's 20k I have to invest. Every penny counts. You'd be surprised where most of your money goes when you don't pay attention.
2) To save money on those investments my parents did most of the maintenance work themselves. When I was 10 I was already pulling weeds and helping clean up apts. All of the profits from those ventures went back into the buildings to make them more valuable and desirable. We tend(ed) to get better tenants because we have top shelf properties. Better tenants=less work=less wear and tear=greater profit=more investments. That's how we roll. I also learned to manage money when I was young. I got paid to work and had a savings account. I had to pay for part of my camps growing up, etc. I didn't always love it but I learned to respect a dollar.
3) Investing in real estate is like having another job. When you first start out you will work very hard but it will get easier as time goes on.
4) Look to build partnerships. For example, eventually, my grandparents saw how well my parents were doing and invested with them in even more real estate. Everybody came out ahead on the deal.
5) The end result is my mom is set for life. I have a terrific gig where I work with my family doing cool and interesting things every day. I have time and resources to work as activist in my community. On top of that I work from home so I see my kids a lot. So does my brother and my mother.
I hope this answers your question.
Oh, and Nate, I think your definition of "paid well" might be kind of
Im just lucky I aint got kids, a mortgage or fuck with chicks that expect me to buy them styuff... or else I would be officially povo (oz slang for a broke ass muthafucker).
Its also about living costs compared to earnings. Like you can make 20 gs and only need to spend 10 of it to survive, or make 60 gs and spent 80gs a year on your lifestyle. It goes hand in hand. My dad always said 'the more money you make, the more money you spend'....
I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Yes, sir.
Are you listening?
Yes, I am.
Plastics.
On the down side, I haven't saved a penny throughout my thirty years on this earth, have no pension scheme, and will be paying off the mortgage on my house for around 200 years (props to me for purchasing it a month before the crash).
I think I can continue to live happily as long as I either a) never get fired/retire or b)kill myself at 65.
wife and I are currently home owners after living in new york and renting all my life. I can tell you that I think 70 percent or higher of NY'ers rent. We are putting our home up for sale because its really not what we are all about. The american dream is to own a home and blah blah blah. Really we have rented for years. We move through neighborhoods and apartment sizes whenever we feel like it. The responsibilities of home ownership is really just not for us. I dont mind renting and basically helping others pay for their home.
I worry about pay because my entire life was spent on assistance or we where dead broke. My mother moved to this country as an adult and when my father passed, she was stuck trying to work without more than a 8th grade education. She eventually finished up some schooling and got a really decent job by the time I started college. At this point though, I really worry about her post work life. I know she doesnt have anything in savings and will be struggling without a job. I hope to be making at least 110K in like 4 years since I know i will have to help her out.
do any of you guys have to worry about helping your parents out?