I'm pissed! Last week, before the stock market crashed, I was thinking I should get out and ride on the gains. I looked at my stocks and decided to move them to safe money market accounts and CDs
But I wasn't sure how that would hit me taxwise, so I tried to find out out. I don't know enough about that. so I researched how exchanging my index funds would work. The stock index fund I invest in was not clear about it, so I went internet researching. I wasn't sure.
I was 2 days away from getting out before the recent crunch. Cost me about $40,000.
Yeah, it will probably recover slowly over the next year. But I wanted to just get out anyway. Not timing the market, just wanted to leave entirely into safe investments for my old age.
2 days too late is 2 days too late. I guess I'll hold.
Showing posts with label Investments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Investments. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Thursday, July 6, 2017
The House Next Door
Well, the house next door has been for sale for several months. I have considered buying it as a rental property. I don't really want a rental property, but there were reasons for this one.
1. It is next door.
2. I would like some control over who my neighbor is.
3. I want to remove the trees shading my garden.
4. I don't want a neighbor with dogs.
5. I want to reclaim my property line.
Background:
The houses behind and on the other side are well separated from me. This house is really close. The trees shade my garden 1/3 of the day. My cats like to wander in that yard, and if the new residents have dogs, that could be dangerous. There are trees and invasive shrubs and vines I would like to get rid of.
When I built my fence 25 years ago, I set it inside my property line by a foot on the advice of my Dad (he said I needed to do that to assure I had a legal right to get on the other side to repair my fence). It was bad advice; I essentially gave up that part of my yard through Common Law. The neighbor at the time immediately built a small side fence that connected to mine, shutting me out.
The junk trees shade my yard, the row of forsythia I originally planted in naive ignorance as a property-divider invade my flowerbeds, and a maple tree planted in the side yard has sent surface roots ruining the lawn and making mowing like driving over railroad ties. The roots are reaching my foundation. I lose 3 hours of desperately-needed morning sunlight in my gardens, and I want the gardens.
Last Month:
I hesitated to bid on the property. I don't think of myself as a "landlord". I could do without the trouble involved. My investments are uncomplicated; I have CDs and Index Mutual Funds. I'm financially secure. The "For Sale" sign was still on the property.
But I looked up "Buying A Rental Property" online at few sites. There are rental management companies that handle everything. And being next door would be convenient for maintenance and repairs. It wouldn't be as difficult as I thought, and if there were problems with the renters, I would know easily enough.
It's not for profit. It's for protection and control. Zillow suggests the house as a rental would pay for itself in 5-10 years free and clear.
I submitted a back-up bid on the property, but revoked it a week later thinking I had WAY overbid at $185,000.
2 Weeks Ago:
I called the seller ( foreclosure company). They say the house was auctioned off last week. DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!
I waited a week too long after 6 months of dithering about it. I submitted a backup bid $10,000 above the apparent selling price i(the "earnest money" down payment was 5%, so I could calculate the purchase price) in case the auction sale falls through. That would be trivial in the long run. Zillow estimates the house to be $30,000 underpriced in 5 years. and that's not counting the rental income. I probably couldn't have actually lost money buying it last month if I had tried.
Dear Deceased Dad made me hesitate. He had a couple rental apartments and complained about them all the time. But he didn't buy them for the reasons I wanted this property. I should have realized that sooner...
I don't want to go into money here too much, but I could just write a check for the house. I bought stocks at the bottom in 2008.
My dithering has probably cost me decent sunlight, control over who my neighbors are (and some there have been bad - late night parties and constantly barking dogs), the ability to eliminate invasive shrubs and trees, and a decent investment (though I don't need it).
I'm probably going to regret not acting sooner, but I have no one to blame but myself!
Last Week:
I hoped the current sale fell through. It was certainly bought as a rental. Maybe I can buy it from the new owner. Who wouldn't like a quick profit if it is merely an investment to them? Or maybe I could pay the new owner to let me have those trees cut down at my expense. I could even agree to replace them with small ornamental trees.
There are still some possibilities... But I'm sitting here kicking myself for not having acted sooner.
Now:
The sale to another went through and it turns out it was just $3,000 less than my backup bid. I thought the highest bid was $157,500. If I had left it, they MIGHT have found a way to accept my bid. But the For Sale sign is gone, and I saw someone walking around the property looking like they owned it.
Dithering and second-guessing yourself is the worst business decisions you can make. I may never have another chance at controlling this property.
1. It is next door.
2. I would like some control over who my neighbor is.
3. I want to remove the trees shading my garden.
4. I don't want a neighbor with dogs.
5. I want to reclaim my property line.
Background:
The houses behind and on the other side are well separated from me. This house is really close. The trees shade my garden 1/3 of the day. My cats like to wander in that yard, and if the new residents have dogs, that could be dangerous. There are trees and invasive shrubs and vines I would like to get rid of.
When I built my fence 25 years ago, I set it inside my property line by a foot on the advice of my Dad (he said I needed to do that to assure I had a legal right to get on the other side to repair my fence). It was bad advice; I essentially gave up that part of my yard through Common Law. The neighbor at the time immediately built a small side fence that connected to mine, shutting me out.
The junk trees shade my yard, the row of forsythia I originally planted in naive ignorance as a property-divider invade my flowerbeds, and a maple tree planted in the side yard has sent surface roots ruining the lawn and making mowing like driving over railroad ties. The roots are reaching my foundation. I lose 3 hours of desperately-needed morning sunlight in my gardens, and I want the gardens.
Last Month:
I hesitated to bid on the property. I don't think of myself as a "landlord". I could do without the trouble involved. My investments are uncomplicated; I have CDs and Index Mutual Funds. I'm financially secure. The "For Sale" sign was still on the property.
But I looked up "Buying A Rental Property" online at few sites. There are rental management companies that handle everything. And being next door would be convenient for maintenance and repairs. It wouldn't be as difficult as I thought, and if there were problems with the renters, I would know easily enough.
It's not for profit. It's for protection and control. Zillow suggests the house as a rental would pay for itself in 5-10 years free and clear.
I submitted a back-up bid on the property, but revoked it a week later thinking I had WAY overbid at $185,000.
2 Weeks Ago:
I called the seller ( foreclosure company). They say the house was auctioned off last week. DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!
I waited a week too long after 6 months of dithering about it. I submitted a backup bid $10,000 above the apparent selling price i(the "earnest money" down payment was 5%, so I could calculate the purchase price) in case the auction sale falls through. That would be trivial in the long run. Zillow estimates the house to be $30,000 underpriced in 5 years. and that's not counting the rental income. I probably couldn't have actually lost money buying it last month if I had tried.
Dear Deceased Dad made me hesitate. He had a couple rental apartments and complained about them all the time. But he didn't buy them for the reasons I wanted this property. I should have realized that sooner...
I don't want to go into money here too much, but I could just write a check for the house. I bought stocks at the bottom in 2008.
My dithering has probably cost me decent sunlight, control over who my neighbors are (and some there have been bad - late night parties and constantly barking dogs), the ability to eliminate invasive shrubs and trees, and a decent investment (though I don't need it).
I'm probably going to regret not acting sooner, but I have no one to blame but myself!
Last Week:
I hoped the current sale fell through. It was certainly bought as a rental. Maybe I can buy it from the new owner. Who wouldn't like a quick profit if it is merely an investment to them? Or maybe I could pay the new owner to let me have those trees cut down at my expense. I could even agree to replace them with small ornamental trees.
There are still some possibilities... But I'm sitting here kicking myself for not having acted sooner.
Now:
The sale to another went through and it turns out it was just $3,000 less than my backup bid. I thought the highest bid was $157,500. If I had left it, they MIGHT have found a way to accept my bid. But the For Sale sign is gone, and I saw someone walking around the property looking like they owned it.
Dithering and second-guessing yourself is the worst business decisions you can make. I may never have another chance at controlling this property.
Friday, August 12, 2016
Moves
My sister (and hubby and daughter) are moving far away. She's the 1st of us elder children to leave MD. They are really going "small" in the new place. Some people do that after retirement. I wish them happiness.
My neighbor has moved away. He said he was coming back to get a trailer he can't store at his new place, and to cut down 2 trees that shade my flowerbeds as they grow larger. But I'm betting he abandons or sells the trailer and doesn't cut down the trees. I know how it is when you leave a place. You leave and forget about the old place. I wouldn't blame him in the least for "moving on" with his life.
I don't think he actually owns the place now, and I sure can't just go over and cut down a couple trees myself. Unless I buy the house...
I COULD. I've accumulated a lot of stocks over the years and they are at a high right now. Selling some to buy a rental property MIGHT be a good idea, but you never know. I'd really only be buying the house to control who is my neighbor and get rid of trees shading my flowerbeds and garden.
Yeah, they mean THAT much to me. Not that I would expect to LOSE money, but breaking even on rent and maintenance over the years and making sure I didn't have a crazy neighbor there sounds good.
I would have the tall junk trees cut down and plant flowering ones, like dogwoods and star magnolias (to match what I am doing in my own yard). And since it is a smaller 1 story house, I might move there someday and sell my split-foyer (2 level) house when I can't handle the stairs anymore. I like to plan ahead.
But it is all just thoughts for now. For all I know, the bank has already auctioned it off or something. The neighbor doesn't even know who owns the mortgage now. After several hours trying to find out by phone and internet yesterday, I can't tell either. Everyone I talk to says it may take weeks for the records to catch up with the foreclosure as these things get sold/traded around very fast.
I could find someone moving in next week, or it could sit abandoned for months while some investment group collects a 100 foreclosed houses to sell to a commercial group. All *I* can do is wait to see a foreclosure notice on the front door or a For Sale sign in the front yard some morning.
Arghhh!
My neighbor has moved away. He said he was coming back to get a trailer he can't store at his new place, and to cut down 2 trees that shade my flowerbeds as they grow larger. But I'm betting he abandons or sells the trailer and doesn't cut down the trees. I know how it is when you leave a place. You leave and forget about the old place. I wouldn't blame him in the least for "moving on" with his life.
I don't think he actually owns the place now, and I sure can't just go over and cut down a couple trees myself. Unless I buy the house...
I COULD. I've accumulated a lot of stocks over the years and they are at a high right now. Selling some to buy a rental property MIGHT be a good idea, but you never know. I'd really only be buying the house to control who is my neighbor and get rid of trees shading my flowerbeds and garden.
Yeah, they mean THAT much to me. Not that I would expect to LOSE money, but breaking even on rent and maintenance over the years and making sure I didn't have a crazy neighbor there sounds good.
I would have the tall junk trees cut down and plant flowering ones, like dogwoods and star magnolias (to match what I am doing in my own yard). And since it is a smaller 1 story house, I might move there someday and sell my split-foyer (2 level) house when I can't handle the stairs anymore. I like to plan ahead.
But it is all just thoughts for now. For all I know, the bank has already auctioned it off or something. The neighbor doesn't even know who owns the mortgage now. After several hours trying to find out by phone and internet yesterday, I can't tell either. Everyone I talk to says it may take weeks for the records to catch up with the foreclosure as these things get sold/traded around very fast.
I could find someone moving in next week, or it could sit abandoned for months while some investment group collects a 100 foreclosed houses to sell to a commercial group. All *I* can do is wait to see a foreclosure notice on the front door or a For Sale sign in the front yard some morning.
Arghhh!
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Suspicious Investment Advice
I went to the bank to start buying a series of 12 month CDs each month that would mature about once every 12 months for liquidity without penalty. I can get better returns from my Credit Union, but the bank said they would match that. Well, OK, that's more convenient.
Instead, I got sales pitches for riskier investments. GRRR!!! But on the possibility that I was missing out on some decent investments (and not outrageous "shooting the moon" types), I researched the advice.
I found lies at worst, and evasions at best. I won't be trusting my commercial bank for any investments, LOL!
A wise person once said that you should never invest in anything you don't understand as well as "they" do. I agree.
I was set on guard when the investment guy at the bank started by asking me a lot of personal frendly questions designed to elicit a "yes" reponse. But I know about that trick. Once they are friendly and get you saying "yes", it is harder to say "no". I can say "no" (and did),
One way to judge those questions and statements is to ask, "what would an honest person say and what would a dishonest person say?" If the answer is the same for both, then be very careful.
As in what do innocent people in jail and guilty people in jail both say? "I'm innocent". Or if you are astronomy-minded, how do you know the Earth moves around the sun and not vice-versa. It looks the same both ways, but only one is correct.
I did some research on what the bank investor guy said. Some statements were clearly true, but a few were clearly false. A single persuasive positively-presented false statement negates all the true ones so far as trustworthiness is concerned.
So I do not trust my current bank to support MY interests, and will be changing it soon.
And all because they set up a meeting to do one thing I came for and pushed another I didn't...
Instead, I got sales pitches for riskier investments. GRRR!!! But on the possibility that I was missing out on some decent investments (and not outrageous "shooting the moon" types), I researched the advice.
I found lies at worst, and evasions at best. I won't be trusting my commercial bank for any investments, LOL!
A wise person once said that you should never invest in anything you don't understand as well as "they" do. I agree.
I was set on guard when the investment guy at the bank started by asking me a lot of personal frendly questions designed to elicit a "yes" reponse. But I know about that trick. Once they are friendly and get you saying "yes", it is harder to say "no". I can say "no" (and did),
One way to judge those questions and statements is to ask, "what would an honest person say and what would a dishonest person say?" If the answer is the same for both, then be very careful.
As in what do innocent people in jail and guilty people in jail both say? "I'm innocent". Or if you are astronomy-minded, how do you know the Earth moves around the sun and not vice-versa. It looks the same both ways, but only one is correct.
I did some research on what the bank investor guy said. Some statements were clearly true, but a few were clearly false. A single persuasive positively-presented false statement negates all the true ones so far as trustworthiness is concerned.
So I do not trust my current bank to support MY interests, and will be changing it soon.
And all because they set up a meeting to do one thing I came for and pushed another I didn't...
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