[quote=bearishgurl]
Ren, I don’t really care about any Piggs’ finances here. It’s not only me, but that old, crotchety Suze Orman would actually advise you not to pass go or collect $200 if you were carrying vehicle loan(s).[/quote]
You’re doing that selective comprehension thing again. We don’t currently have car payments, but may very well finance the kids’ cars when it comes time for that. Suze Orman, as annoying as she is, has made a great living being a “financial advisor for dummies,” although she obviously can’t say that part out loud. Those of us who are smarter than her demographic target (which is to say, at least half the country) know to compare rates of investment return with the cost of debt.
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I often see and talk to these senior LL’s when they are working on their investment properties. One is taking care of their aunt’s rental house because she is now too old to work on it. They’re digging french drains and concreting over for flood control for the driveway, garage and foundation, replacing windows, building fences and patching the roof, etc, sometimes with the help of an adult child or other relative. And they actually just live two blocks or <1 mile away! Yes, at the age of 60-75, that's real life for them!
The vast majority of the IE’s parcels within 20 miles of the SD County line (where you live) are less than 20 years old and this region went through a deep depression a few years back. Thus, the homeowners who bought there between 2000 and 2006 became deeply underwater … many more than 50%. ALL of their taxes were high until they were likely reduced wholesale by the RIV County assessor pursuant to Prop 8. Excepting for a few scattered disabled veterans, there are no owners within subdivisions in your area with property taxes of less than $750 per yr on improved property, unless they purchased a small cheap condo in distress within the last ~2 years.
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You’re using irrelevant statistics to categorize people into two distinct groups – those who invested a long time ago, and those who invested recently, the latter all being in danger of imminent financial ruin in your mind, and with no crossover between the two. You can’t assume that the experiences of the people you know match the experiences of the people I know or the millions of people you don’t know – many of whom have been buying property on and off for decades and are still buying them. You also can’t assume (although of course you do) that every one of those recent purchasers was too ignorant to buy at a decent price, and/or bought with none of their own money.
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If you think I’m pulling these numbers out of my ass, why don’t you start plugging in APN numbers off parcel maps which were platted (and built) more than 35 years ago and sold for no more than $20-$40K in 1978 and prior and have not sold since.
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I never said you’re pulling numbers out of your ass – but again, the numbers you are providing are irrelevant. So people who bought back then and held onto the properties are mostly unencumbered – I should hope so. Many of them have also bought recently and are profiting from it, even carrying mortgages. The most financially secure retired people I know have never sold a property, and are still buying, whether that’s every 2 years, 5, or 10. Of course they’re making more money off the first properties. The point is that tenants helped them then and are helping now.
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Here, I’ll help you get started with a link:
