Atlanta is not a good city for building wealth... (house, employment)

[DirkMcGirt]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Based on what I've seen over the years, folks do tend to spend far more than they should when they are younger and retirement is sooooo far away. It is hard to see the value in saving a few sheckles today for some eventuality that is decades down the road. It is simply human nature. Heck - I got caught up in that when I was younger. Thing is, lots of, if not most, folks never reign in this short-sighted behavior.

Instead of buying that shiny status-giving BMW, buy a Ford. Instead of staying in a fancy hotel on your next trip, stay in a more affordable one. Instead of eating out numerous times a week, cook meals at home. Instead of spending $10 a drink at the bar, enjoy one at home on the balcony. Take leftovers to work for lunch instead of dropping $10 bucks at the cafeteria. Think you really need that Armani dress? Think that Mercedes will take you far in life? Think that concert was really worth all of that money?

Splurge on occasion. Just don't make it a habit.

Okay, done with my lecturing for the day!

Nah. I gotsta flaunt what I aint got. Ball out son. Hip Hop life told me to!

PS: Seriously though, you also know what helps build wealth, staying married and not spreading kids all over town. One of the top factors in wealth creation is not getting divorced and not having kids out of wedlock. Something like 75% of black children are born out of wedlock. This leads to an inability to compile wealth.

[Ant131531]

Originally Posted by DirkMcGirt

Nah. I gotsta flaunt what I aint got. Ball out son. Hip Hop life told me to!

PS: Seriously though, you also know what helps build wealth, staying married and not spreading kids all over town. One of the top factors in wealth creation is not getting divorced and not having kids out of wedlock. Something like 75% of black children are born out of wedlock. This leads to an inability to compile wealth.

Then how about cities like SF and Seattle which have low black populations? Why are they on the list then? Seems you're using this thread to attack blacks.

Why is Detroit at the top of the list for building wealth?

Stop trying to make it a black-only issue. People of all races spend foolishly these days.

[Zanarkand A East]

There's too much to do here to save money. I'm sure I could save a ton of cash if I lived in a less interesting city (Cleveland) or one that was too expensive for me to enjoy anything (NYC)

[DirkMcGirt]

Originally Posted by Zanarkand A East

There's too much to do here to save money. I'm sure I could save a ton of cash if I lived in a less interesting city (Cleveland) or one that was too expensive for me to enjoy anything (NYC)

Self control is also an important factor in wealth accumulation.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by Serious Conversation

I'm surprised rich and prestigious areas like Boston and SFO don't do well. Being from the South, I'm not surprised ATL ranks poorly for building wealth - wages are low in the South, even after adjusting for COL.

That's not uniformly true at all; note that Houston topped this list. Atlanta fared poorly due to the post-recession sluggish labor and housing markets (which have since began moving quickly in the right direction).

Cost-of-Living Adjusted Wage Data for U.S. Metro Areas

[jero23]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Based on what I've seen over the years, folks do tend to spend far more than they should when they are younger and retirement is sooooo far away. It is hard to see the value in saving a few sheckles today for some eventuality that is decades down the road. It is simply human nature. Heck - I got caught up in that when I was younger. Thing is, lots of, if not most, folks never reign in this short-sighted behavior.

Instead of buying that shiny status-giving BMW, buy a Ford. Instead of staying in a fancy hotel on your next trip, stay in a more affordable one. Instead of eating out numerous times a week, cook meals at home. Instead of spending $10 a drink at the bar, enjoy one at home on the balcony. Take leftovers to work for lunch instead of dropping $10 bucks at the cafeteria. Think you really need that Armani dress? Think that Mercedes will take you far in life? Think that concert was really worth all of that money?

Splurge on occasion. Just don't make it a habit.

Okay, done with my lecturing for the day!

Bingo!

[residinghere2007]

I think Atlanta fares poorly on this list due to the income inequity as discussed earlier along with the top spots having cheaper housing options.

Wealth is primarily accumulated via real estate by....I can only say, normal, middle income people. It is harder to get a good deal in Atlanta recently on real estate in an area where you can have some immediate equity aka wealth added to your net worth.

Detroit especially, it is easy to accumulate a lot of real estate at a cheap price and have a large positive gain in your pocket if you buy in the right area.

I live in NW Ohio about 45 minutes south of Detroit and it is the same here as well. I bought 3 houses for less than $10K here each during the financial downturn. Each one is worth over $40k now so I added over $100k in net worth to my family's wealth. Those homes are also rented out, which net additional income and wealth.

I bought them while living in Atlanta and where you cannot really get a decent house there for such cheap prices. Due to people fleeing this area during the downturn, there is a lot of quality structures with little repairs needed to make them profitable. I do own a home in Atlanta but due to buying that home before the downturn occurred in 2008, we do not get much profit from our tenants and break even mostly with a little additional left over each month so only about $2k in profit per year on that home. The house in Atlanta, luckily has recovered in value since the housing decline of 2009-2012 so it is now worth what we currently owe on the mortage, but we don't have any equity in it like we have in our Ohio houses (about $140K in equity combined) and we get about $2K per month in rental income (revenue) on those homes (2 are duplexes).

Cleveland is similar but not as lucrative IMO as Detroit. We are looking into buying some properties in Detroit but I am hesitant due to not knowing the neighborhoods as well as I know them where we currently have property.

Originally Posted by Zanarkand A East

There's too much to do here to save money. I'm sure I could save a ton of cash if I lived in a less interesting city (Cleveland) or one that was too expensive for me to enjoy anything (NYC)

FWIW, Cleveland is a pretty interesting city. There are a lot of entertainment options, culinary options, and it is on a Great Lake. There are lots of places to spend money there as well but Cleveland is pretty inexpensive as are a lot of the old "Rust Belt" cities and you can get killer deals that will increase your wealth in Cleveland.

For those who may think they should also be distant investors though in those places, know that most Ohio municipalities also have VERY stringent and pretty well enforced code enforcement laws, which is why I was able to come in and buy the house I live in for $7K (2000 sq/ft home) and put in less than $2k to make it livable. It had been vandalized a little, but code enforcement came out and boarded up the property, then placed it on a "watch" list and sold it to a government agency who hurried up and got a buyer, preferably a local investor or owner occupant. They do what they can to protect the homes so they don't get totally trashed. In Atlanta, in the lower priced neighborhoods, homes are frequently trashed to the factor of tens of thousands of dollars so small time investors like myself usually pass on those offerings and those homes sit and and rot instead of getting rehabbed.

ETA: The other much more expensive than Atlanta cities IMO do better on wealth accumulation IMO due to having higher wages for workers and higher appraisals of property as well. Interesting the list of the top 5 IMO as it has a good mix of up and coming metros and always popular NYC.

[space cadet]

Originally Posted by residinghere2007

I live in NW Ohio about 45 minutes south of Detroit and it is the same here as well. I bought 3 houses for less than $10K here each during the financial downturn. Each one is worth over $40k now so I added over $100k in net worth to my family's wealth. Those homes are also rented out, which net additional income and wealth.

I was born in Toledo, and I was looking at houses in East Toledo and Rossford during the downturn. Great values. Only thing stopping me was money.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Then how about cities like SF and Seattle which have low black populations? Why are they on the list then? Seems you're using this thread to attack blacks.

Why is Detroit at the top of the list for building wealth?

Stop trying to make it a black-only issue. People of all races spend foolishly these days.

Pesky facts have no place in this discussion.

But seriously, all this "conjecture" is unnecessary; folks just aren't reading the methodology utilized for this ranking.

[DirkMcGirt]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Then how about cities like SF and Seattle which have low black populations? Why are they on the list then? Seems you're using this thread to attack blacks.

Why is Detroit at the top of the list for building wealth?

Stop trying to make it a black-only issue. People of all races spend foolishly these days.

SF and Seattle have higher COL (SF an extreme high COL). Detroit is dirt cheap to live in. That helps explain some of the issues/reasons in those areas. Atlanta has a higher ratio of minorities and single parent households. That helps explain Atlanta's problems. Not all cities are the same and there isn't one cause. However, to completely ignore the single family household issue is obtuse. Open your mind and think some, even if it is a subject that makes you uncomfortable.

PS: I never made it a black-only issue. Why so sensitive?