All Forum Posts by: Colton C.

@Peter C. We are looking for the worst possible house on the best lot.  All we care about the house is that we do not have to do any immediate structural work.  We are more than happy to do the updating and heavy lifting.  Just do not want to deal with Santa Cruz County and permits.  Our dream is 3 acres in the sun!

@Peter C. Hell yeah! Our dream is actually Bonny Doon as west as possible on Pine Flat road.  We are actually not even looking to live in "town".  Pretty much have it narrowed down to Bonny Doon or Corralitos/ Day Valley at this point.  Just waiting for the right one :).  I see you're in Felton (epic spot), keep us in mind if you ever come across anything thats flat and sunny.  Thanks for spending the time to respond! 

Thanks everyone.  Great knowledge. @Rich Weese I appreciate the response!  Our decision to live in a house at $850,000 is not necessarily ego based, more market based (also you would be very surprised to see what you get for $850k in coastal CA).  We earn an income (not retired) and our income originates from a company that is based in CA.  Unfortunately, regardless of what state we "domicile" in, our income originates in CA and is therefore being subject to the 13% state income tax that California imposes upon us.  We have spent many-a-hours with accountants trying to figure out any possible location based tax strategies. 

Domiciling in another state would allow us to have more inexpensive vehicle registration, etc etc....but is saving a few thousand dollars on that stuff worth it to be thousands of miles from our families? Not to us at this time in our life. 

The $850k price tag is the price of any home in Santa Cruz, CA or Carlsbad, CA both of which are the zones near our family.  We are surfers and living at the coast is something we are willing to pay the price for.  I appreciate your insight on your experience, it does help us a lot! 

@Scott Newton this is incredibly creative!  I am looking more into this.  Thank you! 

Thanks for the responses everyone!  My tax accountant has indeed suggested moving to Nevada.  That being said my company is based in CA and I have no flexibility on moving states.  I am liking the idea of a duplex and have been thinking that as well.  Just wanted to hear what ya'll had to say.  Thank you! 

Hi Bigger Pockets Community - 

Thanks to all who post on this site.  What a wealth of information!  I am in a fairly unique situation, and would love some advice on a first real estate purchase. 

I am 32 years old and was married about 1 year ago.  Both myself and my wife are debt free (just paid off the student loans in full!) and for the past 3 years have been living out of our converted van to save money and travel the country.  We do traveling sales and travel about 300 days a year in our van. 

When we are not in the van, we have been staying at either of our parents houses.  While it is great to visit family, we are ready for a place to call our own.  

I am seeking advice on a creative situation that will not bog us down financially, but help to build wealth.  We have worked incredibly hard (7 days a week) and lived very modest (eating beans and rice) to save up $400k cash.  In addition we are tracking to clear about $1mn this year.

Our main issues are that we are technically homeless, and based in CA with 0 assets and are getting absolutely crushed by taxes.  In addition, for us to purchase a place to call home (somewhere we actually want to exist) and leave empty while we travel, we are looking at having to spend at least $850k with no real upside or income generating potential. 

Our dream situation is to:

- Have a place to call our own whenever we want to be there (ie...cannot have a long term renter in the property because it defeats the purpose).  My wife has been an amazing trooper these last 3 years but she really wants a place to call home now and does not want a renter in our space and using our stuff. 

- Have the location be somewhere we actually want to be (We love the outdoors.  Surf, fish, dive, etc...so an inexpensive place in a random suburb somewhere is no good either.  Ideal places for us are: Santa Cruz, Monterey, Lake Tahoe, San Diego, etc...).

- Be a day's drive or less to our families (one family lives in San Diego another lives in the Bay Area). 

- To buy something that helps us build wealth rather than wipe out our savings and dig us into a debt hole at $6500+ a month mortgage (for if our income changes). 

- To buy smart because our income fluctuates wildly.  We cannot depend on our income being what it is and want to be prepared for our income to go to $0 and still have our investment "pay for itself". 

I know this is a tall order to fill but just wanted to hear what any of you professionals have to say.  Thank you for reading this!