patrick.net

meetyaks,

There's a silver lining. You could have overpaid then but you still have the chance to overpay today.

egads101 says

Reality says

BTW, what's wrong with cocksuckers? We need suckers

I am planning to outsource some jobs :-) sawasdee krup, khun sabai dee mai?

I actually genuinely enjoy interacting with the same target demographic: young Americans not yet burdened by family and mortgage. I stay strictly professional with my tenants. CS duty and being my tenant are mutually exclusive. I do however get to know the target demographic better through my beloved CS girl: their priorities and their aspirations, so I can deliver housing services to the same demographic in a more cost effective way. Out-sourcing CS could be a costly business mistake if that makes me lose touch.

Also I prefer a challenge over a cake-walk. . . or I wouldn't be dating girls half my age. Sometimes it can hurt, but such is life. Some day, we will all move on, and the younglings will own the world.

Hey, for those doing the "disliking," lighten up! I buy dilapidated multifamily buildings and renovate them. First-time home buyers on FHA loans can not hope to buy them or fix them, at least not before I condominimize them many years down the road. My presence in the market definitely helps increase supply and thereby driving down cost of rent, at least enabling renters get more bang for their buck. Would you prefer a dilapidated eyesore in your neighborhood attracting copper thieves or would you prefer a renovated building attracting young professionals and grad students?

egads101 says

I sold 4 investment properties in 2004-2005 and put the money away, waiting for the crash.

So we are talking about 6%, 6%, 2%, 1%, 1%, 1%, 20%, 20% for each of the 8-9 years.

egads101 says

Reality says

I actually genuinely enjoy interacting with the same target demographic: young Americans not yet burdened by family and mortgage.

I am not a party person, so that makes it tougher,

I'm not at all a party person. I do not at all want party persons as my tenant, therefore there would be nothing to be learned from having a partier CS. OTOH, competent young people with a full life of possibilities ahead of them are just so much more fun to be with.

egads101 says

Reality says

Also I prefer a challenge over a cake-walk. . . or I wouldn't be dating girls half my age. Sometimes it can hurt, but such is life. Some day, we will all move on, and the younglings will own the world.

Well, why fish in the lake where the fish don't bite? there is always the philippines! and I'm learning to read, write and speak thai!

Not biting is the least of my concerns. Sometimes the bite backs can really hurt. LOL. I guess we are playing slightly different kinds of sports. I'm not using hooks and barbs, but trying to get them to eat from my hand instead ;-)

BTW, best of luck with your run. I remember those sub-5min years. I'm in my 40's, haven't run a timed 1500 for at least a decade. Nowadays I reserve my energy for vertical buildings and horizontal dances . . . and occasional online pissing matches.

egads101 says

I'm not sure what you are talking about, I've never dated a tenant.

Like I said, dating and landlord-tenant relationship are mutually exclusive for me. However, the people I date do often give me ideas what the younger generation value in housing.

I target my business at that specific demographic largely because of my specific location and I prefer an upward mobile clientelle. The home ownership rate in the general population is close to 60% whereas that of the 25-35 is around 40% . . . my estimate for the under-30 crowd is less than 20%, especially in urban areas and especially in areas of higher education prevalence requiring higher barrier to entry to good jobs..

I don't meet most of my tenants, or if I do, it is after the fact. I have a property manager for most of my properties.
In fact, sometimes I've gone over to do maintenance work, and they never know I'm the owner while I'm installing a faucet, or disposal or something. I find it fascinating to see how people talk to/ treat what they perceive of as a blue collar person who is beneath them! (and I've often wandered how it would play out if I told them I own the home, but I never have!)

LOL. Yes, the younger generation is often more class-conscience than we were.

egads101 says

investment, that earlier on this thread someone is saying was "just luck" keep saying that if it makes you feel better!

If luck doesn't factor into it, why can't you make the same investment right now?
I'm not discounting you. Rocket scientists exist, and you just might well be one of them. If you've had such investing success, you just might know something or have some technique that works.

I was just trying to make the point that just because someone has flipped a coin 10 times, and gets all heads each time (i.e. investing success), doesn't automatically mean they have some special skill in coin flipping. But as I say, when it comes to investing, you just might be that one in a million, rocket scientist.

Also, my point in thinking about gains as a landlord is that being a landlord is essentially a business that requires skill. If you are good at it, and have happy customers, then you will profit. That's totally different than just buying a house, holding it, and selling it.

I'm not sure if this is a good time to bring this up, but Robert Schiller has made the point that the average annual real return one can expect by buying a home, counting for everything, (repairs, maintenance, property taxes and so on) is:

0%

bullshitmagnet says

I'm not sure if this is a good time to bring this up, but Robert Schiller has
made the point that the average annual real return one can expect by buying a
home, counting for everything, (repairs, maintenance, property taxes and so on)
is:

0%

Not true. He claims the average annual real appreciation is zero. But, you have to factor in the rent "dividend" to get return.

tatupu70 says

Not true. He claims the average annual real appreciation is zero. But, you have to factor in the rent "dividend" to get return.

I think this is probably true if there is very low growth in population and productivity. But what about changes in demographics? In 2010 the US population was 80% urban, vs 75% in 1990 vs 63% in 1960 etc. With rising fuel costs and so on I expect this trend to continue, and if so isn't it reasonable to expect that urban areas will appreciate more than 0?

Is it just me or do yous see a paradox that Reality a staunch Austrian and Egads 101 a staunch Keynesian come to the same conclusion on what is the best investment?

bullshitmagnet says

But why never any protection for the rights of renters??

renters don't vote, and of the ones who do, half vote for social reasons not economic.

"Moral Values" -- 22% of the electorate. One of Bush's strongest groups in 2004 was "Walmart Shoppers" -- they broke 78% for him, the same level as the evangelicals, billionaires, and Orthodox Jews.

Also, once you buy a house, you become conservative to some extent. Rove knew this, which is why the Bush Admin pushed the "Ownership Society" so hard.

http://www.vdare.com/articles/karl-rove-architect-of-the-minority-mortgage-meltdown

Government is certainly the problem, when it is funded in a way such as ours is today.

Do away with income taxes on working people altogether would be a solution

Its not "got mine screw you" its quit picking my tattered pockets to fund your life of luxury

I didn't say that we should have no taxes. I said we should do away with income taxes on working people.

There's plenty of alternative means to funding government,,,,

egads101 says

The deficits are coming down dramatically as we speak. To further that end:

1. end the wars.

2. legalize and tax pot.

3. legalize and tax prostitution.

4. raise taxes on those who make more than $300k a year.

5. reintroduce an estate tax, on estates over say $2 million.

6. Sell visas to illegal immigrants, give them a legal right to stay. why the F should coyotes make $10K to bring a gardner into the country?

Thats just a start.

I agree with 1,2,3,6.

The real problem stems from the entitlements. Any politician who makes any serious reforms to these is committing political suicide. The real key is educate the mutts so they vote intelligently.

Another factor is that the US has been forced into being a spending country because China has held down the value of the Yuan. This is changing a lot.

Another factor is that US history has conflated government with other things such as religion or "the purpose of equality" in neither is in the Constitution and prevents a reconciliation of these problems because of this conflation.

It should create a rule of law, national defense, some regulation and that is pretty much it. It sure as FUCK has no business in healthcare, subsidies, tariffs, endless wars, financial equality, ANY violations of the 10 amendment, or a Federal government that subjugates the states.