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Old 10-25-2007, 05:16 AM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,244 posts, read 60,963,154 times
Reputation: 30134

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Hey Dorothy;

We have known a lot of folks who would buy a house at one duty station, and then in three years would have to transfer. Many of them would routinely rent out that house and buy a second house at their new duty station. This became fairly common to see.

Unfortunately it rarely works. A Single Family Residence [SFR] worked as a rental unit for my grandparents and my parents, the big 'secret' was that they bought an empty lot with cash, then a year later they built a house. They did so and never took out a loan. So when the rental was completed, there was no mortgage. With no debt on those homes, then making them rentals works very well.

In my case, we bought MFRs [Multi-Family-Residences]. My DW and I lived in one unit and we rented out the other units. [A tri-plex, a five-plex, and an other tri-plex].

For us it worked well. However the entire time, I worked with other guys, who I saw kept trying to make it work using SFRs it each time, they were over-whelmed by the debt load.

I was able to retire at 42, when my pension kicked in, as our Net Worth had built up fairly well from the Mfrs. We bought a farm using cash from the equity that we had built in a couple of the MFRS, and we kept one MFR to continue building equity for us.
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Old 10-26-2007, 05:50 PM
 
7,881 posts, read 9,073,872 times
Reputation: 9151
Dorothy,
A lot of it is due to being a fellow LI'er. The vast difference in property taxes on LI compared to the rest of the country and huge difference in health care costs greatly diminishes our ability to succeed financially. Houses bought on LI in the past 4 years will not be able to show a profit from renting. The costs are too prohibitive. Run your numbers and see if it really pays to be a landlord on LI. You might find you are losing money each month.
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Old 10-30-2007, 12:39 PM
 
Location: Sanford, FL
732 posts, read 4,148,434 times
Reputation: 405
I live comfortably single on $8000 a year. Here are my expenses. I rented a room and not only does it have cheap rent but I got utilities and cable included so thats $600 in savings a month. Even though I am young I found the simple life is stress free. No car payments, no phone (I use work phone). You people have families but it still shouldn't exceed $50,000 a year. You should be able to live well on that. Like that guy said buy everything with cash. If you don't have the money now don't buy it. Go buy a used car or just use the ones you have until they run to the ground.

Rent $450
Car Insurance $80
Gas $100
Food $100
Misc $25
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Old 10-30-2007, 12:55 PM
 
Location: Southwest Missouri
1,921 posts, read 6,403,251 times
Reputation: 927
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fnix View Post
I live comfortably single on $8000 a year. Here are my expenses. I rented a room and not only does it have cheap rent but I got utilities and cable included so thats $600 in savings a month. Even though I am young I found the simple life is stress free. No car payments, no phone (I use work phone). You people have families but it still shouldn't exceed $50,000 a year. You should be able to live well on that. Like that guy said buy everything with cash. If you don't have the money now don't buy it. Go buy a used car or just use the ones you have until they run to the ground.

Rent $450
Car Insurance $80
Gas $100
Food $100
Misc $25
Your figures add up to more than $9,000/year? That's still very impressive though.
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Old 10-30-2007, 01:00 PM
 
Location: Sanford, FL
732 posts, read 4,148,434 times
Reputation: 405
Quote:
Originally Posted by 8 SNAKE View Post
Your figures add up to more than $9,000/year? That's still very impressive though.
Sorry I budget alot so my numbers are always changing. I always have money for clothes, I go out on weekends to clubs with friends and do anything else a person would do. I just pay less for the mandatory things.
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Old 10-30-2007, 01:56 PM
 
781 posts, read 3,807,415 times
Reputation: 293
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fnix View Post
I live comfortably single on $8000 a year. Here are my expenses. I rented a room and not only does it have cheap rent but I got utilities and cable included so thats $600 in savings a month. Even though I am young I found the simple life is stress free. No car payments, no phone (I use work phone). You people have families but it still shouldn't exceed $50,000 a year. You should be able to live well on that. Like that guy said buy everything with cash. If you don't have the money now don't buy it. Go buy a used car or just use the ones you have until they run to the ground.

Rent $450
Car Insurance $80
Gas $100
Food $100
Misc $25
You do not show any medical insurance?? On an income of $8000/yr I am sure your employer is not paying it.
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Old 10-30-2007, 02:04 PM
 
Location: in drifts of snow wherever you go
2,493 posts, read 4,369,595 times
Reputation: 692
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fnix View Post
I live comfortably single on $8000 a year. Here are my expenses. I rented a room and not only does it have cheap rent but I got utilities and cable included so thats $600 in savings a month. Even though I am young I found the simple life is stress free. No car payments, no phone (I use work phone). You people have families but it still shouldn't exceed $50,000 a year. You should be able to live well on that. Like that guy said buy everything with cash. If you don't have the money now don't buy it. Go buy a used car or just use the ones you have until they run to the ground.

Rent $450
Car Insurance $80
Gas $100
Food $100
Misc $25
What about health insurance and clothes and furniture and what happens when the car breaks down? What about phone, internet, and cable TV? Hot water, gas, oil and electric? How do you eat off $100 a month?

Greenie
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Old 10-30-2007, 03:09 PM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,244 posts, read 60,963,154 times
Reputation: 30134
Quote:
Originally Posted by GreenMachine View Post
What about health insurance and clothes and furniture and what happens when the car breaks down? What about phone, internet, and cable TV? Hot water, gas, oil and electric? How do you eat off $100 a month?

Greenie
You grandparents raised a family and may have even prospered with no phone bill. Did they have an internet bill? A cable bill?

We fed a family of four for $250/month, now we are down to only three and our food bill is still above $200.

I can see where a single person could eat for $100/month.
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Old 10-30-2007, 03:52 PM
 
Location: in drifts of snow wherever you go
2,493 posts, read 4,369,595 times
Reputation: 692
Quote:
Originally Posted by forest beekeeper View Post
You grandparents raised a family and may have even prospered with no phone bill. Did they have an internet bill? A cable bill?

We fed a family of four for $250/month, now we are down to only three and our food bill is still above $200.

I can see where a single person could eat for $100/month.
Forest,

I see your point, but most people nowadays would find it awkward to live without a phone. I was only pointing out that it seemed like a few things were missing in this person's budget. Living on $100 a month for food is not easy, unless you are eating a lot of refined carbs like rice, noodles, potatoes and bread -- the stuff that contributes to obesity.

Greenie
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Old 10-30-2007, 04:02 PM
 
781 posts, read 3,807,415 times
Reputation: 293
I think we all agree that we all could live smarter and leaner but there are certain necessities that are required. Medical insurance,dental insurance, and a savings account for emergencies are a must in todays society....so FNIX.....how are you paying for those????

Just curious.
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