@busdriver11, we are looking at a possible move to a pre-sale. But, I’d also buy where artists are moving in (we’ve done that as my wife is an artist) and they sanitize bad areas and make them sexy, which opens up the blast of gentrification. We don’t have time for fixer-uppers.
Shawbridge, Mr B says that same thing about RE - even if the prez does something stupid, he is not stupid enough to endanger his family’s RE empire.
Looked at some presales, but Mr. hated the tiny yards, so we ended up with a fixer. I am just throwing $$ at it by hiring contractors to do the heavy duty stuff like siding, but painting and other minor stuff is my turf. Mr. wants to retire in this house - I think it is doable. There are no steps leading to the front door, and the main floor den can be reconfigured to a master bedroom. The yard, as soon as we take care of some bramble and overgrown stuff, will be a wildlife sanctuary (I still plan on having a few garden beds for my veggies). Fingers crossed. 
Yeah, we thought that too when we bought our condo in Myrtle Beach… between when we signed the contract and when it was finished, 2008 happened along with massive overbuilding. We (perhaps foolishly) went ahead with it.
Values have still not recovered, it is probably worth only 2/3 of what we paid. It wasn’t bought as an investment, but it sure isn’t gonna make us money any time soon.
There are no guarantees prices will go up. Who knows what could happen in the next year?
OK, all you Seattle area investors… this is technically the wrong thread, but since the conversation is roaming in that direction, I thought it might be the opportunity to ask a few questions. – please do me a favor and check out the “What is currently happening to Seattle RE” since the questions better apply there. TIA.
I know, it’s hard to tell what is going to happen. But lately I’ve started feeling a little bit of panic about the fact that we’ve probably missed the boat as far as getting more local real estate. The deals that we decided against several years ago, yikes. I was looking at pre-sale condos near south Lake Union before Amazon started their push, and decided the area wasn’t going to be hot enough 
Man, what a dumb… move. We could have bought more foreclosure/short sale condos, but felt overwhelmed in debt. Could have done it, though. And over the years we have been so focused upon paying off our low interest debt that we didn’t even look.
The Chinese are buying, Seattle is supposed to become the new Vancouver, and it looks as if it could keep going. My Mom told me to get more real estate a long time ago, before, “That husband of yours rips your house up, trying to do a project!” Too late. L-)
Seattle is the new Vancouver. Or rather Bellevue is the new Vancouver. Amazon is opening a new office building downtown Bellevue… Ouch.
Great…was priced out of Bellevue rentals a long time ago.
My HELOC had been prime plus 1 percent. When the rates started going up last year, I called my lender after noticing their current rates were prime minus .5 percent. I was hoping they would nicely switch me to their current rate, but I had to go through the whole (albeit no-cost) refinance with all the paperwork, etc. Seemed kind of dumb, but I got the new rate. I have no minimum draw, so I barely have anything on it. I’m keeping it in reserve in case of emergencies or if I run out of money for D’s college.
We recently got a Third Federal HELOC for prime minus 0.51% for balances over $50K (it’s prime minus 0.26% for balances under that). No appraisal fee, annual fee waived, no minimum draw, but they do require principal and interest for repayment. Our previous HELOC with Citi required interest only.
Our HELOC was totally free to obtain–no appraisal, no minimums, no points or closing costs, no annual fee, no fees if you aren’t using it. We got it just before H retired because the bank clerk was very persuasive (I suspect he had a quota of # that he was supposed to open). We have never used it to date in the many years we’ve had it, but it seems nice to have in a belt & suspenders way. Since it cost us nothing to open or keep open, we have just let it remain as something that could be tapped as needed.
Periodically, they offer teaser rates, but we haven’t used them.
I’m in my mid 50s and I don’t want for at least another 10 years. It’s not $ based. We have no debt, mortgage fully paid. 529 fully funded. Around 5 million in assets (1/2 from savings and fortunate investing 1/2 from a wholly unexpected recent inheritance) not counting our house ( that’s only 10 percent of our assets). But it took me 10 years not to be miserable in my job ( when I started I had no Money so had to tough it out) and another 10 to actually like it. Now I love it. I don’t want to give it up.
I know we have enough money. But sometimes you start to lose perspective and think " Well it’s not THAT much". I know that’s crazy but it’s a real feeling. I don’t like to travel much but I now will only fly first class since the inheritance which is my only big luxury. We drive our cars for 8-10 years and buy nice ( Toyota , Honda) cars but not top of the line. The biggest luxury is not having to worry about money. Though sometimes I still do ( this is crazy, I think, right? ) ugh. Please don’t hate on my obnoxious discussion of my privilege , of which I’m well aware. But feel like I can share with my CC friends.
@maya54, no hate here. I love my work and never want to stop. except occasionally to post on CC and take vacations (on which I end up working some of the time). I’m a big saver and have done pretty well. Kid #2 has left the nest at age 23. Kid #1 is in grad school and will never have an issue with earning an attractive salary but aspires to be a tech entrepreneur (started one company in college) and so will have to see how he ends up. My target number is significantly higher, but I am planning on bicoastal life (which I’ve already begun).
If your job is fulfilling and makes you happy, there’s no reason to leave it! It’s nice to have the option to, though. Someday that round the world cruise may beckon. 
We all struggle with this. I think it’s pretty normal. I tell my wife we could both retire tomorrow and be fine, but she doesn’t really believe me no matter how many spreadsheets I show her. She likes to work, though.
I’ve volunteered to become a househusband and take care of all the grocery shopping and cooking and what-not, she wants me to work a few more years. And it’s always a few more years… 
We were “fortunate” that there was a logical time for H to retire–his pension was maximized and if he stayed at his work, he’d take a cut in pay by 7%/year for 3 consecutive years & then stay 21% lower than it was, PLUS his pension would DECREASE. It was also starting to get worse and worse at his workplace–morale, cutbacks, having to do more and more people’s work because of staffing shortages, even traffic was getting worse, etc.
We also just finished paying off the kids’ college expenses and our mortgage and received a generous, unexpected inheritance. H is loving retirement and we have found that we have enough savings and retirement that we have a higher gross income in retirement than we ever had when H was working! In retirement, between Medicare and his medical coverage that he can keep for the rest of his life, he is having a lot of physical therapy to fix body parts that cause him pain and happily there is no copay. He’s also doing a lot of deferred maintenance on the house, so he stays VERY busy and happy.
I have scaled back my nonprofit work and it keeps me busy and happy without being onerous.
@notrichenough I’d love it if my H would grocery shop, cook and what-not! I keep telling him I will be officially retired when he is and that means grocery shopping, cleaning and cooking will definitely be 50-50 around here. It will be eye opening for him as he has rarely shopped or cooked! I am even the one who grills. I am thinking of gifting him basic cooking lessons! 
@NorthMinnesota - I do laundry, too.
No cleaning, though. We decided years ago for the sake of our marriage to get a cleaning lady. And it’s cheaper than marriage counseling. I don’t see this changing when we retire. Life is too short to scrub toilets. 
B-)
Long time RE investor here…watch out for pre-sales. The developer has built in the appreciation already in the listed price. If there’s a market downturn when you close escrow, you could lose quite a bit. There has been a lot of class action suits against shoddy work with even the best developers. My D is renting in a brand new Toll Brothers condo pricing from $1.2-$2.8M. There are leaks, cracks and shoddy work. Fortunately her landlord lives next door and knows about all these problems and he is suing.
To spend more time with our grandchildren and children, we bought a pieds-à-terre in Manhattan which just underwent a gut renovation supervised by me with help from my D. That was my latest big splurge. Yes, we are bicoastal too.
Yes, one of the new expensive condos in Honolulu just had a big class action lawsuit against the developers because of shoddy plumbing work in ALL the condo units.
@notrichenough Love your user name!