patrick.net

astrid Says:

Also, Angel’s Landing in Zion, that’s a nice compromise between hiking and climbing.

That is an awesome hike. Amazing views from the top, and the climbing rungs definitely make it easier.

George,

By all means please do! I'd love to track that. I mean at this point, what can we do but laugh?

The monthly expenses have got to be unbearable for these novice investors! Talk about "leave the meter running"? While vacant do specuvestors just set the thermostat at like 80/85 degrees so they don't boil the paint off the walls? Or do they just let them bake?

Opals have a bad rep? I always found them to be very interesting and beautiful. I also prefer the colors of semi-precious stones like garnet, peridot, and aquamarine to the more expensive rubies and emeralds. Diamonds with of a decent size with a good cut are pretty, but such a ripoff.

George,

Thanks! Yeesh, with that level of running expenses, the houses look like real white elephants. I guess it's barely affordable for married people working full time or 4 families living under the same roof.

George,

Wow, more examples of flipper pennywise-poundfoolishness.

It sounds like these out of state owners aren't even trying anymore. They really should just try locking in a renter to cut their losses.

"If these people were smart (I know, I know) they’d be screaming for about 20 air cooled low pressure pebble bed nuclear reactors to be built."

Real Americans can't do math anyways, they're all working high paying sales jobs or flipping houses. They feel the truthiness of McMansion ownership and sure felt good on the ride up.

But what would be the benefit for George? What kind of sales angle can you work into website?

Robert Cote'

That pretty much describes my scenario. My wife and I have looked at "up scale" golf/gated communities and it always seems to boil down to the same depressing math. Even if we did pay it off "cash money" there's maint./HOA's, unreal taxes built off of unreal valuations and of course your own utilities and general upkeep. (These don't go away, if anything they get worse).

If you're unwilling to subject yourself to this kind of monthly abuse, it narrows your choices down considerably. To me, being part of an HOA is like adding another layer of gub'ment, no?

George,

I tend to agree. Adding a renter into the formula at this point is just another form of defeat. (Just to a lesser degree). In the end it seems to me anyway all the specuvestor is accomplishing is prolonging the agony and forestalling the inevitable bigger defeat. Although I'm sure other "owners" that are looking to "cut off a finger to save the hand" appreciate your keeping it off the market putting further inventory pressures and undoubtedly lower comps from seeping in.

I agree that it's better to sell at a loss than rent at this juncture. But it sounds like a lot of people are unwilling to contemplate selling at a loss. I fear they will ride their buys all the way down and destroy the house's value via neglect.

George,

Such a website would be a great service. You're right. If I was looking to buy a house, I would certainly want to buy it with someone like you than someone who reassure/bully me into buying too much house.

Has anyone else had issues with the *freebies* the builders are offering?

It seems to me that offering the same home in the same subdivision (only now) with a pool, upgrades galore, a leased BMW and cash back at closing is like saying "for shareholders of record AFTER 12 SEP 2006 your dividend will be 4.74% vice the previous 3.22%".

I realize it's apples and oranges but if I were in this situation I'd sure want to know where my pool, car and cash are?

I wish more apartments put washer/dryer in the bathroom.

In the west, W/Ds are usually in a separate closet near a bedroom.

Did you say kitchen?

I don’t like stupid-huge bathrooms, or “crap palaces”, but I do like a little more space than the typical bathroom in a rental unit provides.

I think 200 sqft for a master bath should be ideal. Too bad that costs too much. :(

My boyfriend's old apartment was like that but that utility closet solution has similar problem with placement in the kitchen. They'd be much better if they went in the bathroom.

They’d be much better if they went in the bathroom.

Any reason?

200 sqft is way too big for a bathroom. Ideally, a bathroom should be relatively compact, but use mirrors and glass windows to give the illusion of expansiveness. The big master bathrooms I see have a lot of wasted space.

I guess it would be different if the bathroom get turned into a boudoir or some kind of sitting room.

Isolation of noise and heat from the rest of the apartment.

It'd nice if apartments came with quieter dishwashers too.

I hate mechanical sounds in the house. I vacuum with earplugs.

I hate mechanical sounds in the house. I vacuum with earplugs.

I can hear ventilation fan noise in nearby apartments. The sound isolation at our complex is already not too bad. I am just very sensitve to humming noises and vibrations.

I can stand the noise when I am not sleeping though.

You can get a quieter vaccum. They work fine.

"You can get a quieter vaccum. They work fine."

Ear plugs are much cheaper and the vacuums we have work okay.

Ear plugs are much cheaper and the vacuums we have work okay.

But it would be nice to vaccum at night guilt-free. Well, unless you will buy ear plugs for your downstair neighbors too.

"Renting at a loss is a really long term strategy"

I suppose there are scenarios where this could play out favorably..... this just isn't one of them.

If anticipating growth in a commercial RE environment it may make sense to eat it up front with the expectation of huge pay-offs down the road. Seems to me the best most specuvestors can hope for is to b/e?

The carrying costs (assuming you can live with them) would be hard to justify to a group of seasoned investors. If you can't sell it to them, why would you try to sell it to yourself?

Jon,

You're asking for trouble, man. One of these days, the toilet seat cover will be down, and all hell will break loose.

Right time to invest in lawyers is in the contracting stage. If you have to worry about lawyers in a contract dispute, you probably can't afford them.

"Nobody told the specufloppers and maxihousers this. 3% down, 81% exotic or adjustable in California last year? Invest in lawyers my friends."

Maybe pre-sell bankruptcy filings, while these folks can still come up with the money.

"It gets strange"

Sure does. I remember retail grocers paying the lease on a grocery outlet just so they could leave it empty! Welcome to "hardball". Obviously these guys do math and calculated it would be better to suck it up on the lease b/c they wouldn't have any competition in the neighborhood!

"included appreciation as if it was cash flow"

When it's all said and done this will go down as Mr. Specuvestor and even FB's biggest error. We can argue wether they were sold this bill of goods or they sold it to themselves but in the end it won't much matter.

New thread: Utopia Village

"What the heck is the point of the cover anyway?"

So women won't be grossed out by residual urine stains? So people won't fall into the toilet? Greater comfort? More splatter protection? Beats me.

But it sounds like you really need a urinal in your bathroom.

“What the heck is the point of the cover anyway?”

If you do not flush with the cover down, dirty water droplets can splash up to a few feet high. They can find their ways into your toothbrush.

I think everyone should put the cover down after use - men and women. The point is that you don't have to look at a toilet bowl!

On house hunters international last night, the couple was looking in Mexico and the thing was that one property had a bathroom with a urinal in it. I've never heard of that in a private house before. How convenient that would be for men!