More MSM Propaganda About Working Yourself to Death!!!

[globetrotter]

I always thought about buying a fourplex, renting out 3 units and living in the lowest unit. I dont know what %down is now, but 5% would have done it. Unfortunately I never had the income to qualify for a mortgage like that..

No one else who bought a house from 1999-2010 had the income to qualify, either.

Assume that everyone lied on their mortgage app, because everyone DID.

[ladislav]

One million is enough even if you open a CD that pays 1.7%. So, you will get $17,000 a year. And that is enough to retire in the Philippines or in Mexico.

But why even do that? Don't most people realize that they will not live forever? Say they retire in the US on $2000 a month that they will be paying themselves out of that million. It will take 42 years to spend it. Now, if you live in the Philippines for $1500 a month, it will take you 55 years to spend it. And 1000 a month- good money in Mexico- will take you 88 years to spend.

Unless you plan on living forever, a million is more than enough.

[FuzzX]

One of my friends landed in Brazil with $5 to his name and a suitcase full of clothing... He went from $5 to a nicely furnished house with his own classroon and a sweet motor bike.

20K? Thats huge money.. 10K? still big enough to support yourself for a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time. A lot of the problems with money stem from people not knowing how to seek out the best bargains for your buck... I made it on $2000 for a year in Guadalajara. I bought all of my appliances used, had a 2 floor house, shopped at the farmers market twice a week and took the bus to work each day. If you can't make 20k last then theres something wrong with the way you are spending your money. You really have to ask yourself what you are willing to live without... I don't go into the 3rd world looking to put an entertainment system and plasma screen tv in my living room. How do the poorer locals live? Emulate their behaviour and you have a recipe for early retirement.

Having a million dollars is fantasy for most people, myself included. It would take me 20 years to make that much... and thats if I wasn't spending a dime. I'm not sure where they are pulling these numbers from? What the hell do you need a million bucks for? Do you have to take a helicopter ride to the grocery store and back? I suppose if you buy a brand new car each year and only shop at the most expensive stores...then yeah I can see how you'd go broke pretty quick. You know the average poor family in Mexico makes it by on $200/Month right?

Hell I could make it for a year and a half here in the first world on 20k.

[globetrotter]

I'm not sure where they are pulling these numbers from? What the hell do you need a million bucks for? Do you have to take a helicopter ride to the grocery store and back? I suppose if you buy a brand new car each year and only shop at the most expensive stores...then yeah I can see how you'd go broke pretty quick. You know the average poor family in Mexico makes it by on $200/Month right?

Hell I could make it for a year and a half here in the first world on 20k.

They are getting those figures by calculating your cost of living in middle class america+ and multiplying that by 25 or 30.

They get that figure because the articles are always written by brokers or financial advisors and they need you to work work work, save save save, invest invest invest. If you invest you will invest with them and they want your money to make money for themselves and to earn commissions and fees. They are just talking their book and acting in their own interests.

[Adama]

I guess that means when you get to Mexico you'll need to marry a woman in order to get citizenship and a work visa? Unless you are a highly skilled professional. $20,000 is only 10 years by your experience in Guad.

And what happens if there is inflation and your savings gets nuked down to nothing?

[FuzzX]

I have a friend that pays an immigration official yearly to 'renew' his visa. It's certainly not uncommon.

And what happens if there is inflation and your savings gets nuked down to nothing?

Well I would hope you would have planned an exit strategy of some sort. Need extra money? Getting private students anywhere in the world is relatively easy... you could very very easily support yourself teaching a few hours of english classes per day out of your house which is usually what most expats do with their time.

Worst come to worst... marry some foreign chick, go home and live out the rest of your life in the 9 to 5 with the other drones. We only live once and very few even get to see retirement, so I wouldn't worry about it.

[momopi]

Except that few people have the constitution to handle the headaches and stress. I am perfectly capable of following your plan above as I have financial and construction and RRE experience in Socal. If everyone could do it everyone WOULD be doing it. Reality proves that everyone is incapable of doing as you proscribe and in fact fewer than 1% of people can do it. It is an existence proof.
<snip>
Then there is the bullshit of having to either pay a prop man firm or deal with the headaches yourself and of course you are tied to a piece of property that you are responsible and liable for.

It's a herd mentality. When the RE market is bad, people are afraid to invest and hold on to their money. When it goes up, people start buying. The losers are those who buy at the peak and sell low. Only a small % of the buyers are willing to buy straw hats in winter.

I've been a landlord for 10 years and never managed any of my own properties. I don't deal with the tenant BS, my property manager does that. I travel abroad several times a year and just leave everything to my property managers. . I have good property managers in OC, LA, Temecula, and Vegas if anyone is interested.

I always thought about buying a fourplex, renting out 3 units and living in the lowest unit. I dont know what %down is now, but 5% would have done it. Unfortunately I never had the income to qualify for a mortgage like that, and the property taxes in this state are absurd. So are the prices sellers want.
Maybe in TX.

CA has Prop 13 which limits property taxes to 1% base. In some areas you have to pay mello roose and HOA fees on top. In Texas the properties are cheaper, but the property tax rate around San Antonio TX is 2.5% to 2.9% I think. Fortunately they have no state income tax, so that off-sets the higher property taxes.

I've known people who bought 4-plex, live in one and rent out the other 3. All of them end up complaining about dealing with tenant bullsh*t. If you're going to buy an investment property, I'd recommend leaving the management to someone else. Leave a nice big gap (or wall) between you and the tenant. Let your manager deal with 10pm phone calls about backed-up toilets.

Start with something small and build up from there. IMO the RE market will be hosed for at least 2-3 more years, so you have time to save and shop. One rule: positive cash flow only. If the property doesn't make money, don't buy it.

[globetrotter]

Except that few people have the constitution to handle the headaches and stress. I am perfectly capable of following your plan above as I have financial and construction and RRE experience in Socal. If everyone could do it everyone WOULD be doing it. Reality proves that everyone is incapable of doing as you proscribe and in fact fewer than 1% of people can do it. It is an existence proof.
<snip>
Then there is the bullshit of having to either pay a prop man firm or deal with the headaches yourself and of course you are tied to a piece of property that you are responsible and liable for.

It's a herd mentality. When the RE market is bad, people are afraid to invest and hold on to their money. When it goes up, people start buying. The losers are those who buy at the peak and sell low. Only a small % of the buyers are willing to buy straw hats in winter.

I've been a landlord for 10 years and never managed any of my own properties. I don't deal with the tenant BS, my property manager does that. I travel abroad several times a year and just leave everything to my property managers. . I have good property managers in OC, LA, Temecula, and Vegas if anyone is interested.

You are not reading for comprehension. It isn't the herd mentality. I did what you do at my last job and I hated it. It was bad for my health and no amount of money is worth it. Working that hard to get the capital is not worth it, the stress will kill me.

What you consider "success" I consider a very good approximation of "Hell".

[momopi]

You are not reading for comprehension. It isn't the herd mentality. I did what you do at my last job and I hated it. It was bad for my health and no amount of money is worth it. Working that hard to get the capital is not worth it, the stress will kill me.

What you consider "success" I consider a very good approximation of "Hell".

I don't work in the RE industry. I just invest in RE for fun (and profit). It's kind of like playing monopoly, but with real money.

For my job, I worked as a senior analyst at a mutual fund company for 12+ years. Now I'm a consultant with a new company and will be sent to China in May. I do enjoy going overseas, but would prefer if someone else paid me to do so, instead of paying for it myself with after-tax earnings.

[globetrotter]

Clearly your worldview makes it impossible for you to "grok" when someone disagrees with you. I worked in corp finance also, made big money, hated it.

Many men in your position have the same attitude:

"I did it so why cannot you do it".

It blinds you to other considerations.

My answer is as above:
"Because I become miserable and no amount of money is worth it."

99+% of people do not have the constitution to do as you have. It is a self-evident proof as if everyone COULD then everyone WOULD. Attempt to consider and accept that your values would not make other people happy.

I am through discussing this with you as you cannot see other value systems as valid.