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EconProf
ParticipantWanna multitask by exercising and making money at the same time? Become a landlord and do your own work. Painting, scrubbing, landscaping, carpentry, etc. all works the main muscle groups. Skip the gym fees, go buy some fixer-upper units, and resolve to do as much of the work yourself. After a few years of that you can retire, sell the units, and do a 1031 into a gym.
ParticipantMuch of what we read on Piggington is not worthwhile. But every so often a gem of a comment, like the one above from HLS comes along and proves the value of Piggington.
We just saw insider and expert like HLS give spot-on and valuable advice to someone in great need of help. He sniffed out the weaknesses of the “bully” and gave the poster the ammunition to proceed. And we other observers all learned from it as well. Thank you HLS, and thank you Piggington.ParticipantLots of problems here with the landlord’s claim. After 21 months, “touch-up” painting is part of normal wear and tear. As for the scratches in the wood floor…can the LL prove they did not exist before you moved in? Does he have pictures? Also, as Paramount mentioned, did he do a pre-inspection walk through and list, in writing, these deficiencies? The burden of proof in court is high on the LL, and he really doesn’t want to go there. BTW, all your listed repairs/cleaning look way high, even for high-cost Bay area.
As HLS mentioned, tenant is not supposed to return property in “rent-ready” condition. And the deposit is not supposed to be a profit center for the owner. Rental owners like this give us all a bad name and need to be called out. I constantly run into new tenants who don’t trust me because of a previous bad LL, and it takes a long time to establish credibility.ParticipantMy policy has been to require a lease up front and then let it revert to month-t0-month thereafter. That way you have them for a set amount of time to cover your rent-up expense, and you both have the flexibility to terminate afterwards.
If you demand a new lease in order to stay, what if they were planning a move in 3 or 6 months and you are forcing them to move now instead? If they are good tenants, better for you to keep them on for a few months longer.ParticipantThe article is hard to plod through because it is a grab-bag of unrelated statistics, faulty reasoning, and jumping to conclusions with inadequate evidence.
The main sentence which seems to be resonating is the following:“Higher recent rates of unemployment mean the lifetime risk of experiencing economic insecurity now runs even higher: 79%, or 4 in 5 adults, by the time they turn 60.”
This sloppy sentence reminds me of how my weakest students, and often worst writers, were journalism majors. (The best: engineers)
First, recent unemployment rates have been falling, not rising. Yes, there are huge measurement problems, and other well-known employment measures that are worsening, but these are not mentioned by the author. Second, how does the author so precisely conclude that 79% of adults will be “experiencing economic insecurity” by the time they reach 60? Where, by the way, is “economic insecurity” even defined? And finally, what is so bad about feeling some economic insecurity in the four decades of living and working up to age 60? Economic insecurity just might teach one how to budget and plan, educate oneself properly, move to where the jobs are, and improve one’s employability…kind of the American way. Lots of successful people, including us Piggs, had rough patches and bad luck and took the tough measures to overcome them.ParticipantIf UCGal’s assumptions are correct, why not sell the MM house now and get the disabled person into a living situation that makes sense, whether a smaller rental or assisted living place. It certainly makes no sense for them to stay in a 5-bedroom house.
A big, older house like that will likely get a big family and plenty more wear and tear on the house and yard. Whether it is sold now or later it certainly makes sense to do a total fix-up and paint-up beforehand to maximize the price.
Property managers usually get about 10% of the rent, and are seldom worth it. Unlike the owner, they seldom have the incentive to minimize costs and they have lots of leeway for shenanigans in hiring and contracting work to be done, taking their time in renting it out, etc.July 8, 2013 at 12:20 PM in reply to: Renting: what can landlord reasonably deduct when moving out? #763380ParticipantClearly, the landlord cannot automatically charge you for painting just because they automatically do it for each incoming tenant, however admirable that policy may be for new tenants. They can only charge for above-normal wear and tear, so if you left the walls with normal usage, you are entitled to no charges for painting.
That said, the key to happy tenant departures is whether the landlord insisted upon the beginning of the tenancy for a list of deficiencies upon moving in. That should come 1 – 2 weeks after move-in, so the tenant has a chance to note everything. I usually have to prod my newbies to provide it, but it comes in handy upon move-out to end arguments about pre-existing damage.June 20, 2013 at 9:07 PM in reply to: Another excellent Economist Mag article on the terrible state pension issues #763112ParticipantCAR: you cite many instances of public sector unions giving in on pay or retirement benefits. About time. Since the CA public sector workers make nearly twice as much as the CA private sector workers, this is only the beginning. The public is finally learning of the abuses of government unions and is demanding some giveback.
ParticipantEveryone has their own priorities in choosing a vehicle–for me it is the seats. Being freakishly tall and driving weekly to and from Yuma, seat comfort and adjustability are everything. I have a 2004 Chrysler Pacifica with the best seats in the world, but also 214,000 miles on it. Have looked and looked for a new vehicle with seats as good as the Pacifica–even sat in 30 – 40 at the Convention Center Auto Show last January. Only pickups and giant SUVs came close.
Then, a eureka moment–a used, low mileage 2007 Chrysler Pacifica (the last year they made them) would have the same seats (plus an improved engine and transmission). Craigslist allows the shopper to filter, so for two months I regularly plugged in “2007 Chrysler Pacifica”, called only on Touring models, low mileage vehicles in San Diego, Phoenix, and Los Angeles Craigslists, and found a match a week ago. The driver’s seat is adjustable every which way, and when tilted it feels like a Lazy-Boy chair. With 51,000 miles, I’ll keep it for many years.
Now, anyone want to buy a 2004 Chrysler Pacifica with great seats? Seriously.ParticipantDon’t obsess over gas mileage. Once you run the numbers, it is seldom worthwhile to sell your car just to get one with better mileage.
At 15,000 miles per year, a 5 MPG improvement saves you less than $500 per year in gasoline. A 10 MPG improvement, which is a huge difference in size of vehicle, gets you under $1,000. Weigh safety, convenience, comfort, etc. And transaction cost is too often neglected: time and trouble to sell a vehicle and buy another, wholesale vs. retail, sales tax, etc.ParticipantWise words from EarlyRetirement, a guy who has the experience to pass on his wisdom to us.
I agree that for the wealthy family with kids, parts of South America, including Mexico, have big problems with kidnapping, which is why many of them chose to vamoose to the U.S. In fact, many of the wealthy of Tijuana have homes in and around Coronado because of the fear of kidnapping.
But the original thread was regarding retiring in Mexico, presumably for the very non-wealthy American. Just as we can learn from ER’s experience with rich expatriates, we could learn from one of the many American retirees who do not regret their choice. Too bad one of them has not yet chimed in.ParticipantWe are kind of talking about different things here guys. I touted the economic and political improvements of Mexico as a whole, and suggest their future is a lot brighter than their past. Investors agree, and capital is flowing into the country, esp. from China. Their wages are growing fast and the expanding middle class with small families are demanding cleaner government and higher living standards.
Their bloody drug wars continue, albeit lessening of late, and only in specific parts of the country. And they are largely, though not exclusively, bad guys killing other bad guys.
Enclaves of American retirees continue to grow, and I’d go there to get their side of the story. Every country has its dangerous areas. Mexico’s are especially graphic and telegenic, which may be giving us an outsized vision of the danger that exists in the retirement communities. I also would not chose to retire in America’s murder capitals like Detroit, Chicago, or New Orleans.ParticipantForget everything you thought you knew about Mexican politics and their economy. Their economic growth rate is about twice ours. Their unemployment rate is falling fast while ours remains stubbornly high (which is why the illegal immigration rate to and from the U.S. now is a net zero). Their birth rate per mom has fallen in a generation from about five to two. Most promising, their new young president has taken on corruption, the all-powerful unions, and giant monopolies like Pemex and Carlos Slims’ empire. So while the US moves toward crony capitalism, Mexico is going in the other direction. Accordingly, if you make your plans based on trends instead of what exists now or existed in the past, then Mexico looks promising.
Spend a week or weekend in Ensenada or nearby locales (skip Tijuana!) talking to the a few of the thousands of other Americans living there to get the pros and cons of such a choice.ParticipantThis video is a pretty good summary of the new headwinds the economy is now in, especially the first half before he gets too political and it turns into a rant.
But his analysis of the obstacles to hiring and the looming stall in the economy are spot on. Our lack of economic growth in this “recovery” is in stark contrast to all other past rebounds. We’ve averaged about 2% growth since 2009, while in the 80’s recovery under Reagan we were around 6%.
Incentives matter. -
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