patrick.net

Germany/Japan/South Korea are kings of advance manufacturing.
https://www.npr.org/2018/01/03/572901119/how-germany-wins-at-manufacturing-for-now?source=patrick.net

China is king of waste and wasteful building. China won't be able to afford repair of wasteful buildings or other infrastructure.
Wasteful high speed trains, China freight trains begging for money and attention,causing trucking to expans as Freight trains are insufficient..while high speed rains running empty.
https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/high-speed-money-sink-why-united-states-should-not-spend-trillions-obsolete?source=patrick.net#case-against-high-speed-rail
Ghost towns:
https://www.businessinsider.com/china-empty-homes-real-estate-evergrande-housing-market-problem-2021-10?source=patrick.net

https://techstartups.com/2021/11/13/chinas-high-speed-rail-envy-world-worlds-longest-high-speed-railway-network-now-losing-24-million-per-day-reported-debt-1-8-trillion/?source=patrick.net
China’s High-Speed Rail, the world’s longest high-speed railway network, is now losing $24 million per day with a reported debt of $1.8 trillion
........
........
Since then, new HSR lines in China have witnessed a sharp decline in their “transportation density,” which is measured in passenger-kilometers or number of passengers carried per day. “It is an indicator that projects the line’s operating efficiency in terms of annual average transport volume per kilometer.” For example, China’s overall transportation density of HSR was 17 million passenger-kilometres in 2015, while it was 34 million passenger-kilometres for Japan’s Shinkansen in the same year.

Love that news! I am planning on adding to my rental portfolio and anything that helps to weed out the bad ones is highly welcome.
People think that "we just need a crash to afford a house" are dreaming......the US future is simply: an army of renters and landlords who get richer and richer. I play the game because I am on the right side of the fence.

This is why you value your privacy. These systems wouldn't pull up anything useful on me, but I also wouldn't submit to any ridiculous facial scans. Anyone doing this stuff is a sucker. I rented in Phoenix. Found exactly what I wanted, despite the RE guy paid to show us properties telling me I had to pay more for a pool. Landlord was a sweet old lady who lived down the street. Process was the same as everywhere else I've ever lived.

More fear porn, take from a lifelong renter in SoCal who still pays well under market.

WookieMan says

Tenants have no skin in the game.

Try owning in California, they let us run wild here. You can be a crack addict, still have to hire a lawyer to evict, and can't shut off utilities in the meantime. Having said that, if owners knew how to find and appreciate good tenants, many do, but ran into our share who don't, they'd be much happier, less stressed, and wealthier. Landlords should focus on really digging into job history, and references. Those are way more valuable than credit scores will ever be. And I mean personally visiting these places and people. Yes, it's a time investment, but there's a lot at stake, so definitely worth it if it nets you a reliable long-term tenant.

Logan is so spot on with his stuff

market (mortage rates) got ahead of the ten years. Rates going forward will depend on if the FED keeps raising rates as the market expects (priced in already) and if inflation increases.

6 recession flags watch:
Not checked yet > durable goods purchasing / retail spending
Not checked yet > falling LEI for 4-6month
Not checked yet > Housing starts fall
check > yield inversion
check > fed rates hikes
check > unemployment rate

https://loganmohtashami.com/2019/10/15/recession-flag-watch-update/?source=patrick.net

Owning is better than renting, leverage and owning is better when invested properly.

NuttBoxer says

take from a lifelong renter in SoCal who still pays well under market.

well under market? area, sqft, type of structure (apartment/SFH)? monthly rent?

renting long term in places like SoCoal is financial suicide. Lifelong??? cheez, you know how much equity you would have if you would have bought. Ever heard of opportunity costs?

I was in the same boat as Nuttboxer for many years, and I enjoyed the best of all worlds, however I was very lucky.
My saving grace was investing in stock mutual funds while my friends had mortgages.
I was in an historic district in Santa Cruz within walking distance to the beach and the downtown, so I could go for days without driving.
For years I even had a roommate from the university and my net housing cost was around $300/month.
The house next door was bought by a guy who works at Google and he paid $1.6 million 5 years ago.
See the stock market returns for the last 30 years and $12,000/year investment and you will have an idea.
Covid ended my party; the owner was cooped up with his daughter and her boyfriend and they didn’t like the arrangement, so she and boyfriend got the place and I was bounced out.
It was great while it lasted.
Prince Harry post rides again.

clambo says

Covid ended my party; the owner was cooped up with his daughter and her boyfriend and they didn’t like the arrangement, so she and boyfriend got the place and I was bounced out.

Wait....you never bought a house in your life?!

I have not bought a house in my life.
I came extremely close to buying a place in Jupiter Florida, but I was assured by the Santa Cruz owner he wanted me to stay in the Santa Cruz place, so I didn’t buy it.

My case illustrates the advantage of owning; you control your destiny, and are not moving out at the whim of the owner.

I have decided to live closer to California (Baja) but be a legal resident of Florida.

Edit
I was going to buy a place in Florida anyway, but after my net worth dipped 15% while the inventory of houses was low, I decided to forget about it for the present.
Edit 2
I told my friend that she was the beneficiary of a couple of my accounts. I took screenshots of the stuff to prove it.
She now wants to put me on the title of her house for free 😉
I’m not sure what the advantages are but it won’t hurt me either.

https://twitter.com/anparrh/status/1521708514271395840?source=patrick.net
How can someone else insult you (PoopIndia) bunch of morons when you yourselves are more than enough. Need more evidence?

clambo says

my net worth dipped 15%

Man, sounds like one "high maintenance" ex...

is there a full copy at NSA somewhere?

CA rentals will soon perhaps come with hate soeech clause allowing landlords to cancel contract if tenant uses gendered language or “hate speech”? come on guys, gotta clown world all the way.

Headset, I think an ex would cost 50%, don’t they?
Edit
Tangential to the subject, not owning a house is a sure way to deflect women being too serious about you; this can be a blessing or a curse, depending on how comfortable you are constantly seeking out new female companionship.

clambo says

I have not bought a house in my life.

thanks for sharing! Whatever works

dumbest scam ever. you will always be caught receiving large payments to your bank account. The victim only has to report you, the authorities will reach out to the bank and track you down.

“You can’t cheat an honest man” WC Fields.

“Everyone I conned wanted something for nothing; I just gave them nothing for something.” Conman.

It’s not the dumbest scam. You wanna bid on this low price house? Okay, you gotta use our lender. Put your earnest money in this escrow account while our lender approves you. Uh oh, you didn’t qualify, we keep your earnest money now.

I’m afraid to not have a valid USA driver’s license so I need to have a home state somewhere.

The car registration lasts 2 years so I can do that before making “a run for the border.”

Social security and Medicare don’t care where you live, but Delta Dental and United Healthcare do.

I want to be sure that I won’t get any shit from insurance companies if I come back for a medical reason.

Credit cards are an issue too come to think of it.

For banking in Mexico some guys get a Wise account and skip getting a bank account there.

Prince Harry out.

What ever happened to the good ole days when renters were nothing more than quartered mendicants and could be beckoned for labor on demand.

DooDahMan says

PROSECUTORS CHARGE 3 WITH MURDER IN SACRAMENTO MASS SHOOTING

A senseless dispute over interest rates and Fed policy.

clambo says

Credit cards are an issue too come to think of it.

How so? I've used CC's in Mexico all the time. Only like 8 visits, but I've never had an issue. My experience is using US$ they'll just fuck with the exchange rate if paying cash at local places. Dollar wise it's a joke even though you pay more. Living there I suppose might be different over time. I've actually yet to visit Baja. Caribbean side is my jam. I'm not a Pacific coast guy outside of CA, OR and WA. Though I despise all 3 in all honesty. Costa Rica was the only Pacific side vacation I personally enjoyed. If you don't surf, west coast beaches are shit. Opinion, feel free to tear it apart, but I've seen a lot of beaches.

If you really want privacy with CC transactions in Mexico or elsewhere, you could get one of those pre-paid Visa cards from CVS or other stores.

OTOH, someone who gets that Visa number might be able to drain the card.

pudil says

It’s not the dumbest scam. You wanna bid on this low price house? Okay, you gotta use our lender. Put your earnest money in this escrow account while our lender approves you. Uh oh, you didn’t qualify, we keep your earnest money now.

First of all, we are not talking about earnest money but downpayments.

reading the article helps:

"The group would then accept offers — sometimes more than one to a house — and direct the buyers to deposit down payments in supposed escrow accounts that the scammers actually controlled."

And second, its the dumbest scam ever because you can easily be tracked down.

Yeah, but they've been able to get away with it for almost 10 years. If they could have kept their greed in check, they could have left the country will their ill-gotten gains for friendly (i.e., non-extraditable) shores.

(channeling Richwicks)
For example, Shrub and Cheney have 10,000 acre spreads in Uruguay. Don't you know that they expect someday to be indicted as war criminals, and have their bugout haciendas ready and waiting?

I wasn’t clear about the credit card issue.

One reason for wanting a USA address is to maintain the credit cards which need replacing from time to time.

I have used them in Mexico in addition to my bank ATM card with no problem.

I’m considering Wise as another ATM card which will have lower fees to convert US dollars to pesos.

Edit
I can also transfer $ from my USA bank to my friend’s bank account and get a good exchange rate from western union, then get cash from her.

This has obviously a few drawbacks: “I’m going to town, I need $100.” “What for?!?”

So anyone who comes end of month typically is con artist. Because landlord is eager to bring them in they don't do due deligance. Learned from expensive problem.

1Credit history is must , tells you if they pay their bills.
2 Income to check if they have capability.
3x rent.
3 eviction record shows they been painful before n they can make it hard for u.

clambo says

I want to be sure that I won’t get any shit from insurance companies if I come back for a medical reason.

We use a PO Box address for everything. Only ones who made me give them a different address was care insurance. They looked it up, and forced me to give them my "real" address. I have it saved in an email so I don't forget it. And that's actually a pretty common tactic used by people as Postal Annex and UPS boxes addresses can look like a physical address. Very common for people living in TJ if they don't have a relative to use.

On the bank thing, you can take your American bank card to any Mexican banks ATM and withdraw cash in Pesos. You will get a small charge from your bank, but the exchange is usually very good, so I think it comes out ahead.

Answer: No

WineHorror1 says

Answer: No

I'd disagree. Religion is just a hijacking of moral and intellectual thought. If there is a higher purpose and a higher meaning, it's up to each of us to discover it ourselves - no supposed "religious leader" is going to help you do that - in fact, quite the opposite.

If there is some true purpose in life, it would be commonly found in nearly all cultures. Have you ever looked at the prohibitions that nearly every culture has? For example, name a culture in 18th century OR BEFORE in which homosexuality was openly accepted. As near as I can tell, it's been frowned upon in nearly all cultures for most of time, and only exists for short periods of time during a nation's decline.

Now, does correlation imply causation? This is something we are currently forbidden to think about.

Pedophilia has never been accepted, criminality has never been accepted, corruption has never been accepted, murder has never been accepted - but these things do happen, during a decline of a nation.

I’m not religious and I don’t think life has a meaning, although I try to make my life meaningful.

Helping my friends in certain ways is the only thing that I do which may be meaningful.

Edit
I have already helped my parents, which I wanted to do.

I've seen their ads around town. But I do my own work, I think these guys sub-contract. I buy, remodel, add or split rooms, then rent. I didn't know anything about construction but partnered with a retired construction worker and we have been flipping and holding for more than 10 years

charlie303 says

We're just packing peanuts really that's all. What is the purpose of packing peanuts, and how insignificant is just one?

richwicks, where does morality come from? Right and wrong...where do they come from? How would "criminality" even be a thing without them?

You're saying morality is innate?

Heck, folks be trying to market time RE, goodness gracious!

Investing replacing interest baring saving, is the biggest fuck job, H.W. Bush and his henchmen ever pulled on the world.

See S&L crisis of 1986, the collapse of our Savings institution, was a controlled demolition, just like the 2000's tech stock market crash was.

The notion that everyone can be a prudent knowledgeable investor trader is the biggest bunch of malarkey in modern day economics.

The way it was done for most of America's history was working slobs put their money into a savings account. That got interest in return, a guaranteed return, often more than what our stock indexes payout in normal times. You gave the bank money, and Widget factory ACME, then went to the bank to borrow money to expand and grow.

After the S&L destruction, Workers are forced to just give ACME Widget factory your money directly and allow them to spend anyway they see fit, and not owe you one single red cent, unless they grow or can find more idiots to give them their money. So it can create an illusion they had growth.

And don't kid yourselves, the minute the majority of the workforce figures out the real winners and losers in the stock market, and stop putting their money into indexes and consumer financial products. Will be the day they pull the plug on the stock market crashing it and bringing it all down.

They want our money, they don't want us making money. Or when/if we do, they will just toss the chess board, and collect all of the marbles and go home, leaving everyone broke.

Funny how the tech market of the late 90's early 00's crashed, yet it didn't! Tech stocks are more valuable today than they were way back then. The problem was Marge the secretary day trader was the hot shit investor, beating out the top cats at the brokerage houses, pushing consumer financial investment vehicles.