Tag: t_homePre$$ure44

mount`pressure{U.S.home budget #index page

Posted on by tiger40490

This is a master index page …

[17] loc preferences #BIG list#CC1 CC2

Posted on by tiger40490

In my post on land-oriented investment, Mrs. Huang (Lisa’s aunt) pointed out that you can improve the wood “superstructure” but not the location. So what define a good location to me? school district –vs– connectivity are the 2 main factors, but RD and CC2 can be important. I’m willing to pay more if it’s worthwhile.

  1. SD i.e. school district?
    1. usually correlates with appreciation but not RD
  2. CC1 i.e. connectivity/commute — my soft spot
    1. usually correlates with rent and appreciation
    2. https://tanbinvest.dreamhosters.com/2017/05/08/clusters-of-contract-jobs/
    3. https://tanbinvest.dreamhosters.com/2017/05/25/subwayrailway/
  3. street cleanliness. My pet peeve.
  4. RD i.e. rent demand, as insurance
    1. I feel connectivity is key. Deep outskirts have demand too, but lower. However, the locations away from waterfront (like in JCity) may not be so easy to rent out, if house is old and streets dirty.
    2. risk management — what if we want2move after buying: RentOut!
  5. CC2 i.e. Chinatown i.e. Chinese community
    • there would be good demand for Chinese preschools, __but__ I think she might be willing to commute for 30 minutes
    • Chinese language for my kids
    • grandparents visiting
    • 🙁 overpriced, due to Chinese investors!
    • 🙁 usually not good connectivity
    • 🙁 not necessarily good school district
    • 🙁 Phillip Huang pointed out that the Chinese population living right in a Chinatown is usually not a professional population
  6. —- Below are LG2
  7. car-free. See walkable neighborhood and https://tanbinvest.dreamhosters.com/2016/03/18/any-place-that-needs-no-car/
  8. liquidity when I need to sell
    1. some remote school districts may not have enough demand
  9. appreciation — automatically
    • would be reasonable if good school district
    • would be reasonable if good connectivity
    • would be reasonable if good rent demand
    • If I decide to hold long-term, then appreciation become a bigger factor than rent income
    • risk management — in a decline, good locations declines less.
    • depends on land size unless in a high urban location
    • I already have appreciating properties in Asia
  10. safe, worry-free? automatically

Let’s look at Edison/Bayonne

  • — At Edison/Bayonne, what criterion are important to ….family?
    1. SD – it’s already a given that we won’t pick a bad district
    2. price tag and reasonable size/condition
    3. street cleanliness, dilapidation, parks — i feel sunset park area is tolerable to wife but not to me
    4. commute
    5. CC2
    6. Chinese grocery
    7. RD — depends heavily on connectivity
    8. car-free
    9. psf
    10. appreciation — we already have many. Also, could be hard to predict.
  • — At Edison/Bayonne, what criterion are important to ….myself?
    1. price tag and reasonable size — agility
    2. street cleanliness, dilapidation, parks — emotional level
      1. compare to water-front? I feel it’s irrational and harmful comparison
    3. commute
    4. car-free convenience
    5. RD — positive cash flow
    6. appreciation
    7. psf — i’m willing to pay a fair price for what I want
  • — on my Edison/Bayonne visits, what I spend most time discussing
    1. SD
    2. monthly cost vs rental income
    3. street cleanliness and parks
    4. RD
    5. car-free
    6. appreciation

[17] financial discipline towards private uni+学区房

Posted on by tiger40490

In my experience, Financial discipline has proven to be a good thing. My sister my disagree. I am not good at predicting what she would comment on this tricky topic, but I feel her mortgage has induced a healthy financial discipline.

Looking around, most folks are not disciplined at saving for long term.

  • When our income increases, our spending increases invisibly, unknowingly!
  • When our income drops, we find it hard to cut spending initially, but most folks will manage to adjust and cope (unless required to cut to 1/3).

Income drop is less common than a new financial commitment like a new born or a mortgage. I have seen multiple examples where we decide to start saving substantially more every month, so as to pay down a heavy mortgage. Without a well defined purpose and motivation like this, financial discipline is rare. For most folks, It’s too “tiring” to be always conscious (“vigilant”) of what we spend on. So we end up spending on many things not worth spending on:

  • buying “things” that we don’t use again
  • throw-away toys
  • too many enrichment programs for the kids
  • “rent-like” spends like hotels, taxi
  • more fast-worn-out, devaluing products. Car is the prime example. Gadgets are another.
  • more short-term pleasure with a sizable total bill. Overseas vacation is the prime example. Staycation is not inferior in my view but many consumers somehow feel the novelty is worth the huge price difference.

How about saving for private uni? A double-edged sword.

  1. One one hand, I feel it’s unnecessary commitment and burden. 500k requires a lot of sacrifice. Not worth it.
  2. On the other hand, such a big commitment induces financial discipline.
  3. …. Overall, I feel it’s a question of degree. Discipline is healthy and constructive but too much peer pressure is not.

Compare to spare time utilization — Before UChicago MSFM, my spare time utilization rate was much lower, but I also had more family time.

##frugal living]branded SDXQs

Posted on by tiger40490

If school district becomes a real requirement, we could consider

1st look: good SDXQ, private schools(le2Alok

Posted on by tiger40490

Hey Alok,

My landlord has a son in a private high school, in the last year. I spoke to this lad — talented and very bright. I said most students there are rich. He said his son doesn’t come from a rich family but these schools have grants to take in academically outstanding students, like his son.

I said some parents buy an expensive house in a top school district, but he feels private schools are still better. He said the teacher/student ratio is much higher and distractions much lower. He said if you are the academic type in a (average) public school, you will be called a nerd (by your peers?) and likely lose your motivation.

He emphasized over and again, that despite these external factors, student’s motivation is ultimately the key. His son is motivated.

I feel if I have enough financial resources I may still choose a top school district, since my property would appreciate. However, if my son suffers in his school then I would consider a private high school, provided I can afford it.

My recent view favors private high school — https://tanbinvest.dreamhosters.com/2017/07/20/private-high-schoollow-cost-area-like-bayonne/

Another friend said good schools offer additional programs not available in the average schools. I can only guess — perhaps these are extra-curriculum programs. If the student struggles academically and misses out on these programs, then it’s kind of wasted. The best match would be a student with adequate academic abilities (not necessarily top of the school) and with spare capacity to experience the additional learning opportunities.

Sugg: rent]学区until we want2sacrifice CC+RD

Posted on by tiger40490

See https://tanbinvest.dreamhosters.com/2017/05/13/school-district-tips/

Good school districts are affluent. I don’t want to bend over backward to compete there. Perhaps my peers could afford it years ago. Looking at the price level, I simply can’t afford.

Lucky rent is a real option in the U.S. system.

If my kids are suitable for these schools then I could consider buying a home there.

If my kids are not suitable (for whatever reason) then sacrificing CC, RD etc is a silly sacrifice.