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Old 12-02-2016, 01:53 PM
 
Location: Texas
4,850 posts, read 3,623,807 times
Reputation: 15374

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Bad days at the office like today make me want to check out. I've been eligible for a year. Was going to stay until 62 but every day it is worse.

I cleaned out most personal stuff today and I'm taking it home. I want to travel light when I finally do it.
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Old 12-02-2016, 04:19 PM
 
Location: prescott az
6,954 posts, read 12,019,556 times
Reputation: 14219
Uh Oh. You might "tip your hand" when your co workers see your stuff go missing ! LOL
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Old 12-02-2016, 08:01 PM
 
16,373 posts, read 30,158,026 times
Reputation: 25427
Quote:
Originally Posted by N.Cal View Post
You sure you aren't missing a zero on each????? I highly doubt any of these houses are decent or in a decent area. My nephew just sold his starter house in the KC burbs - $180K.
You can probably find fixer uppers in the $60-80 range in many Midwestern cities these days. To do so, you generally are looking at:

-a house in a "transitional area" - that is "Realtor speak" for a high crime area that MAY gentrify SOMEDAY. Of course, that might be about the time that your grandchildren will be retired.

-a house in an inner-city with MEDIOCRE schools - although EVERYONE will find a couple of "award winning" schools where the politicians send THEIR kids

-a house that needs very significant work - bad roofs that have leaked for 10+ years (mold), "tube and knob" electricians, bad plumbing and the like. This is far beyond the DIY projects like painting, drywall repair and the small projects that MOST people want to do.

-a condo in a disfunctional HOA where the developer and the first residents have been in years of serious litigation for years

-a house that was thrown up during the housing bubble ignoring building codes with the cheapest possible materials.


I have given you FIVE EXAMPLES of houses that we looked at over the past fifteen years. I was going to assign cities to each of the examples BUT I did NOT want to start a battle about those individual housing markets.

Houses are generally cheap, dirt cheap for a reason. They have problems that are going to take $$$ to fix OR they have incurable problems. If you have $30-40k that you can drop into some of the older homes, you may have a great house HOWEVER, you no longer have a cheap house.

Go over to the SHEA SHOW on YouTube. It is a channel about a land investor who purchases, rehabs and rents properties in the city of Detroit. He will show you what a $10-20k home purchase in Detroit looks like.
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Old 12-02-2016, 08:13 PM
 
28,109 posts, read 63,514,055 times
Reputation: 23230
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhxBarb View Post
Yes, that's always the negative with these cheap homes, isn't it?
Sometimes cheap homes have problems that eventually are no longer a problem...

At one time homes near the docks were very undesirable... a friend's father bought one because it was all that he could afford... today the family is quite well off because the property is paid for and worth a small fortune because all around the piers have been redeveloped with shops, restaurants... the old industrial waterfront has multimillion dollar yachts...

Might not make for a good move for someone retired... but buying at the bottom of an up and coming market is always a smart move.
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Old 12-02-2016, 08:18 PM
 
28,109 posts, read 63,514,055 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jlawrence01 View Post

Go over to the SHEA SHOW on YouTube. It is a channel about a land investor who purchases, rehabs and rents properties in the city of Detroit. He will show you what a $10-20k home purchase in Detroit looks like.
Yep... I bought the least expensive single family home in my SF Bay Area city and it was scheduled for a condemnation hearing...

Still own it today and consider it the best investment I have made...

After I moved to my next project I rented it and have only rented it to two families...

Not a work of encouragement from friends or family... just knew it was the only way I was going to get into the Bay Area Real Estate... glad I did not not listen.
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Old 12-02-2016, 08:41 PM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,655 posts, read 57,744,979 times
Reputation: 46105
Quote:
Your Retirement Indecisions, They Make You Laugh, Cry, Scream Sometimes?
stick with Laughing... I can never make the CORRECT / best decision, so lots of experience crying. No time for that in retirement. We are burning the candle on both ends and may very soon 'check-out'! That will be cause for more laughing than crying!

Indecision tonight, SWA had a huge sale so I have 27 trips booked...(before May) which one will be best Which ones will I wish I would have THOUGHT through before jumping in

No matter... SWA allows FREE changes, perfect for this 'senior', Just remembering which ones were changed...

Sold a bunch of properties last month, which were the winners? what to do with the CASH in a high market and high RE valuations...

Guess I will take a trip and think it over..

I booked 3 to Ultrunner's OAK. $40 to flee PNW clouds! Great deal! Companion joins me for FREE ($5,60) Tough choice.

Retirement is the winner,

Stay Flexible and LAUGH. (a LOT)
http://www.city-data.com/forum/membe...y-flexible.jpg
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Old 12-03-2016, 03:25 AM
 
2,951 posts, read 2,506,277 times
Reputation: 5292
Lived in KC for years.

The crime map - those are homes I would never consider or the neighborhoods. Those have been bad areas since the 70's. This is where a huge portion of regular crime happens. Down by the Nelson art gallery might not be as bad, but next to downtown. ugh. They'll probably level them for some new office building.

You need to take a trip to KC to see the reality what you are dreaming about on the internet.

Most are probably over run with mold, a huge issue in KC. Especially for homes that aren't taken care of. Our allergist called it the mold capital of the US.

Even a new house with a basement will have mold. Mold literally grows in the air at a humidity of 47%. Why we moved, allergic to it.

If it a big porch that attracts you, buy in good neighborhood and add one on to your house.

When I was painting my house to sell before moving out here, it was 124 degrees heat index. Oh and the bugs. ick.

You won't get bored with the weather, wait 24 hours and it'll change. Rain, sleet, hail, tornados, snow, humidity year round, ice storms, etc. Losing electricity for a week or more. The lines in the older sections of town are still above ground. Getting stuck in your home, cause of the snow or ice storm. Stay off the street warnings.
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Old 12-03-2016, 06:38 AM
 
7,898 posts, read 7,090,816 times
Reputation: 18587
I lived in KC for a year or two. I owned a cheaply made, post WWII cape. The neighborhood was OK but nothing special. Lots of houses needed work. The current Zillow estimate is $200k. I would not expect any super bargains in KC except for a ghetto junker.


In addition, KC was ok but when the weekend rolled around I found I was 1000 miles from mountains, beaches or anywhere I would want to be. Kansas is in the middle of a big, ugly farm. At least that was my opinion. I am not a cornfield person.
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Old 12-03-2016, 07:14 AM
 
28,109 posts, read 63,514,055 times
Reputation: 23230
Quote:
Originally Posted by StealthRabbit View Post
stick with Laughing... I can never make the CORRECT / best decision, so lots of experience crying. No time for that in retirement. We are burning the candle on both ends and may very soon 'check-out'! That will be cause for more laughing than crying!

Indecision tonight, SWA had a huge sale so I have 27 trips booked...(before May) which one will be best Which ones will I wish I would have THOUGHT through before jumping in

No matter... SWA allows FREE changes, perfect for this 'senior', Just remembering which ones were changed...

Sold a bunch of properties last month, which were the winners? what to do with the CASH in a high market and high RE valuations...

Guess I will take a trip and think it over..

I booked 3 to Ultrunner's OAK. $40 to flee PNW clouds! Great deal! Companion joins me for FREE ($5,60) Tough choice.

Retirement is the winner,

Stay Flexible and LAUGH. (a LOT)
http://www.city-data.com/forum/membe...y-flexible.jpg
Seems when I have to go anywhere it is short notice... full fare ++ is my luck of the draw.

Everytime I get close to a free flight it expires... the only place I fly would be SeaTac or I probably could do Portland but never have.
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Old 12-03-2016, 07:43 AM
 
2,951 posts, read 2,506,277 times
Reputation: 5292
Quote:
Originally Posted by jrkliny View Post
ghetto junker.

That is pretty much what these are
.

In addition, KC was ok but when the weekend rolled around I found I was 1000 miles from mountains, beaches or anywhere I would want to be. Kansas is in the middle of a big, ugly farm. At least that was my opinion. I am not a cornfield person.
OH yeah that too.Although I'd leave the ugly out.
People live for when the chiefs and Royals are in town. Oh and if you went to MU or KU those games also.
But as far as national parks close, no not like Vegas. Or interesting things to do, not in great numbers.


jrkliny - did you live in Prairie Village?
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