Your reluctance to off load the leased vehicles and make your wife understand the necessity to downsize will ultimately derail your long term plans.Your life will be much better but doubtful you will achieve investment goals.

I'm just starting this thread to give newbies some perspective on the necessity for CapEx reserves.

Everyone on the board here is estimating FMV and ARV and uses GCs to get estimates, that's not a strategy, it's a necessity to buy any property in any situation.

You're mortgage wouldn't go up, but the equity would and he'd be set up in his retirement living situation well before it becomes a necessity.

The answer is it should not so making $15k or more should not have any necessity to double flow for that reason alone in my opinion.

What it actually means to design and build the kitchen properly isn't as clear as the absolute necessity to deliver a kitchen that exceeds the client expectation.

It can work out well however it is not a necessity.

I know I mentioned that it could potentially be a plus but wasn't sure if it was a necessity or highly recommended.

Making offers without a pre-approval letter is dicey, although it doesn't appear to be necessary (full disclosure, when purchasing my first home, I personally treated it as a necessity).If I was in your position, I'd likely try to pursue a means of funding first before deal hunting too aggressively.

My argument is that it's a way to be socially responsible, regardless of necessity. :)Re: #5: Yep!