Race from $2M to $4M...and Beyond!

[Bateaux]

I'm at the Florida house this week doing some work.  I'm worn out from climbing in and out of the attic what must have been 25 times.  I'm mounting  new air conditioning unit with zero help.  The house is a wreck now, sheetrock dust and insulation everywhere.  It was so clean when I arrived Monday.  Just checking in with you fine folks.

[Dicey]

We've officially crossed over into the $4M bucket. Barely (under $10k over). Without our primary residence equity, we're at $2.4M.

Because our primary residence is so $$$$, our current big goal is to get the loan value under $1M. I know that's a crazy big number, and while we're in good shape with equity, we both still feel very uncomfortable with the giant loan looming over us.

So your house is worth at least $2.6M? Hope it is also enjoyable.

Yes, it's worth more than that. I wouldn't describe it as super enjoyable - it's a fixer upper that we are slowly working on.

Dicey shakes her head with a wry grin. Of course it's a fixer upper! Welcome to Bay Area Real Estate! #Whaddayagonnado?

[soccerluvof4]

We've officially crossed over into the $4M bucket. Barely (under $10k over). Without our primary residence equity, we're at $2.4M.

Because our primary residence is so $$$$, our current big goal is to get the loan value under $1M. I know that's a crazy big number, and while we're in good shape with equity, we both still feel very uncomfortable with the giant loan looming over us.

So your house is worth at least $2.6M? Hope it is also enjoyable.

Yes, it's worth more than that. I wouldn't describe it as super enjoyable - it's a fixer upper that we are slowly working on.

Dicey shakes her head with a wry grin. Of course it's a fixer upper! Welcome to Bay Area Real Estate! #Whaddayagonnado?

2.6 million for a fixer upper is hard to fathom but i get it. I just paid 180k for a flip house starting today that should fetch close to 300k. I just bought a Lake house were moving into which was over 7 and I will have 8 into by the time I am done but Lake houses where I live are about as safe an investment your gonna find. Good luck though on getting it all updated. I like Swordguy couldnt imagine that debt but the bright side is it sounds like a good investment for you.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@Dicey - yes, exactly. We are making small tweaks as we can, but are more motivated to pay down the albatross mortgage than put more money into the house at the moment. Hopefully that time will come. It needs quite a bit of work, but, we're both less than 8 miles from work, so we've optimized for schools & commute time

@soccerluvof4 - it's definitely a good investment & has grown in value quite a bit since we bought it. I still think a lot could happen (both ways) in bay area real estate, so want to make sure we're in a great position to weather whatever is around the corner.

[chasesfish]

Posting to follow.  Just crossed the $2mil mark recently

[Dicey]

@Dicey - yes, exactly. We are making small tweaks as we can, but are more motivated to pay down the albatross mortgage than put more money into the house at the moment. Hopefully that time will come. It needs quite a bit of work, but, we're both less than 8 miles from work, so we've optimized for schools & commute time

@soccerluvof4 - it's definitely a good investment & has grown in value quite a bit since we bought it. I still think a lot could happen (both ways) in bay area real estate, so want to make sure we're in a great position to weather whatever is around the corner.

@MaybeBabyMustache, contrary to what some might think, I have zero problem with that because you've done the math and because you're there. You're there. You've done the optimization and you're not going to run out of money.

Random thought, based on experience/observation. I think it's kinda sad when people fix up their house just before they sell. Why not do the work and then enjoy the fruits of your labors? If and when you sell, it will still show that it's been updated. To that end, might I gently suggest you make the house the way you want it so you can be comfortable there for as long as you choose to be? That could be a really good reason for changing your focus.

Happily, there are no wrong answers, because you're not going to decide to turn your house into the Taj Mahal ;-)

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Good question on timing of upgrades @Dicey . I think we both want to feel like the mortgage is at a "safer" level before we do anything major? If we dump a bunch of money into the projects, we will have to slow down our paydown to get the mortgage to the "safer" level. (And, "safer" is the wrong word, but I can't think of anything else. We can afford the mortgage, & have a ton of investments & other money, but we just don't want to be carrying that much debt). Once we get below $1M (likely this summer), I think we will be more balanced in our approach.

The hard part is that the house is just at the point where a full remodel wouldn't be a crazy idea vs the constant ongoing stream of upgrades required to make it at level with the real estate in our area. We have a shower planter. Like, the entire shower space is enormous, uncovered, and has a planter inside. There is no way to update it without an entire redo of the bathroom. There are many "interesting" choices like that. You do enough of them, and a full on remodel is likely both cheaper & easier - move it out & just get 'er done.

So far, we've done relatively stand alone projects - we added solar & A/C (house gets a lot of sun) & replaced all of the doors. We'll get trim done next & then the house will at least be somewhat put together. After that, we can decide whether a bathroom or kitchen remodel is in the cards.

[ysette9]

We've officially crossed over into the $4M bucket. Barely (under $10k over). Without our primary residence equity, we're at $2.4M.

Because our primary residence is so $$$$, our current big goal is to get the loan value under $1M. I know that's a crazy big number, and while we're in good shape with equity, we both still feel very uncomfortable with the giant loan looming over us.

:)
I find this particularly interesting since without our home equity we are at $2.3M invested.

[ysette9]

@Dicey - yes, exactly. We are making small tweaks as we can, but are more motivated to pay down the albatross mortgage than put more money into the house at the moment. Hopefully that time will come. It needs quite a bit of work, but, we're both less than 8 miles from work, so we've optimized for schools & commute time

@soccerluvof4 - it's definitely a good investment & has grown in value quite a bit since we bought it. I still think a lot could happen (both ways) in bay area real estate, so want to make sure we're in a great position to weather whatever is around the corner.

When you look back at the last massive real estate implosion though, your area barely blinked. Yes, prices stopped appreciating for several years, but it isn't like things dropped 50% like in the outlying areas. That said, we can never predict the future, but my guess is that particular fear is probably less probable than the next stock market meltdown.

[Dicey]

@Dicey - yes, exactly. We are making small tweaks as we can, but are more motivated to pay down the albatross mortgage than put more money into the house at the moment. Hopefully that time will come. It needs quite a bit of work, but, we're both less than 8 miles from work, so we've optimized for schools & commute time

@soccerluvof4 - it's definitely a good investment & has grown in value quite a bit since we bought it. I still think a lot could happen (both ways) in bay area real estate, so want to make sure we're in a great position to weather whatever is around the corner.

When you look back at the last massive real estate implosion though, your area barely blinked. Yes, prices stopped appreciating for several years, but it isn't like things dropped 50% like in the outlying areas. That said, we can never predict the future, but my guess is that particular fear is probably less probable than the next stock market meltdown.

Unless you re-fi, your payment is going to be the same no matter what your balance is. The mortgage lender cares far more about your ability to make payments than how much you may be "ahead" on the amount owing. If the SHTF for any reason, it's better to have money you can control.

If you're going to sell it at some point, sacrificing to pay it off sooner may not be all that important. Ysette is right about the housing prices, to a large extent. The only advantage of a pullback is that labor might be more readily available and therefore possibly less expensive. However, until the Santa Rosa area is completely rebuilt, there will be difficulties obtaining the services of tradespeople, no matter what the economy is doing.

Again, no wrong answer, just something to think about.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@ysette9 - twins! And, fair point about how the market responded in the last downturn. In my head I know that, but when I crunch the numbers, crazy thoughts like earthquakes & global warming or increased wildlife fires tremendously impacting property value. In reality, that's unlikely to be a change that happens quickly, and we'd likely have much bigger problems than the resale value of our house. However...

@Dicey - it's a good point, and we won't refi. Something about getting under the $1m loan mark makes my inner bag lady feel reassured. After that, we would save for a remodel & pay cash for it. I find it super difficult to get anyone to our house for any project of any kind right now. We're looking into a project to make our landscaping drought resistant & low maintenance. We also plan to turn our covered porch into a cute patio/sitting area, which would require a bit of landscaping work. I called six people before I finally reached out to my local neighborhood group. They must be so desperate by the sad state of our yard that a few made personal referrals. ;-)

[soccerluvof4]

@ysette9 - twins! And, fair point about how the market responded in the last downturn. In my head I know that, but when I crunch the numbers, crazy thoughts like earthquakes & global warming or increased wildlife fires tremendously impacting property value. In reality, that's unlikely to be a change that happens quickly, and we'd likely have much bigger problems than the resale value of our house. However...

@Dicey - it's a good point, and we won't refi. Something about getting under the $1m loan mark makes my inner bag lady feel reassured. After that, we would save for a remodel & pay cash for it. I find it super difficult to get anyone to our house for any project of any kind right now. We're looking into a project to make our landscaping drought resistant & low maintenance. We also plan to turn our covered porch into a cute patio/sitting area, which would require a bit of landscaping work. I called six people before I finally reached out to my local neighborhood group. They must be so desperate by the sad state of our yard that a few made personal referrals. ;-)

Well and lets face it, since your not turning into as Dicey said the Taj mahal (not sure if  I spelled that right(, Even if the market did drop it sounds as if you have plenty into it to still come out safely. Good luck in your venture.

[itchyfeet]

Just jumping back up the thread a little.... FatFire and travel...

Post retirement DW and aI hope to be able to travel fairly freely internationally as we do now, and Australia is an inconveniently expensive flight from the rest of the world, hence we need a good sum for travel.

I also have developed an unhealthy appetite for long haul business class flights over the past few years of doing lots of international business travel... and I’m not talking about budget airline business class, but the type of business class with Sky bars, lie flat beds, and high quality food and booze.

So, we decided to create a separate stash bucket for travel as it can not be considered the same way as food and utilities.

We agreed that of course we could easily cut back spending if markets misbehaved and we weren’t willing to work additional years to make our travel budget bulletproof, but rather will travel domestically or to NZ/ Bali/ Fiji in down years or fly economy to reduce spending. On this basis we are setting our stash assuming a very flexible 5.5% draw down rate.

We are budgeting:
   1. $14,000 AUD ($10,000 USD a year for flights), which will be enough for annual return business class flights to Europe/ Africa or the Americas (or 2 RTW business class flights every 3 years) and some domestic flights, and
   2. 75 days a year of travel costs at $350 AUD/ day ($250 USD/ day.

 In total we are looking to spend $40K AUD/yr ($28K USD)on travel... but anticipate some years we will spend less than $10K.

The $350/ day assumes sometimes we will be in cheap places like SE Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, or hiking or friends houses, and sometimes we will be in expensive places eg: African game parks, Scandinavia, NYC etc.

So using our 5.5% assumed draw down we will set aside a stash of $730K AUD (500K USD) for travel.

Having such a large travel stash adds confidence to the more critical parts of our FIRE financing.

Excessive I know, but we have saved diligently for 25+ years, maintaining a high savings rate throughout, to put ourselves in this position.

[PathtoFIRE]

I've separated our mortgage payment from the rest of our stache, conceptually, since we'll 1) keep the mortgage into FIRE, and 2) it's technically time-limited and finite, and so doesn't need to conform to the 4% rule in our minds. But hadn't thought to do that with travel, off to rerun some numbers, might shave a few months off our time!

[2sk22]

I also have developed an unhealthy appetite for long haul business class flights over the past few years of doing lots of international business travel... and I’m not talking about budget airline business class, but the type of business class with Sky bars, lie flat beds, and high quality food and booze.

I have to travel regularly to take care of my parents who live in another country. Pretty much the only thing on which I splurge are business class tickets. Consider that my trips involve 18 hours of flying time (three or four times a year), getting some sleep has become essential for me. I don't care much about food and service as I barely eat onboard but getting good rest is well worth the cost. I also use credit card points to get discounts and mostly travel off-peak so fares are easily affordable for me.

[flyingaway]

I have a large line item in my budget ($30k) for travel and entertainment, but I have yet to justify paying for a business seat in international flights, which may cost $6,000 ~ $10,000 a seat. I guess I might do that for essential travels, not fun events, in the future when I am over 65.

[jeroly]

Just jumping back up the thread a little.... FatFire and travel...

Post retirement DW and aI hope to be able to travel fairly freely internationally as we do now, and Australia is an inconveniently expensive flight from the rest of the world, hence we need a good sum for travel.

I also have developed an unhealthy appetite for long haul business class flights over the past few years of doing lots of international business travel... and I’m not talking about budget airline business class, but the type of business class with Sky bars, lie flat beds, and high quality food and booze.

So, we decided to create a separate stash bucket for travel as it can not be considered the same way as food and utilities.

We agreed that of course we could easily cut back spending if markets misbehaved and we weren’t willing to work additional years to make our travel budget bulletproof, but rather will travel domestically or to NZ/ Bali/ Fiji in down years or fly economy to reduce spending. On this basis we are setting our stash assuming a very flexible 5.5% draw down rate.

We are budgeting:
   1. $14,000 AUD ($10,000 USD a year for flights), which will be enough for annual return business class flights to Europe/ Africa or the Americas (or 2 RTW business class flights every 3 years) and some domestic flights, and
   2. 75 days a year of travel costs at $350 AUD/ day ($250 USD/ day.

 In total we are looking to spend $40K AUD/yr ($28K USD)on travel... but anticipate some years we will spend less than $10K.

The $350/ day assumes sometimes we will be in cheap places like SE Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, or hiking or friends houses, and sometimes we will be in expensive places eg: African game parks, Scandinavia, NYC etc.

So using our 5.5% assumed draw down we will set aside a stash of $730K AUD (500K USD) for travel.

Having such a large travel stash adds confidence to the more critical parts of our FIRE financing.

Excessive I know, but we have saved diligently for 25+ years, maintaining a high savings rate throughout, to put ourselves in this position.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.  Travel is a huge contributor to joy in my life and like you, I have given a great deal of thought to my budgeting for it.

A few questions on your numbers / thought process...

— How did you come up with the USD $10k cost for airfares for two people when you plan to buy business class fares? When I search for business class fares from say Perth to London I see costs of $5k per ticket on qantas, so there goes your entire budget in one trip....

— How did you come up with a 5.5% drawdown rate? While you could get lucky, that hasn’t been historically sustainable if you take inflation into account.

— Have you considered that instead of a permanent stash for your travel you consider it to be an expense for a limited number of years- perhaps until you’re 80? Then budgeted at a lower value until say 90, then nothing?

[itchyfeet]

Answers to your questions

1. You can generally find business class flights return to Europe for $5K AUD each (not with Qantas but with Cathay or Qatar or Thai etc), so $10K per trip.

I will have a budget for flights of $14K per year, so one trip to Europe (or another continent) per year and enough remaining ($2k each) for a few regional flights in economy class... or we can upgrade wth points,


2. 5.5% is historically successful about 50% of the time if you blindly draw down 5.5%. As we will only spend when markets permit and will spend less in years when markets don’t, we will be manage. Remember that long term stock market returns average 7-8% after inflation, so if you can take SORR off the table by not spending in the bad times, over the long term you should be able to approach spending an average 7% per year. Also, as a sanity test I run a simple 30 year annuity calculation with a 4% real return (ASX200 dividends yield around 4%) and it shows a draw down of 5.5%. So I think 5.5% is something we can reasonably expect if we are flexible.


3. I would like our stash to last 30 years, which would take me to 78. But I see no reason why we won’t still be more or less preserved beyond 30 years. I just don’t see me spending money if the market tanks. I imagine that if the market drops 30% and doesn’t recover in a couple of years (during which time we will just travel domestically) I will then reset my budget to 5.5% x 70% x $730k = 28K/ yr, which is still plenty. Honestly, We would be happy with $15k per year.

[soccerluvof4]

Well the good news is we move into our new lake home today which is suppose to be our "Final home" barring health or other reasons BUT that bad news is the house were currently living in has an issue with the title they have been working on for weeks. I am suppose to close in 5 days and all my cash is in this house. I called the title company myself yesterday as this is ridiculous to hold up a close over 6' between me and the neighbor that basically we just guess on where the property currently is and there is 100' between us and I am pretty sure the buyers could care less. I get this all needs to be legal but they said while there is a chance that we could close with a clause about the 6' needing to be figured out down the line most likely it will go to the city and courts which would take several months to figure out, I would lose my buyer and basically be screwed for awhile as I said most of my cash is in this house. But I will find out today and am holding my breath while I start moving anyhow. Maybe I will consider a 6 month rental or something I dont know. This just sucks. Venting! ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, So basically when I bought the house the attorney of the seller didnt do what he was suppose to do and file or make the title right and this is the same title he used which is the second title company since first one couldnt get it done. So do I rent it , I probably could get 2-2500$ a month for short term rental or just ride it out but to heat the house, maintain etc.. plus expenses to make this right?! uggh....I hope I get a good call today but sure didnt sound like it was going to be so after talking with them yesterday.

[terran]

Well the good news is we move into our new lake home today which is suppose to be our "Final home" barring health or other reasons BUT that bad news is the house were currently living in has an issue with the title they have been working on for weeks. I am suppose to close in 5 days and all my cash is in this house. I called the title company myself yesterday as this is ridiculous to hold up a close over 6' between me and the neighbor that basically we just guess on where the property currently is and there is 100' between us and I am pretty sure the buyers could care less. I get this all needs to be legal but they said while there is a chance that we could close with a clause about the 6' needing to be figured out down the line most likely it will go to the city and courts which would take several months to figure out, I would lose my buyer and basically be screwed for awhile as I said most of my cash is in this house. But I will find out today and am holding my breath while I start moving anyhow. Maybe I will consider a 6 month rental or something I dont know. This just sucks. Venting! ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, So basically when I bought the house the attorney of the seller didnt do what he was suppose to do and file or make the title right and this is the same title he used which is the second title company since first one couldnt get it done. So do I rent it , I probably could get 2-2500$ a month for short term rental or just ride it out but to heat the house, maintain etc.. plus expenses to make this right?! uggh....I hope I get a good call today but sure didnt sound like it was going to be so after talking with them yesterday.

:Ducks, hoping the multimillionaires don't mind me butting in to their thread.

Could you work something out with your neighbor where one or the other of your signs over that 6 feet to the other? Even if you had to pay for it that might be worth it to not lose the buyer. Seems strange that the the courts would have to be involved if both owners are on the same page. 

[SwordGuy]

Well the good news is we move into our new lake home today which is suppose to be our "Final home" barring health or other reasons BUT that bad news is the house were currently living in has an issue with the title they have been working on for weeks. I am suppose to close in 5 days and all my cash is in this house. I called the title company myself yesterday as this is ridiculous to hold up a close over 6' between me and the neighbor that basically we just guess on where the property currently is and there is 100' between us and I am pretty sure the buyers could care less. I get this all needs to be legal but they said while there is a chance that we could close with a clause about the 6' needing to be figured out down the line most likely it will go to the city and courts which would take several months to figure out, I would lose my buyer and basically be screwed for awhile as I said most of my cash is in this house. But I will find out today and am holding my breath while I start moving anyhow. Maybe I will consider a 6 month rental or something I dont know. This just sucks. Venting! ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, So basically when I bought the house the attorney of the seller didnt do what he was suppose to do and file or make the title right and this is the same title he used which is the second title company since first one couldnt get it done. So do I rent it , I probably could get 2-2500$ a month for short term rental or just ride it out but to heat the house, maintain etc.. plus expenses to make this right?! uggh....I hope I get a good call today but sure didnt sound like it was going to be so after talking with them yesterday.

:Ducks, hoping the multimillionaires don't mind me butting in to their thread.

Could you work something out with your neighbor where one or the other of your signs over that 6 feet to the other? Even if you had to pay for it that might be worth it to not lose the buyer. Seems strange that the the courts would have to be involved if both owners are on the same page.

@terran , you're absolutely right.    Get the neighbor and the seller to settle it amongst themselves with a quick deed and proceed with a (slightly) delayed closing.

Worst case, do that and rent to the buyers and give them credit for the rent on the purchase price if they close within 60 days of the court settlement date.

[DavidAnnArbor]

What do these title companies actually do if they don't even make sure the title is clear of problems.

[pecunia]

The six feet almost sounds like a legal SCAM for some of these companies to soak you for some money.

[Bateaux]

The county should have the survey on record for the plot.  Is the survey company still in business?   When we bought our first home we had structures with an infringement on the neighboring vacant lot.  We bought the lot and fixed the problem with $.  Turns out the lot was worth twice what we paid. 

[Bateaux]

@terran   Read a few of your posts.  You're one of the smart ones.  You'll be a multimillionaire soon.  Stick around.😁

[terran]

@terran   Read a few of your posts.  You're one of the smart ones.  You'll be a multimillionaire soon.  Stick around.😁

Workin' on it, but not even in the $1M club just yet.

[Dicey]

@terran   Read a few of your posts.  You're one of the smart ones.  You'll be a multimillionaire soon.  Stick around.😁

Workin' on it, but not even in the $1M club just yet.

The first million is the hardest. Keep on keeping on,  you'll get there.

[pecunia]

Yeh - It's been kind of amazing these past few years.  Once that money starts working for you like compound interest, it's magic.  It grows and you don't even need to water it.

[soccerluvof4]

Well the good news is we move into our new lake home today which is suppose to be our "Final home" barring health or other reasons BUT that bad news is the house were currently living in has an issue with the title they have been working on for weeks. I am suppose to close in 5 days and all my cash is in this house. I called the title company myself yesterday as this is ridiculous to hold up a close over 6' between me and the neighbor that basically we just guess on where the property currently is and there is 100' between us and I am pretty sure the buyers could care less. I get this all needs to be legal but they said while there is a chance that we could close with a clause about the 6' needing to be figured out down the line most likely it will go to the city and courts which would take several months to figure out, I would lose my buyer and basically be screwed for awhile as I said most of my cash is in this house. But I will find out today and am holding my breath while I start moving anyhow. Maybe I will consider a 6 month rental or something I dont know. This just sucks. Venting! ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, So basically when I bought the house the attorney of the seller didnt do what he was suppose to do and file or make the title right and this is the same title he used which is the second title company since first one couldnt get it done. So do I rent it , I probably could get 2-2500$ a month for short term rental or just ride it out but to heat the house, maintain etc.. plus expenses to make this right?! uggh....I hope I get a good call today but sure didnt sound like it was going to be so after talking with them yesterday.

:Ducks, hoping the multimillionaires don't mind me butting in to their thread.

Could you work something out with your neighbor where one or the other of your signs over that 6 feet to the other? Even if you had to pay for it that might be worth it to not lose the buyer. Seems strange that the the courts would have to be involved if both owners are on the same page.

@terran , you're absolutely right.    Get the neighbor and the seller to settle it amongst themselves with a quick deed and proceed with a (slightly) delayed closing.

Worst case, do that and rent to the buyers and give them credit for the rent on the purchase price if they close within 60 days of the court settlement date.

Well your both right. They came up with two conclusions just in case the neighbor wasnt willing and to be honest in 4 years I have never spoke a word to her so I didnt know how she would respond even though if she ever sold her house it was in her best interest as well. At first I got a call Friday morning they were just going to right an Insurance policy over the 6' basically guaranteeing that the issue would be resolved or something but then someone came up with what you mentioned. So the realtor went over and explained to the Lady and she signed but not with out me now having to cut down a big tree that is dying which I though was on her property. But she signed and at least now there is some optimism that were suppose to close.  Wednesday. My DW and I are so fried from this that at this point were just moving on and if we have to deal with this longer so be it. But in theory this should take care of everything.

[Dicey]

^^Glad to hear the wheels are turning, SLo'4!

[Taran Wanderer]

...she signed but not with out me now having to cut down a big tree that is dying which I though was on her property. But she signed and at least now there is some optimism that were suppose to close.  Wednesday. My DW and I are so fried from this that at this point were just moving on and if we have to deal with this longer so be it. But in theory this should take care of everything.

Cutting down a big tree is a pretty small price... if you know how to cut down big trees.  Hope this resolve it and you can move on.

[Taran Wanderer]

The first million is the hardest. Keep on keeping on,  you'll get there.

I've always heard that saying that the first million is the hardest.  It's so true.  Our first million took over 16 years after college.  The second million took 5-1/2.  Compound interest is amazing.

[Car Jack]

For me, the first million was the easiest.  Why?  I literally didn't keep track of any of our accounts.  I read one day an article where someone said that the first thing one should do when investing is to know what you own and what it cost.  I thought that made sense.  It took me a year of waiting for statements to come in the mail to know all the investments I had.  Even then, I had to call several of them and ask "What is this account?" because I didn't know if it were a Roth or tIRA or what.  When I finally got everything together on a spread sheet, I had $1.56M.  So that was easy.  :D

[flyingaway]

The market has been good for the past 10 years, so if you already had money in the market, you should see the millions keep growing.

[soccerluvof4]

...she signed but not with out me now having to cut down a big tree that is dying which I though was on her property. But she signed and at least now there is some optimism that were suppose to close.  Wednesday. My DW and I are so fried from this that at this point were just moving on and if we have to deal with this longer so be it. But in theory this should take care of everything.

Cutting down a big tree is a pretty small price... if you know how to cut down big trees.  Hope this resolve it and you can move on.

Got a quote for 500$ and realtor is paying half. Walk through today was fine and going to close tomorrow(though I pre-signed) so barring? I should have my check by 10am and hopefully that will be the end of this nightmare.

[DavidAnnArbor]

Congratulations Soccerluvof4

[soccerluvof4]

Congratulations Soccerluvof4

Thanks DAA. Got my check yesterday and took it straight to the bank and most of it is being transferred back to Vanguard. So glad that nightmare is over. I found out afterward they (realtors) had a bet going on whether or not it would close and or if neighbor would sign off on the Quick Title? I was kinda pissed when I heard that to say the least as they led me on the whole time. I've dont about 20 real-estate transactions in my life and I have to say on both ends of this one buying the new house and selling the old was one of the worst total experiences I have had to go deal with but at least that part is over now. Onward!

[MiserlyMiser]

I don't trust it to last, because my NW has been fluctuating a lot lately, but today's market has pushed me over and past my stretch goal for this year by more than $25k.

[GettingClose]

Congratulations!

We're about $20k away from our year's goal.  We're expecting a check from the IRS for just about that amount, which will push us over the top. 

[MiserlyMiser]

Congratulations yourself!  I hope you get the check soon, so you can officially celebrate!

[DavidAnnArbor]

Well the record highs of the stock market has pushed my liquid net worth to above $1.9 million for the first time.

The real estate gives me another $400K of net worth because my house is located in downtown where a developer can create a 5 story condo complex on my lot.

[soccerluvof4]

Well the record highs of the stock market has pushed my liquid net worth to above $1.9 million for the first time.

The real estate gives me another $400K of net worth because my house is located in downtown where a developer can create a 5 story condo complex on my lot.

I use to visit Ann Arbor all the time I had a store there in the mall in the late 90's and most recently was there as my Daughter Played MI a month or two back in a big soccer match. Always love that area and campus.

[DavidAnnArbor]

Yes it's a nice college town. There's a local Mrmoneymustache chapter that meets once a month.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Looks like net worth will be up around 500k for 2019 (not counting any gains in real estate).  I'm a bit surprised because I'm not invested very aggressively - around 60% equities / 15% bonds / 25% 'cash' (foreign bank account, high yield short term margin accounts...).  I guess contributions are still providing a significant boost since this was a good year for income...  I'll have to do a little forensics when the dust settles over the holidays to see if it was one of my individual stocks, income from my overseas assignment, my annual bonus, or the gains in equities that contributed the most to gains, but this should have been a good year for all Mustachians.   

[Exflyboy]

Looks like net worth will be up around 500k for 2019 (not counting any gains in real estate).  I'm a bit surprised because I'm not invested very aggressively - around 60% equities / 15% bonds / 25% 'cash' (foreign bank account, high yield short term margin accounts...).  I guess contributions are still providing a significant boost since this was a good year for income...  I'll have to do a little forensics when the dust settles over the holidays to see if it was one of my individual stocks, income from my overseas assignment, my annual bonus, or the gains in equities that contributed the most to gains, but this should have been a good year for all Mustachians.

Almost makes me want to work again..:)

Actually I am feeling the need for an assignment to sink my teeth into!

[Threshkin]

Looks like net worth will be up around 500k for 2019 (not counting any gains in real estate).  I'm a bit surprised because I'm not invested very aggressively - around 60% equities / 15% bonds / 25% 'cash' (foreign bank account, high yield short term margin accounts...).  I guess contributions are still providing a significant boost since this was a good year for income...  I'll have to do a little forensics when the dust settles over the holidays to see if it was one of my individual stocks, income from my overseas assignment, my annual bonus, or the gains in equities that contributed the most to gains, but this should have been a good year for all Mustachians.

Almost makes me want to work again..:)

Actually I am feeling the need for an assignment to sink my teeth into!

Not me!  Work is a four letter word.

[itchyfeet]

I have more assignments than I can manage 😤

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Almost makes me want to work again..:)
Actually I am feeling the need for an assignment to sink my teeth into!

I can almost picture you showing up to work in your hospital gown, one arm still numb, asking the project team where to sit and what documents are behind schedule!  Hope you are back to 100% soon EFB

[Exflyboy]

Almost makes me want to work again..:)
Actually I am feeling the need for an assignment to sink my teeth into!

I can almost picture you showing up to work in your hospital gown, one arm still numb, asking the project team where to sit and what documents are behind schedule!  Hope you are back to 100% soon EFB

Hah.. you forgot the slightly stoned facial expression from the prescription narcotics..:)

[UnleashHell]

Almost makes me want to work again..:)
Actually I am feeling the need for an assignment to sink my teeth into!

I can almost picture you showing up to work in your hospital gown, one arm still numb, asking the project team where to sit and what documents are behind schedule!  Hope you are back to 100% soon EFB

Hah.. you forgot the slightly stoned facial expression from the prescription narcotics..:)

huge advantage in a corporate setting