Am I the only one who thinks that owning 4 houses sounds terrible? So much upkeep. And property taxes. And what do you do with it when you are not there? And the hassle of getting it ready when you haven't been there in a year.
I would much rather use my powerball winnings to stay in fancy hotels wherever the hell I feel like going.
I didn't say you had to do the maintenance with your bare hands, but you still have to make sure it gets done. You have to hire people, pay for it, pay for repairs, insurance, make sure the stuff is actually getting done. It makes me itchy. I'm never buying a house again.
Renting out your properties when you are not using them? I dont want strange people using my stuff and sleeping in my bed!
That too! OMG, I would be so fucking annoyed at ever scratch and ding. And all of those strange asses and god knows what else on my furniture? Oh hell no.
Post by pantsparty on May 17, 2013 22:15:33 GMT -5
I believe the rich maintain properties much, much differently than we do.
My H went to a private wine estate in Malibu for a work event. It is not open to the public, but it is available for hire for events. The man who owned it was part of the movie industry, and he kept a FULL TIME staff at the estate, just in case he wants to come by. This is an entirely separate staff that handles events. They're just there to maintain things, every single day.
I would hire the best people and not worry about a thing.
We have 7 houses, four of which we rent out and three of which we use for ourselves. One is small and on the property behind my mom's house and other homes we own, so we tap into the electricity and wifi there. I am planning to start traveling with Roku so we can watch TV. One is one of DH's family houses, his family maintains it. The third is our main house, so of course, we do all those expenses. The ones we rent are actually more of a pain because we have to collect rent, fix things, etc. Anyway, DH's official job title is "property manager" so I guess he has time to maintain them and that helps. We are in the process of buying another one right now so clearly I like owning real estate. I don't know. We lost a lot of money in the stock market in 2008. We made some back, but I trust property more than stocks now. It may be too much of a PITA if DH didn't have time to manage them but since he does, I think it's great. We cover some gaps between mortgage and rent on our investment homes, but in 15-25 years we will own them all. That's pretty awesome.
And sometimes you don't want to stay at a hotel. We have the dogs, and, although they are service animals, they are still more comfortable staying somewhere with a yard. Plus, in a place like Tahoe you really want a cabin. A hotel isn't the same at all. You lose so much of the experience.
We have 7 houses, four of which we rent out and three of which we use for ourselves. One is small and on the property behind my mom's house and other homes we own, so we tap into the electricity and wifi there. I am planning to start traveling with Roku so we can watch TV. One is one of DH's family houses, his family maintains it. The third is our main house, so of course, we do all those expenses. The ones we rent are actually more of a pain because we have to collect rent, fix things, etc. Anyway, DH's official job title is "property manager" so I guess he has time to maintain them and that helps. We are in the process of buying another one right now so clearly I like owning real estate. I don't know. We lost a lot of money in the stock market in 2008. We made some back, but I trust property more than stocks now. It may be too much of a PITA if DH didn't have time to manage them but since he does, I think it's great. We cover some gaps between mortgage and rent on our investment homes, but in 15-25 years we will own them all. That's pretty awesome.
Want to buy a house in the middle?
You'll be astonished at how cheap it is. And it's in an excellent rental market! (and I could probably supply you with a stream of grad student/post doc renters).
And sometimes you don't want to stay at a hotel. We have the dogs, and, although they are service animals, they are still more comfortable staying somewhere with a yard. Plus, in a place like Tahoe you really want a cabin. A hotel isn't the same at all. You lose so much of the experience.
Which is why you.... rent a cabin!
I think I may feel differently if I had more money and a different experience. Winning powerball would allow me to do so. Maybe. I'm not convinced. yet.
And sometimes you don't want to stay at a hotel. We have the dogs, and, although they are service animals, they are still more comfortable staying somewhere with a yard. Plus, in a place like Tahoe you really want a cabin. A hotel isn't the same at all. You lose so much of the experience.
Which is why you.... rent a cabin!
I think I may feel differently if I had more money and a different experience. Winning powerball would allow me to do so. Maybe. I'm not convinced. yet.
Same here. It's the same feeling I get when people tell me that having kids is great. It sure doesn't LOOK great most of the time, but if you say so.
I think I may feel differently if I had more money and a different experience. Winning powerball would allow me to do so. Maybe. I'm not convinced. yet.
Houses are a big tax deduction. Especially if you manage them yourself. You can depreciate the value of the house and also deduct mortgage and other costs (on a house rented out). Plus I can take the houses that are ours, which have a mortgage, and deduct all the interest (we only have mortgages on two of the ones we use, so I take the primary and second home credits). Honestly, if it were not such an incredible tax advantage we might not own as many. But that also only works if you have a spouse who draws no other income and can be a property manager.
which brings me back to my first question to you.....
He certainly would not wash out a casserole tray, I will say that.
Well let's be honest. I wouldn't either. a) I wouldn't eat casserole brought in b) I'd assume it was the responsibility of the person who brought it in.
Yeah, and honesty, it wouldn't occur to me. My mom would wash it out though. And be mortified it would just never occur to me. I belly think to do dishes after dinner when at my IL's.
PS: I am running the San Diego RnR marathon next month. I'm doing it with a bunch of people but maybe we should try to meet up if you are near it?
I'd own multiples but within driving distance or a short flight. I'd buy a plane for the short flights. There's a private airstrip not far from our house where we can buy a hangar and I'd have hangars at the locations where we'd fly in, with commuter cars kept at the hangars (Bend and the Puget Sound island being the two likely locations for landing strips.)
WRT the super-rich property owners, I think it was elle who mentioned they did it differently. My niece spent last summer working on a property owned by a .01%-er. He kept a contingent at the ranch whose sole job was to look after the house and keep it immaculate and to look after the property and keep it immaculate and to look after the horses and keep them exercised and cared for. Just in case he decided to stop in some weekend and host a party. Just.in.case.
I didn't say you had to do the maintenance with your bare hands, but you still have to make sure it gets done. You have to hire people, pay for it, pay for repairs, insurance, make sure the stuff is actually getting done. It makes me itchy. I'm never buying a house again.
My parents own 3 1/4 houses (they rent one of these out) and it's a pain in the ass - but they are also not super rich. They are currently selling one house just because they are tired of the upkeep of so many homes. My dad is going to rent an apartment near his office to stay a few nights a week and my mom will move to their mountain home full time. Rich people can just pay other people to do all of the maintenance and upkeep, so I imagine it's not a big hassle.