Re: Meg Munn chunters on...


Heidi Graw wrote:
> ><mark_sobolewski@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> >news:1127842509.802400.44430@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> (snip)
>
> (snip)
>
> >Mark wrote:
> > A friend of mine from Switzerland said years ago in her
> > Sweiss accent: "American women are ambisssious!"
>
> And my brother married a woman imported from the Ukraine who claimed,

What does "imported" mean? You mean immigrated?

> "Russian men are not ambitious enough." She had divorced her non-ambitious
> man, left him behind, came to Canada and began to establish an ambitious
> life for herself. She judged my brother ambitious enough and married him.
>
> Within a mere 4 years, these two have bought up several older houses which
> my brother renovated. There are upper and lower suites in these houses.
> All suites are rented out to cover the costs of the mortgages, the property
> taxes, the costs of renovations *plus* they have extra as profit to show for
> these suites. It is now the *renters* paying their landlord's and
> landlady's mortgages. It's not costing my brother and sis-in-law a dime.
> The two are both working at good paying jobs. They also have high return
> investment portfolios. They're in the money! ;-)
>
> And guess what? My brother did not even bother to leave the country to find
> a foreign wife. *She* immigrated on her own. She dismissed Canadian born
> men as, "Immature and irresponsible play-boys." She was pleased to discover
> my brother was that German born and raised ambitious import!
>
> I think my brother played it rather smart. He waited for an ambitious woman
> to snap him up and make something even greater out of him.

Hmmm, but didn't you argue that such women had rejected me because
I didn't have equity to start with? Hmmm? As it turns out,
your brother didn't either.

Sometimes a story depends a lot on how people choose to tell it.

> She had noticed
> that he's no lazy lay-about, but someone who was willing to put in an effort
> to actually move ahead in life. She also noticed he had practical skills
> which are a huge money saver if and when one wants to get into the real
> estate market. With her financial and business savvy and his practical
> skills, it turned out to be a winning combo! ;-)
>
> Btw, Mark, do you even know how to skrew in a light bulb?

Sure. I put up a ladder and wait for the real estate to spin
around it.

Seriously though: you've postulated a number of things recently on this
thread that are quite unpleasant and then turned around like a girl
and argued that we were just having a pleasant discussion.
I've seen debates on this forum get quite nasty with GA and
others saying you have men in your life neutered and I haven't chosen
to take them seriously until now if only because I simply
don't know that much about you.

However, the way you shoot off nasty barbs when men argue
back at you suggests to me that maybe they have a point: Maybe
you are used to men in your life backing down when you crack
the whip. You've met your match here, honey!

In answer to your question: I have a lot of technical "home"
skills including putting in doors, plumbing, etc. and yes,
I can change a light bulb. I love to walk by the huge
loading area at our apartment building and find old lamps
and maybe pull them open, replace the old wires, and buy
a new lampshade for them. My wife says it's all junk but
acknowledges we have found a few very nice pieces.

I also prefer to fix something in leau of just replacing
it even if the labor costs (mine) probably are higher in
the long run. She yelled at me for months to buy a new
computer mouse but since they are solid state now (LED),
it would break my heart to do so just because a plastic
part on it broke. So I bought super-glue and fixed the plastic
part and she was annoyed. (She loves to buy new things.)

> > It's somewhat more difficult to marry a foreigner locally. :-)
>
> Not really. You could have married an immigrant and saved yourself those
> thousands of dollars travelling back and forth to a foreign country.
> Imagine how much bigger your Janus account would have been by now! ;-)

I like to view the money spent as an investment in all the friends
I made and cultural doors I opened. My tea skills are worth
it alone! :-)

> > FYI: I plan to send any children I have to a foreign school
> > where they get a great accent and education for a fraction
> > of the price of U.S. public institutions.
>
> Ya right...abandon the kids oversees into the care of foreigners.

Versus abandoning them locally? Many teenagers want out of
the home anyway and this gives them a chance to spread their
wings.

> Do you
> even know what happens in those residential private schools? I certainly
> wouldn't abuse my kids in that manner.

Naw. You'd abuse them in another manner. :-)

> > I was also thinking about this last week when my wife noticed
> > some moisture damage on our ceiling because of a leaky A/C.
> > If we were homeowners, we'd be paying about 2 grand to take
> > care of it. Instead, I just called the landlady that exploits
> > us. Life is good...
>
> Mark, that rent covers the cost of the landlady's property taxes,
> maintenance and mortgage payments.

Unless it doesn't.

As I said, it's possible the business plan is to turn the unit around
later and sell at a profit and good luck to her.

> She gets to decide how much profit she
> wants to make off her rental units.

Nonsense. If that was the case, _I'd_ buy a property and choose
to rent it out for, say, a million a month.

I'm reminded of this garage sale on "King of the Hill" where
the guy is selling every item for $2,000. "$2000 for a
blender?" He replies: "I only need sell one!"

> If she thought she could get away with
> charging higher rent, she would be doing so.

Fair enough. Aparently, she doesn't think she can and she's right.

Many renters are doing precisely what you might do: Buying
up condos and homes being built in farmland in the outer burbs
helping to drive down housing demands from middle class renters
in the inner burbs where I live.

> And if all too many A/C units
> break down, she'll up the rent.

So why not up the rent anyway and make more profit? Does she
have to wait for the A/C units to break down?

> (snip)
>
> > Sure. But homeowners face similar problems. In fact, my
> > wife and I often see houses around our unit hit by the
> > storm with trees falling on roofs and fires.
>
> This is why *location* is also important. I chose not to buy in a hurricane
> prone area, nor a flood plain, nor in tornado alley. Nor did I buy below
> sea-level. As for earthquakes, I'm in such a zone. However, by moving away
> from Richmond, which would experience liquifaction that would allow houses
> to sink into the sea, I moved up to higher ground and built on solid
> bedrock. I also avoided steep hillsides. Don't need a landslide coming
> down on me. ;-)
>
> Heidi

regards,
Mark Sobolewski

.

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