I'm in the camp of living as cheap as possible. Right now I am living a lot larger than I need/want to. This is due to a lot of reasons. I have no plans to buy any more property in the next few years. As soon as I can I will be in a sub $1500 a month apt.
hi mister..i'm just a kid who lives with his mommy but after reading your post i wanted to post something. my mommy and i live in suffolk county, long island in a small house and she has told me 3 times this summer that we might have to move to floriDUH and get a trailer there because she can't afford the property taxes and fuel oil for the heat. the property taxes go up every year and she could pay them but then last winter fuel oil so we could stay warm cost so much more so now she is worried about us being able to stay in our house here on long island. she works two jobs and i am in school so i don't want to leave here but if it means if we move to floriDUH and then a trailer she will have to only work one job and be home more than i told her we should move and i won't cry about it. the property taxes she pays she told me is like paying for two morgageg payments...and we don't even have much property . our backyard is not even big enough for me to have a dog.
My mommy keeps telling me i have to stay in school and cant work until i am older as i am special needs student. i did wash neighbors car this summer but that sure wasn't much money but it did give me enough to get a tube for my bicycle. i want to work in stock market when i get older but dunno if i will ever be able to...but that is my dream. my mommy says i will do good but it is a long ways away.
Joey, start working before and after school. Sell something on the street, physical labour, organize your friends - make something, recycle old cans, clean and cook for old people in their homes - they need bathing or walk their dog, hang around bars with drunk people whom you can do errands for - they are great tippers... Don't you have a sister, cousin or something that can work with you? Think about doing promotion. You will find something to sell or do. Stop watching TV and hanging over the computer. Your mother needs you!
Now that makes sense. My understanding of REO properties is the following. They are properties in which there were no "bids" during the foreclosure auction...meaning that there were experienced buyers that took a look at the property and did not want it so it now goes on the block at a substantial discount. The REO properties I have looked at all had something very obviously wrong with them. I would have probably lived in the trailer in NJ before living in any of these REOs. The problem I would have with buying such a home is that Im not in the contracting or construction business. I have no idea what it would take to recondition a home back to adequate condition. However, I can see where someone could make some money off of this if they knew what to look for and what to do. The hard part is making money during a downtrend. There is an obvious downtrend in housing where we are guessing when it will end. If you buy one of these places, then you have to flip it quick before the next surge downward (or anticipated surge downward).
You're a sharp guy. I've looked into Upstate New York also, lots of cheap land you can live off of. Too cold most of the year though and very "country". However, if you really consider the future, you gots to get the f**k outta Dodge.