patrick.net

Ditto that...Without Patrick, I feel like I'm missing my morning coffee. Where art thou??
No curfew, just come home safe.

Look at the bottom of the Monday, August 16th articles - says he will be on vacation for a few days.

Nomograph says

A key benefit of not owning a overpriced, underwater home is that you can afford to take vacations.

True dat.

Nomograph says

nehope says

he will be on vacation for a few days.

A key benefit of not owning a overpriced, underwater home is that you can afford to take vacations.

I know a few owners of places like that; they are taking vacations. They aren't paying their mortgage though o_O

Nomograph says

nehope says

he will be on vacation for a few days.

A key benefit of not owning a overpriced, underwater home is that you can afford to take vacations.

Hehe.

Why do you think the retail sales stats were as nice as they were? When you're not paying the biggest monthly outlay, suddenly there's LOTS of free spending money lying around!

"A key benefit of not owning a overpriced, underwater home is that you can afford to take vacations."

Guess I did not get the memo. I own a house and took a mini vacation last month to DC. I also have a ton of FF miles. I will go somepleace nice with them just as soon as I figure out where. I'm trying to decide between Italy, France, and England.

HousingWatcher says

Guess I did not get the memo. I own a house and took a mini vacation last month to DC. I also have a ton of FF miles. I will go somepleace nice with them just as soon as I figure out where. I’m trying to decide between Italy, France, and England.

Housing Watcher, I have to agree with you....... we missed the memo as well. Life is good and we have several properties. I'm 50 and retired so every day is vacation for me. My partner still works because he likes it, not because he has to, but he loves his job and enjoys going in and gets lots of time off. We have an upcoming SF and North Bay trip planned then we're headed up to the north state mountains for fly fishing. We're booked on an up coming holiday cruise for a week, and planning out another vacation to Asia. We own property and I think it's great because it has given us lots of security and freedom. Real estate is a good investment over time if you buy location, location, location. No flipping or using them as an ATM and pay them off quickly so there is no mortgage. I would recommend property to anyone that wants to buy right and hold on to it for years. Property holdings are just one assest that should be held in my opinion as part of a diversified portfolio (condo's, single family residences, bonds, cash, stocks, mutual funds). I.e; don't buy 2 condos in the same complex, spread your property to different nearby cities, etc.

I'm sure there are a lot of folks hurting out there with job loss depending on the type of business, but we're not participating in this recession and I don't think we're the exception, but rather the rule. In fact, I would say that most of our friends aren't participating in this recession. Just anecdotal evidence here in our little part of the world, but the restaurants are packed with waiting required at the better restaurants here in Pasadena every day. The plays that we went to in L.A. and North Hollywood last week were also full so it looks to me like folks are spending lots of money. I think there are a lot of people doing much better than the news would lead people to believe. We had lunch with friends today in the San Fernando Valley and a couple that are friends of our friends said they have been out bid on 13 houses the past several months even though they have a pre-approval letter and more than required down payment for homes in the Valley, plus they have been adding 10-20% above the asking price. They are being beaten out by cash buyers so there is activity going on out there.

Sure Rob, you're the rule not the exception! Most people are retired at 50 and own several properties and work only if they want to. Of course.

Reality check: The vast majority of people need their jobs and a lot more are hoarding what little cash they can, anticipating the next round of layoffs, than are living the high life as you purport to be - if you're living off an inheritance or other windfall and have a diversified portfolio of properties, cash, stocks, mutual funds, etc., then bully for you, but this is certainly not the picture for 99% of Americans, and if you think it is, please call me, I have a bridge to sell you.

JimAtLaw says

if you’re living off an inheritance or other windfall and have a diversified portfolio of properties, cash, stocks, mutual funds, etc., then bully for you, but this is certainly not the picture for 99% of Americans, and if you think it is, please call me, I have a bridge to sell you.

Inheritance....LOL. Oh how I wish. I grew up poor in San Pablo and Richmond so my family didn't have any money. I worked an 8 hour a day job and made wise decisions buying property and spending less than I made. I even had to pay 100% for my own education because my folks couldn't afford to help. I know it's old fashion thinking, but it really does work. I was on the Dave Ramsey plan before Dave ever had a plan since we're the same age. Live on less than you make, don't pay credit card interest, pay off your mortgages as quickly as you can, pay cash for cars, blah, blah, blah. I haven't paid interest on a credit card since I was about 22 or 23 years old, which is about 27 years ago. I would have to look and see what my credit card interest rates are because I don't pay interest so I really don't care what Chase or Amex is charging. After writing this I had to go look at my statement out of curiosity and it's 10.99 and the other is 9.99, but when I pay it off every month instead of paying it to bankers, I don't care. It comes down to a mind set.........spend less than the pay checks coming in. I hate sending bankers money. Like I said in another post last week when someone mentioned getting or keeping a mortgage so as to write off the interest is just not a very fincancially smart thing to do. Pay them off as quick as possible with extra principle payments to get rid of them, then once it's paid off send the same amount to a favorite charity and get the same deduction instead of lining the pockets of bankers. If someone is in a 28% tax bracket why would they want to spend 1.00 to save 28 cents to send the bankers kid to college. This mind set is very prevelant out in the world. The World Wildlife fund or other charities need the money more than bankers. I still think most people are doing ok unless they were in an industry that was hard hit. Someone once said on this site that they use it as a contrarian indicator because it's always doom and gloom and I am beginning to think they were right. The official number of CA unemployment is somewhere around 12.% (I know some willl argue this but you need some official number) then there are still 88 people out of a 100 working so I guess they are the ones filling up the restaurants here and when I took my nieces to Disneyland a few weeks ago it was elbow to elbow in all the restaurants and rides. A few months ago we drove down to the San Pedro pier for a 7 day Mexican cruise and the ship was fully booked. I don't know where you live, but like I said in my post, I can only speak to my little part of the world here in the San Gabriel Valley of Pasadena, Arcadia, Bradbury, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena, San Marino, etc. and the San Fernando Valley. I'm sure the good folks of Las Vegas are hurting because they have since taken the number one spot for unemployment over Michigan.......but then again, we went to Vegas a week before Memorial weekend. The I-15 from L.A. was packed all the way to Vegas and once there we had to wait to check in because of the crowds and the restaurants were busy. Over the 4th of July weekend we went to San Diego and the same thing there......couldn't even upgrade to a suite at the Wesin in the Gas Lamp Distict/waterfront because they were all booked up.