All Forum Posts by: Chinmay J.

Sounds like you’re a DC-Baltimore kinda person. Tough market but not impossible. I lived there in 2009-2011. I looked for places but just could not find anything under $300k or that much over 1%. I guess I was too uneducated at that time. 

Where are we headed for 2020? What do you think the trends are? Where are the next new areas to invest in?

My thoughts and experiences. The trend of population migration into the south will continue. Southeast is starting to see lower returns. Most of Florida and Georgia I’m seeing very low returns. Northeast still high but might take a dip but I’m not sure if it will be enough. NY politics worry me.

Not too much knowledge on the west or mid west states. Maybe these are the next areas to get into?

 +1 post this question on WCI or Bogleheads forum. You will get skewered, is what she is saying. Badly. This smells like a 30 year old who feels he "made it" out of dental school, and because of his 140k income (solid for LCOL area but peanuts for most dentists/doctors/tech people in CA) wants to blow a wad on a depreciating asset to reward himself. You pulled all your investment money out fearing the market? This is called market timing and can drastically cut your returns over time. To me you don't sound all that financially smart or educated. Many doctors and dentists and high earners have gone broke because they are smart in their day job and tremendously horrible with money. Spend hours on WCI and you'll get it. 

YOLO man. I wrote a much longer reply but won't post it. PM me if you want more hard truth. I have had a P-car on my wall for 30+ years, and still haven't pulled the trigger and I make much more than you. Had an S2000 to scratch the itch when I was your age, and it did the trick. Drive a 400hp Tundra today so I can get to my mountain ski condo investment property. To me, a $75k sports car earning $140k, all your friends and neighbors will snicker at you as "that kid" who thinks he arrived but is far from "having made it" yet. Long road ahead man. There is a balance between overspending and being a miser, I fully agree (I have nice vehicles, 2 homes, been to Maui 2x in 12 months), but you cannot afford a car of this caliber. Imagine the insurance and maintenance on a garage queen. And you want to take a loan for it!! Lord. Post this in WCI please, and link it back here. I think you know the answer, and that is why you posted it here, for some sort of validation. You are getting a lot of "go for it" validation, but this is a real estate forum, not a financial advising forum. This is not the smart thing to do, but it's your money. 

Good luck. Congrats on the DDS. Get to work tripling your income then buy the expensive garage queen. And please buy a P-car, not that Alfa junk (IMO). 

I'll leave this here from consumer reports: "The Alfa sedan and SUV have high owner satisfaction and low predicted reliability. Alfa Romeo is part of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles conglomerate."

I'm totally prepared to get my *** grilled based on the title of this thread but that's fine. Please share your honest opinions. Here is the situation:

- I'm a complete car nut. I spend a lot of my free time researching cars, shopping for cars, watching videos, etc. and I've had my eye on a few models for some time now.

- I'm 30 years old, I'm a dentist, I do not have student loan debt, I live in an area of the country with one of the lowest costs of living, I have a monthly mortgage on my home of $2100. I make approximately $140,000/year and save 40% of my income. The remainder is budgeted for my expenses including mortgage, food, entertainment, etc. 

- My current car is paid for by the company I work for and I have no car payment. I'm going to be keeping this car as my daily driver.

- I put down a refundable deposit on a second "fun" car and the car costs $45,000.I think I negotiated well, the average estimated "value" of the car currently is about $50k. I've done a ton of homework and this particular car is projected to depreciate very minimally and even has the potential to appreciate in value as it may become collectible (I won't be counting on this as most all cars depreciate). The car is a few years old and has already done most of its depreciating but it still has 3 years of factory warranty remaining which minimizes risk to me in terms of repair costs.

- I have about 100k in cash savings but I will not be looking to buy the car in cash (I'll put a chunk of cash on a down payment and finance the rest at approx. 3% interest).

- I'm torn between the idea of total fiscal responsibility and buying something I've always wanted to own at a relatively young age. I'm not dead set on buying it and my deposit is refundable but I'd like to make my final decision in the next few days. 

- I'm currently single with no wife or kids (gonna do all that someday)

- Since this is a real estate investing forum and the topic is bound to come up, no, I do not have real estate investments at this time because I'm waiting to invest in my own business next year. I'll be looking to go about real estate investing in my field of expertise which is dentistry. 

Have any of you with more life experience gone through something similar and would you have done the same thing over again? 

Perhaps this isn't the right place to ask this, but in the most innocent way possible I am curious as to how people who have quit their jobs in order to pursue investing as a full time gig make money. Basically anything I've read states that you have to keep your money separate from the properties or any personal assets can become a liability and at a risk of loss. If you are creating an LLC for your investments, how does one (eventually) use the income made on investments as personal finance without blending the two? If not operating or investing under an LLC, how do you prevent your personal assets from the risk of potential lawsuits?

@Chinmay J. this isn't just a problem with how Home Depot operates. Most any large chain company it is hard to find people who take ownership of problems. They hire third party contractors to do work, so they have limited control. They hide behind policies. 

It is pretty standard that you need to report damage at the time of delivery. I have received dented appliances from multiple companies. It is just part of the business. You have to open and inspect any appliance the day you get it. I wouldn't even sign for it before doing so. This isn't even just appliances. Industry standard for shipping carriers requires you make note of damage quickly if you want to make a claim. Usually within 1-2 days of delivery or they reject the claim. Be aware of this no matter who you order from.

Personally, I use a local appliance company. The installer has been installing dishwashers for 20 years and is a direct employee of the company. Maybe I could save a couple bucks going to HD, but in the end the hassle isn't worth it. My time has value.

@Chinmay J.

I feel for you. I've been there. Thanks for the high-value post of the Voice of Experience, with documented events and times.

The local RAS delivery boys that HD often contracts with almost got me on a Black Friday sale electric stove delivery. They called me up when they were 45 minutes away two hours before their delivery window opened. I told them I wasn't there and I wouldn't be there until the delivery window opened. They told me they would talk to their bosses and get back to me. BS all the way. No one called me back. Sure enough, those boys rolled up 45 minutes later on the delivery address and their faces fell when they saw me standing on the porch of the delivery address. Oh no, of course they weren't going to drop it off and disappear, or just take it back and leave me hanging for a week or so! How dare I imply that was the plan all along so they could finish early? How could I possibly be so suspicious? What an a-hole, picking on poor misunderstood workingmen!

I called up HD and got a $100 bucks off the order for their delivery window shenanigans.

I think it was five years back that Lowes left me hanging for 14 days to get someone out to a rental's address to hook up a gas stove. And they never told me. Neither did the tenants. It was delivered, and the tenants just stared at the thing in the hallway for two weeks until the installer got out there.

I agree that it was wise to connect with the local HD store manager. I have long fostered a good business relationship with mine. A lot of crap goes easier when the local big boss is shepherding your bigger install orders through, or you have to order materials or appliance deliveries from multiple stores (it's also happened to me).

This is the sort of thing I think about when I see recent college grads posting about how they're planning on running seven BRRRRs a year and they're sure their biggest problems are going to be dealing with the banks.