The $10,000 my parents contributed to the purchase was my college fund that I was given because I had busted my *** in the classroom and received a full-ride academic scholarship.

I don't think my wife is 100% on board, so she better hang on for the ride!  

Wow, this discussion has completely morphed from its original intent.

@jack b.Quick answer, on my typical buy of houses, I buy at half price and then within 7 years will have received enough in rent to pay for them, so I have tripled my money, that beats the stockmarket and eliminates the rollercoaster ride!!!

When I met her I attempted to bond over philosophy (her profession, my major) and mutual social connections - and not let her realize that I have real assets for as long as I possibly could.I must admit I took some evil pleasure in "corrupting" a woman who was practically a communist feminazi professor when I met her - and making her annoyed at herself when she realized that she was just as vulnerable to enjoying a few material pleasures (good wine, nice hotels, skiing, riding in my MBZ instead of her Hyundai) as any other human.I don't see her telling me I should sell our family's ski condo and donate the money to charity!

Seeing flipping become "sexy" again doesn't improve my overall thoughts on the health of the overall housing market but everyone is riding the wave while it lasts.

I'm trying to come with you, if not, try to ride your coattail until you tell me to get off...Lol!  

Glisch of The Sentinel StaffHOUSTON — Not far from the granite skyscrapers simmering in the haze of downtown Houston, the dreams of thousands of Texans have ended in bulldozed fields overgrown with weeds and wild summer grass.The site was supposed to have been a massive subdivision, one of hundreds that sprang up overnight when the oil industry boomed during the 1970s and early 1980s, sending this sprawling, get-rich-quick city on a seemingly endless joy ride.But the ride has long since ended, the victim of a depressed oil market that has ravaged Houston's oil-addicted economy and left vacant lots and ''For Sale'' signs as visible scars of how quickly the good times turned bad in the nation's fourth-largest city.''

So I'm in GA visiting my gf and children and I was riding around with them when I saw a house that fits the description of an absentee owner.

Then we are a short elevator ride to Peaks lounge where the general networking starts a bit later.