tgreene
Reefer
Actually, it's not a problem at all, and would be a very simple $1000 fix to knock down the freestanding room that will be built in the garage, pull the tank, drywall over the hole where the tank was, and repaint the walls. This was all discussed at great length with out realtor in regards to creating a negative selling feature, and he said not a chance because it's not at all like putting in a swimming pool.Sounds like a great plan.This new aquarium, I think, might make the house a little harder to sell, although the right buyer might fall in love with it.
Regardless, historically, real estate is the very best place that someone can place their wealth. Sure, over the past couple of years that hasn't been true (it would have been much better for someone to have had their wealth in gold for example), but I believe that from now to a decade from now, it's going to be real estate again... Particularly if you can find real estate that's in a growing middle to upper class neighborhood with lower property taxes.
That said, of course, that's just my opinion... But it sounds like y'all are doing a great thing.
Thank you.*jealous*
Over the years I've made just about every possible financial mistake in regards to investments and business interests, but through all of them I have paid very close attention to where things went wrong and have focused on learninig from my mistakes as well as the mistakes of others'. First and foremost, I have to protect my mother-in-law's (and my wife's) inheritance in the most sound manner possible which meant removing their money from low-yield CD's and making it work for us. By that, what I'm most specifically referring to is why keep a couple hundred thousand dollars in a bank that isn't even going to pay 3% interest, only to have to turn around and borrow from that same bank at a rate of 4-6%..? It's not practical thinking until you realize that you can PAY YOURSELF back the difference in interest and gain all of the benefits of doing so in the process.Wow... Yeah, it sounds like you're doing a great job taking advantage of market trends in 2010.
I really like your thought process.
Sure, we can't deduct interest payments from our tax returns, but we'll never have paid a dime in interest either, so we're the obvious winners in the long run. Based on a standard 5% 30-year fixed rate mortgage, if I were to have borrowed $150k, I would have paid an additional $140k in interest alone! :eek2:
Since I maintain a home office, we can also write-off a specific amount of the house for business use, so we'll see that gain too.
I'm at a point in life where everything that we do simply has to be viewed as being a "business decision" in one form or another, and even more so now that we have Cathy's Mom to take care of since she's elderly and disabled.
In regards to the real estate market trends, they are currently at their lowest with all indicators leaning towards a slow rise towards recovery due mostly to "investors" doing precisely what we've just done. I know so many people that have pulled the lions share of thei money from weak ibnvestments and have been buying up foreclosures and flipping them lately because earning a quick 10% on an investment is far superior to waiting and hoping for long-term gains that likely won't be there any time soon... Especially with the current political trend of government taking over businesses and placing us one step closer to "Bank Holiday" with every step they take.
-Tim
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