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rich126 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 12:13 pm Although in my life I can't recall any same day/next day cash emergencies. I suppose if you needed bail but I avoid those troubles

Yeah. Any medical emergency I will not likely not know the actual cost for MONTHS afterward, any major home issues are likely known about well ahead of time and can be financed. Have a pile of cash in case of job lose sure I guess, but if I lost my job my monthly expenses would drop like a rock (no eating out, Target runs would dry up, put a hold on monthly ROTH contributions, only get the 36 pack of Bud Light instead of the "fancy" 24 pack of Sam Adams at Costco, etc.) - we are dual income and could squeak by on one income if needed.

So my E-fund is nothing. And everything.

Our family believes renting is "throwing away money" and a home purchase "builds equity." I know they mean well, but it's still pressure. We've watched over the last year as one of our siblings purchased a home. Their monthly rent for a 2/2 was $1,300. The new mortgage on their 3/2 house is $2,200+/month. Our family says "they're building equity." I struggle to see how they're coming out ahead? I currently pay $2k/month rent for a nice townhome. If I were to buy a similar property with a 20% downpayment, my mortgage would be between $1,800-$2,200, and I would be on the hook for maintenance and upkeep. If I bought a house with the same guidelines, the mortgage would be even more. Without knowing how "apple...

Most places the typical total commission is 5%. In order to get your 2.5%, you need to either convince the seller to drop the price OR you need to convince the seller's agent to alter his agreement with the seller. Give it a try and let us know how it works. I think the commission varies by state and price. I sold my house in Michigan 2 years ago and it was 6%. Thanks. Another option for you might be a rebating agent if that's legal in your state. You'd use a realtor of your choosing who does this (it is not common) and you'd get 1-2% back at close of sale. I did something like this with my most recent home purchase. I didn't have an agent but went to an open house by myself and the property checked off the boxes I wanted. Reached out to a...

bradinsky wrote: ↑Sun Mar 12, 2023 8:54 pm https://apexwindowwerks.com/

+1
We had 2 picture windows which had broken seals and Apex was the only window place we could find that would just replace the windows and not also the frames. Cost us $1000 total which was very reasonable, replacing the windows and frames would have been $3k+.

send him to biggerpockets.com
Tell him to keep his current job until he gets some traction in his RE journey.

Just to piggy back off this thread, I got an offer from Regions bank which is deposit $1000 for 60 days in a new checking account, get a $400 bonus. We already have a mortgage with them but no other accounts, so this seems like a no brainer.

We have another mortgage with Huntington, might need to check out their bonus as well.

When my DW went back to get her Masters, we would open a new CC each semester. The CC would have some cash back/statement credit (say $200 back after you spend $1000) and always had 12 or 15 month 0% period. So we would use a CC each semester, and then set the monthly payments so when the 0% period was over it would be paid off.

For those who have multiple holdings in multiple types of accounts, does it make sense to look at all of your portfolio with one asset allocation? It seems like a bucket approach would be better. Each type of account might have a different timeline for when you are going to use it. For example 529 should be treated as a retirement account in the aspect that you hit retirement at the time of starting college. So for this “bucket” you would need to go conservative around your kid’s freshman HS year to avoid sequence of returns risk. Same applies to HSA if you might use it for Medicare gap coverage expenses. Same goes for IRA and 401k over Roth. And then there is taxable accounts which also might be used or needed at a different time. Not all...

Only thing I can think of would be to rent out your current place once you move into the new place if the market drops and you really don't want to sell at that point. But then a timer starts on selling it as primary residence for tax purposes.

Our leases specify that the tenant is responsible for all pest control starting 10 days after they move-in.

We don't own a pool, but as mentioned above I would think the landlord would want to make sure it is being maintained so likely the LL responsibility, but I am really not sure. Landscaping as in just cutting the lawn I have seen both ways. Anything beyond that (planting flowers, yearly mulch, etc.) I would not expect the tenant to do it.

Roomba on each level of the house.
Smaller ShopVac type vacuum (RIDGID WD4070) for everything else. I will likely never own an upright vacuum again.

If you can afford it and like the house/location otherwise, then sure go for it. Also, get some dehumidifiers or other moisture controls for the basement.

I have 2 rental units in a house built in 1906, and 2 more in a house built in 1903. No concurs, but all the pipes are either copper, galvanized steel, or Pex. I plan to replace the galvanized steel in the next couple of years.

Since Picard was mentioned I just have to say, Season 2 was some of the worst TV I have ever watched. Started off strong but wow.

So far season 3 has been good, I really hopes it continues that way!

Also, Lower Decks is amazing, I am disappointed in myself for putting it off since it was animated.

This is a pretty ironic attempt at a universally applicable law, since the first study referenced in the Habitat for Humanity flyer linked by Admiral states: This was admittedly in the section discussing studies that used simulations to approach the issue, but then the panel surveys they refer to made no use of this metric in their findings, so those statistics could be true in general (I have no reason to dispute nationwide average stats since nationwide average price-to-rent ratios support buying) but still would not be applicable to markets with ratios at the extremes. I don't think it's ironic at all. nor does it change anything. Obviously "high or low values of [the rent to price] ratio can swamp other considerations" can be...

So are you going to pay him back the $300k or just hold the "loan" in perpetuity?

I also agree with the previous post about taking out a mortgage at all given the limited amount you would need to borrow. If you are already getting a "loan" for $300k, just get the other $100k or so from Bank of Dad and don't deal with a mortgage at all.

I would invest in a small multi-family building (3-6 units) in my local area and self-manange for a few years to get a better understanding of the ins and outs of being a landlord. If you really don't want to deal with tenants after that you can get a property manager.

Can your son buy the condo in his name and you co-sign if needed? Maybe loan him the down payment until he sells it?

That is basically what I did when I went to school, my parents co-signed for me. I was responsible for the mortgage, upkeep, everything. I paid them back after I graduated (I kept the house as a rental) and they were still on the deed until I sold it many years later.

Have you run any numbers? I personally don't use the rule, but here are what we own: 1 bed room condo. Rents for $1450, worth ~$150k. So this one actually hits the 1% rule. Mortgage (PITI) + HOA = ~1000 a month, so cashflows $400 a month. Very limit mortgage paydown ($300 a month) and has had almost no value gain in the past 10 years. 2 unit. Rents are $4000k total, worth $575k. So not hitting the 1% rule, closer to 0.7%. Mortgage is $3400, so cash flow total is ~$600 a month. BUT, the mortgage is a 15 year mortgage, debt paydown is $1800 a month 2 years into it. Decent chance of appreciation. 3 unit building. Purchased for $920k two years ago, worth a million now after some TLC. Rents would be $7000 (we live in the largest unit which would...

Oh yes, I certainly agree these situations exist. I'm asking not because I challenge that they exist, but merely interested in why they exist. I can understand how someone who bought at a lower interest rate can still make a profit charging $5k/month and doesn't want to eat the transaction cost of cashing out. But why don't these prices nudge enough prospective buyers to rent instead, putting upward pressure on rents and downward pressure on prices? See this poster's response: https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7120960#p7120960 PITI is not rent. You're essentially building your home equity as you pay PITI. People would much rather pay 10K/mo of PITI than 10K/mo of rent. This creates a downward pressure of rent $. I don't clai...

BTW, I'm curious as to your thoughts of the renting a studio apt vs buying a comparable condo comparison I did which showed no significant benefit for buying. I don't know how you did your math but we have a 1 bed rental unit (condo) that was my DW primary before we met, it has been a rental for the past 8 or so years. It is in a 25 unit building in Chicago, north side 1 block from Lake Michigan and 2 blocks from a Starbucks/Whole foods. Very much a "starter home" condo building. Units in the buildings have sold in the past year around $150k. Running my calculations this is what I get for someone moving into the building now. 20% down ($30k) for buying, 6% APR on the mortgage ends up with a payment of $900 (PITI) a month + $350 f...

For your situation - no, I would sell it. Getting $3500 a month rent, but the mortgage is $3100 per month, add in property management fees and you are breaking even on monthly cash flow before taking into account repairs. If there is an HOA I assume this is part of the mortgage payment. If you add in the debt paydown and possible appreciation, then overall the property will increase your net worth over time. But given that this seems like a 1 off investment for you it will be a lot of upfront work, notably finding a good PM, this doesn't seem like the best move. If you sold it you would have ~$330k for a down-payment on a different rental property. Look at small mulit-unit building in your area, 3 or 4 unit buildings. Something in the 1 to ...

In a related topic, we ended up with a much larger tax bill due than expected and are refunding ourselves medical expenses from 2022 we paid out of pocket instead of pulling from Roth, which we maxed out in 2022. So I also agree with the general idea. HSA is better overall, but once the money is in Roth is better long term.

inverter wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 2:19 pm Have your CPA help you out on how much extra you need to withheld.

I am not a tax expert but from what I understand and I am assuming the OP is MFJ:

Based on the info given, the extra withholding would be $5000 (amount due this year)/# of paychecks for one spouse. So if you get paid every 2 weeks, $5000/26 = $192 per paycheck extra in taxes for one spouse, the other does not need to adjust their W4. That should get your 2023 taxes much, much closer to $0

Only on Bogleheads can a 32 year save up $256k, have no debt, live on 1/4 of their income, and be told to SAVE MORE for the purchase of a very reasonable primary residence. The OP has been saving, a lot!

There can be a conversation to be had if buying the house is the right choice overall, but given how good the OP has done financially so far I would trust they know why they want to buy a house. I bought my first house at 21 years old.

OP - I would use most of the cash and pull the rest from the taxable account (starting with the crypto) to get to 20% down. I would also look at what the monthly payments would be on a 15 vs 30 year mortgage.

Kaizen Soze wrote: ↑Thu Feb 09, 2023 1:34 pm Open different cards to earn sign-up bonuses.

This is the best return you will likely get.

About a year ago opened a CC that was, I don't remember exactly, $250 cash back + 1% purchase price with 12 months 0% APR after spending $1000 for some replacement windows and a new Ikea couch/bed combo.

This winter opened another CC which was $200 cash back + 1% purchase price after spending $500 with 15 month 0% APR for a new laptop.

Short term your credit score might take a small hit but most of the time this will not matter at all.

I agree that there is not enough information.

You owe $12k. If you got a loan for $12k, how long with it take you pay it back? 2 Months to payback vs 2 years to payback will likely get you different results. I get offers for personal loans up to $25k from credit cards I have, if you can pay it back quickly something like that seems like an easy option. Can you sell stuff to close the gap?

Edit: For my rentals, every year I have a "paper loss" on my portfolio so I haven't had to pay any income tax on the rent payments I have received in 8+ years of being a landlord. Are you sure you have been doing your taxes correctly?

If your parents are in good mental and financial health, then yes you are wrong.

Just for another data point. MFJ with 2 toddlers. 2021 returns we had W2 taxable income of $145k and we had $5k withheld from our W2 for fed taxes (not sure why our jobs withheld so little). At the end we owed a payment of $2k in taxes to the Fed, for an overall amount of ~$7k on $145k income. 2022 (waiting on a couple finalized forms but we have year end statements for the numbers) taxable w2 income of $175k, withheld $14k from our W2 for fed taxes, and we have been told by our CPA that we will owe another $5k, for a total fed tax of ~$18k on that $175k income. So for us income went up $30k, taxes went up $11k. Thanks for all the replies....the reason I made this post is I did not make any changes from 2022 to 2023 so I am trying to figure...

What is the %APR for the student loans once they go back into repayment?

Our Net worth is almost 50/50 personally held real estate / stocks. We don't have a target for the ratio, but that is what is now.

If this is your "forever" home and you have the means, I would go for some nicer items. But I would go for higher end stuff from big box stores.

Ever seen the show "Windy City Rehab"? The host is known for her "custom oven hoods" which run from $3k up to $10k. I would never do stuff like that. Well, unless I won PowerBall, I guess.

For myself: * My HSA contribution are made through my payroll * Periodically, I transfer these assets from my work HSA to Fidelity where I can purchase exactly what I want for the long term. * The transfer can take some time, but I am not concerned at all about being out of the market during that period. After all, the contribution amounts for 2023 is $3750 for singles and $7750 for family. Whatever could possibly happen for a given transfer during the year will not be disastrous. Above is the definitive answer. Keep your stuff in healthequity in cash and use it as an "emergency fund" to meet your deductible in the case of a large unforseen expense. When it gets large enough, transfer to Fido and invest (or not!) as you wish. Tim...

We (me, wife, 2 toddlers) do house hack and it has worked out very well for us. Before kids we purchased a duplex which we lived in and rented out the other unit. Fixed it up nicely, raised the rents to align with the nicer conditions, and eventually the house was worth almost double what we paid for it, we did put a lot of money into fixing it up. Did a cash out refi, used that for a down payment on our current place which is a 3 unit building. We also have a rental condo DW bought/lived in before we met. So a total of 5 rental units. Clearly for your 3 options, number 3 is very different than the other 2. That is going to be a personal choice. As for your general house hacking approach, why do you plan to put so much down? I would only pl...

Our child also received a P-EBT card in IL, I also thought it was odd as we are not near the income levels required. But as other have said, some schools every kid gets the card regardless of the family income. We used the card for the first time when buying food for Thanksgiving, worked no problem.

Chris Rock in his 2004 stand up special "Never Scared" covered this very topic and it was the first thing I thought of:

People go, "What's the difference?" Here's the difference. Shaq is rich. The white man that signs his check is wealthy. *snip* I ain't talking 'bout rich, I'm talking 'bout wealth. Wealth is passed down from generation to generation. You can't get rid of wealth. Rich is some **** you can lose with a crazy summer and a drug habit. Rick James was rich. One minute you're singing Super Freak, the next you are doing Old Navy commercials.

Still rings true to me.

Just for another data point of something similar, we are landlords who were owner occupenats of previously of a duplex and now a 3 unit building. We use a CPA who also does taxes for several of of our other landlord friends. When calculating the expenses related to common areas which in our properties are basically the yard, everything is split by the number of units, I. E. If I buy grass seed for the yard at our current 3 unti, that is split 3 ways equally (for taxes) even with our unit being almost the half the building square footage. Same goes with the water bill which we pay for the whole building (one meter). It is also split 3 ways evenly for tax purposes even if we have more square footage not to mention more people living in our un...

I would take the CC deal and then set up the autopay for $3000 per month to just pay off the balance in a linear fashion over the 15 month 0% period. Effectively lowering the APR on $43,500 of the overall balance. Anything extra pay towards the HELOC. Not the most optimal approach, but seems very simple and straightforward.

I am a landlord and love RE, but in this case I would sell. I am assuming this would be your only rental property - if you already have others then disregard. Looks like you will cash flow about $1000 a month, plus another $1500 (?) on the mortgage principle, so about $2500 a month which is nice. But, you don't seem to need to the extra money and with just one rental the amount of work to get it up and running (finding property management, likely set up separate bank account, extra tax work, learning the laws for your area, etc.) and the lessons learned along the way, seems like it could be more of a headache than it would be worth. Not to mention, the return on the equity (~$1.25 million) isn't great (2.4% for combining cashflow and princi...

We have 2 young kids and I know DW wants to take them to Disney World at some point, I am really not looking forward to it. Have been there a few times, most recently 7 years ago with DW and her family. The in-laws paid for everything so that was nice, and this was before we had kids but there were several nieces/nephews that went. It was not fun for me, and I am dreading the trip when we take our kids when they get a little older.

We did go to Branson, MO once and have no desire to go back. Most places closed very early, lots of restaurants were dry (no alcohol), the whole place seemed more for an older generation besides Silver Dollar City (theme park) and some zip lines.

I finally sold my TSLA shares a month ago after holding for the past 2-3 years (purchased a few rounds before the splits). Was the only individual stock I owned, now all index funds and feel pretty good about it.

TSLA down to $100 would be interesting, but with so many other EVs coming out from major car markers, I think that TSLA ship has sailed. Plus, as the third largest individual investor in TSLA stated recently, the company does not have a full time CEO at this point.

Since you want to own some RE, you should house hack. Given that you have read 5 books already from Bigger Pockets, why have you not already done this? I don't know Boston, just been there a few times for work trips, so I have no clue if these are areas you would want to live. Given that you are looking at (single family) houses in the $600k range, the very cheapest houses in these areas are at that price point. Here are 2 multi families I see that are in your price range of $1,000,000 (your $200k is 20% down). A mortgage will likely be ~$5500 per month on a million dollar 20% down place. I know my area of Chicago, so I will assume that rent prices are going to similar in these areas of Boston, adjust according. https://www.redfin.com/MA/B...

Since you want to own some RE, you should house hack. Given that you have read 5 books already from Bigger Pockets, why have you not already done this? I don't know Boston, just been there a few times for work trips, so I have no clue if these are areas you would want to live. Given that you are looking at (single family) houses in the $600k range, the very cheapest houses in these areas are at that price point. Here are 2 multi families I see that are in your price range of $1,000,000 (your $200k is 20% down). A mortgage will likely be ~$5500 per month on a million dollar 20% down place. I know my area of Chicago, so I will assume that rent prices are going to similar in these areas of Boston, adjust according. https://www.redfin.com/MA/Bo...

No one knows, there can be a huge range. If the nanny is making $450 a week, anywhere from $50 to $900 (2 weeks pay) would seem appropriate to me.

We don't have a nanny but our kids go to public school & daycare, I think we are (DW is actually taking care of this) $50 per teacher and there are 6(?) teachers total between the 2 kids.

Questions: 1- Does it make sense to even think about buying a house in todays environment? Wife feels we are "Wasting money" by renting even though math suggest we will be paying more in Taxes/Insurance/Mortgage Interest/maintenance . I also don't think housing will appreciate that much as it did in last 3 years. But I am just guessing. "RE gurus" here say housing in California always go up and I should buy!! 2- Does it make sense to stop contributing in retirement accounts ( and pay taxes) and save in taxable accounts for potential more downpayment savings. 3- Would it make sense to buy a small condo with all cash from taxable money and try to rent to have "RE" as an asset. I do have REITS in retirement portf...

We just left Comcast last week, had them for the past 8 years. Left due to price increases. Was on the 800 plan, and d/l speeds were about that. Unload was about 25. Had no issue with the service, it went down maybe once a year. But we went from a $225 (after latest increase) internet + cable bill to a 500 mbps service from AT&T (no cable) for $70.

Sounds like you and the spouse both have "overfunded" 401k's, I might take one 401k loan assuming it is "pay yourself" interest at the max of $50k, and use a HELOC for the rest. But it also depends on how quickly you think you can pay off the HELOC. If say <1 year, might just do only a HELOC. Paying a floating rate of 6-7% which might go higher would bug me with a balance of $100k if it would be on the books for a couple of years.

[Unnecessary comment removed by moderator oldcomputerguy] A stuck V is best handled by a new keyboard. Desire for 17 screen is best handled by new screen Thanks for the response, sorry my post was a little all over the place. The "v' is just the last straw. To be clear, the "v" works when I turn on the computer but after some time the computer thinks the "v" is stuck down, maybe once it warms up. I don't think it is a simple mechanical issue with the keyboard, but it might be. Over the years I have had to replace the hinges as they became stiff (known issue with this model) to the point that I didn't close the laptop for a couple of years, replace the cover on the top of the laptop, and replace the display. Due to ...

My older Lenovo y50-70 (GeForce GTX 860M) is starting to break down (after being on awhile it thinks the "v" key is stuck down) so I am looking to replace it. The biggest confusion I am running into is the wattage on the new GPU seem to really mask how powerful the GPU will be. I am pretty sure I am going to settle on a "MSI Pulse GL76 Laptop - 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700H - GeForce RTX 3070 - 1080p - Windows 11" which is on sale for $1200 at Costco, but the 3070 is only at 105W, not the higher end 140W. The y50-70 still runs the games I play, mostly RTS or general strategy games like Northgard or Endless Space 2, but I will get Dragon Age 4 when it comes out. I really want a ~17" screen, which the Pulse has. Shoul...

Just a few notes about the post by Watty, who does bring up some good points: 1) Your insurance will likely not change at all, check with your insurance company of course but in my experience living and renting out in multi-unit family houses (in IL, not in NJ), it didn't change until I actually moved out of the property and it became a non-owner occupant rental. 2) Taxes are more complicated then just adding the rental income to your personal income, you need to count 1/2 of your expenses (property taxes, insurance, interest on your mortgage, depreciation, repairs, etc.) from your rental income. Your rental income could very well come out to be a "paper loss", even if your bank account shows a very solid gain. 3) Correct, know th...