All Forum Posts by: Billy Linn

@Nicole Heasley the second best vehicle we’ve owned is a 2007 outlook. It’s the same as a Chevy Traverse or GMC Acadia but is the cheaper of the three. It has plenty of room for people (3 rows) and the seats fold down flat. We tow trailers with it and haul tools and materials in the back almost daily.

We just bought a ‘95 Chevy diesel with 400k miles on it for $1,500 from family for towing stuff the outlook can’t handle. That truck just keeps going!

@Nicole Heasley Beitenman I'd suggest a Toyota Camry. I have a 2014 and it is such a great all around car. It has space, enough power to keep up with traffic (if you get on it), gets really good gas mileage, and it handles really well. If you are worried about winter driving put some snow tires on it and it will do just as well as most all wheel drives with all-terrains; only downside is you won't have quite as much clearance for drifts. 

 A few people mentioned a Fiesta. I have one (with a turbo) and it is so much fun! But it doesn't have space for much of anything. It feels like you're driving a go cart (again, fun!, but not the safest feeling). I put snow tires on this also and I never had any issues with winter driving in Colorado and Wyoming.

If you spend a lot of time driving I think it's ok to spend a bit more to increase your comfort and peace of mind. Break downs suck even before you see the bill, but they are going to happen (even in new cars) so it's good to get something that has reasonable repair and maintenance costs. I've owned BMW and Audi and their repair costs are unreasonable lol.

I usually find the best deals with private parties (craigslist/facebook/etc) but I sometimes have to drive a ways to find the right car. Sell your car the same way. If you see something you like google "common problems with {year} {make} {model}" and you'll get forums talking about what issues you can expect and how to check for and deal with them.

Hope you find something you like!

I use a Brother ADS-1500W, it works pretty well. It makes scanning a lease or loan docs pretty easy, does receipts too.

Managing expectations is a big one too. If you think everything's just going to be amazing once you learn a few things you're going to have a bad time. Luckily, pretty much any problem can be overcome with some good problem solving skills and advice from people that have been there before. 

I think your past experience will serve you well Dardine. 

I don’t know of any, I’m just curious what you would use this for? Do you get a lot of calls you need to keep track of?

Don't know if this would work with your son but I would explain the business decisions that you are having to make and how those will impact the family. Too many kids get told simple excuses so they don't have to deal with hard situations then they don't have the tools they need when they get older. I really wish my parents would have included me in financial (and other) decisions when I was younger because it took a really long time to learn them on my own. If you can include your son and have him come to the same decision that's a major win. Defanity a lot of learning opportunities here for him.

Good luck and congrats!

Congratulations! It's neat to own a house you grew up in. It can add be a little more emotional than other properties though. Good price too!

I agree with @Kevin Grinstead, can you convert it into a better investment? If not, keep it. Owners in northern Colorado have been pretty lucky in the last 8 years, a lot of properties have doubled in value in that time. You could sell and invest in another market that has better cap rates. Of course that can be risky and make things harder to manage. If you have a good investment, holding is usually better than trying to time the market.  

Sounds like you need to figure out why they aren't comfortable making those decisions on their own and address that problem. Maybe they don't clearly understand your expectations. 

I didn't see anything in there about when you have to dispose, but that if/when you do that you "properly dispose of such information by taking reasonable measures to protect against unauthorized access" ... "to reduce the risk of consumer fraud and related harms, including identity theft, created by improper disposal of consumer information"