Hello,
I'm 35 years old. Currently live in LA and work in entertainment. A renter ($1400/month 1br, ugh but it's a great deal here sadly) and unmarried.
Income:
100-130k gross. Varies by year, but in that range.
Investments:
100k in Vanguard IRA
265k in Taxable Vanguard Mutual Funds
20k Cash/Emergency Fund as you never know what can happen with entertainment biz
No Debt.
I currently save $1125 weekly split up into 3 separate taxable mutual funds as well as $5500 a year into whatever IRA type I am eligible for the year based on my AGI.
So total I save $64,000 a year.
This is the most I can save with my current income as after taxes I generally net around 85k, and yearly my living expenses are about 24k which is pretty good considering how insanely expensive LA is. My plan was to continue working for 5-7 years, at 5 years I should have around 850k, if I really want to go nuts and work 7 I'd have a bit over a million. I was then planning on most likely leaving LA unless some unknown opportunity came up that made it worthwhile for me to stay.
My question:
Recently my grandmother's old house in the Adirondacks in Upstate New York (she passed a couple years ago) which she sold for 169k in 2010, is now being sold for 187k. The new owner put on a new roof and poured a new concrete floor in the garage as well as a few cosmetic improvements inside. It is a very fair asking price.
I always said I would love to buy this property back to retire in as it is on 18 acres and has deeded private lake rights, as well as being adjacent to my parents property, which they own about 30 acres. I did not plan for it to come on the market so soon and I am wondering if I should buy it for the future.
The Adirondack area is slowly stating to blow up as it is so close to NYC, Montreal, Lake Placid, Burlington, etc. An international airport is slowly developing, big tech and industry are taking advantage of dirt cheap commercial property, land is cheap and you cannot buy anything like it anywhere else in the world for any price, and to try to even get close would cost millions. This particular property has lake access, but taxes are cheaper than normal for NY because the lakefront property has written into the deed that you cannot build on it, and it only a small section, but useable to walk down to the dock and launch a canoe, etc. The winters are cold, but if I'm FIRE, I don't have to worry about shoveling out my car to get to work.
Basically if it was 5-10 years from now I feel like it would be a no brainer, but since I am still 5-7 years from my goal, and the future is unknown, I'm wondering if I should not purchase it. I have 104k in my VWIAX fund I started in 2006 specifically earmarked as my "house fund", which I could put down and have a tiny 10yr mortgage which I could then finally have something to deduct on my taxes, or I could liquidate some more and just pay cash. On the con side if I take out that much now my 5-7 years to a million will be extended, however on the pro side I would have the house that I want and could retire in.
My parents who live close would be willing to check up on it, but I certainly would not rely or burden them with being caretakers.
Anyway I just was hoping to get some other people's 2 cents on what they think I should do. Access is difficult so it would not be ideal to be rented in the winter due to the long private road leading to the driveway. I'm also not really interested in being a landlord and finding a reliable company to handle that type of thing may be difficult, as it is a very rural area.
Not wanting to be morbid, but when my parents pass, I could buy out my sister's part of the inheritance most likely at face value and then own 2 houses and about 50 acres in the gorgeous Adirondacks if I choose.
Or, I could do nothing, and just stay on my savings plan and be a millionaire at 42 and figure out what to do then as for all I know my situation and plans may be completely different, and again someday when my parents pass, buy out my sister and have my parents house with 30 acres which also has deeded lake rights to the same lake. But I love my parents very much and wouldn't mind living close to them and think it may be enjoyable as I don't plan to have children so I would be close to family, and the rest of my family lives in NJ which is only 4 hours away.
Sorry if this was wordy just trying to get it all out.
Thanks for any tips!
-Shawn