Forum Replies Created
Here’s my opinion:
I think children today choose to live at home a bit longer than they did years ago not only because moving out is so unaffordable in most cases, and investing is so much more marketed and fashionable, but also because infrastructure and transport etc have improved for kids living a bit further away from their educational centre, so there is less need to move out so soon.
Also, the parents’ houses are relatively bigger, or/and families are smaller, there is just more tolerance at home- the relationship between parents and their kids has become so much more relaxed and kids today have more freedom while living at home.
Principally, I think that I will always be there for my kids when they need me (whether they live at home or not) providing that I am able to help them- like I would always be there for other loved ones like family members with whom I have a good relationship or close friends.
Ideally, I would like my kids to naturally be ready at a reasonable age to move out because of an urge to be independent. (What I call reasonable might not be someone else’s idea of reasonable, hehe, but for me it would be anywhere up to 25ish).
I would certainly encourage them to move out if I thought they were ready earlier, but I won’t be taking them by the arm and booting them out the door.
Perhaps out of selfishness…. I think that watching my kids want to make the first step, being excited about starting their own, independent life, is something special for any parent to watch and perhaps be involved in.We, as parents, have worked so hard to raise children to be independent, self sufficient, supportive and emotionally balanced.
And it is so rewarding (I can imagine) to see that your child, after all these years of –let’s call it trial and error- of raising them, has benefited from your upbringing and are now ready to be self-supportive and mature enough to start their own life.
I kind of look forward to this stage- to wait and see what happens- the naturally spreading of wings, is so much more a satisfying feeling than just ‘making’ them spreading their wings. Perhaps it will take a little longer, so what… isn’t it worth waiting for?Not all areas develop at the same speed in everyone. So while you may think that your child is financially ready to spread his/her wings, s/he might not feel confident or emotionally ready to take the plunge, even if you think that they ‘should be’.
I don’t think *I* would feel emotionally ready to give my emotionally-not-ready child the boot…
It’s all about interaction with your kids, understanding them, doing what is best for them- and we are all different, we all know our own kids better than anyone else. What is best for your kid may not be best for mine.Sometimes I look at parents and I think: Why did THEY have children? What’s in it for the kid?
When they are babies, both parents are working full time, kid is placed in long-day care, picked up by a tired parent who, after work, has no time for them (must do the cooking, dishes, housework first when they get home from work), put the kid to bed at 7, next day take it to long-day care at 7, kicking and screaming or not, and so on. Not even story-time or real communication or a bit of fun on a regular basis.Then same thing happens when they go to school: kid goes to after-school care and is lucky if one of the parents has the energy to spend time with him/her on the weekend. Worse, they sometimes are being left to fend for themselves after school and become the wild rascal kids of the neighbourhood who do not have supervision.
Then when they are 18, they are being ‘booted’ out of the house because they are ‘ready’ and ‘should’ be independent.
Where is the love?So, sometimes I think it is a matter of ‘when is an adult ready or responsible enough to have children’. They have a choice. They can choose not to have kids. They can choose to have kids. Kids can not choose their parents. If adults do choose to have kids- they should do what they can to look after them so that you can be proud of them when they are ready to live on their own.
Celivia
Thanks, The Wild One, I do like playing games
)TO answer your question: Yes I do allow my tenants to have (small) pets- if they pay for all damages the pet may cause.
My question:On becoming a pensioner, would you think of having a reverse mortgage- how risky do you think they are?
Celivia
Funny, Shawn![biggrin]
We may not retire before the age of 100 or 110!
This gives us lots of time to build up our superb super!Imagine if everybody quit smoking and eating hamburgers!
How long will we live then? 150…160?
We might not retire until 130!Imagine everybody starts to exercise regularly!
Will we retire at 150?By that time medical science will have improved dramatically. Retire at 170?
We might go to a rejuvenation farm at mars and have green longevity shakes.[puke] Retire at 180?
Hmmm what jobs could we do, spring chickens, of 140?
Perhaps take care of our elderly who will be aged hmmmm perhaps 200? [upsidedown]
Celivia
Hi Yasmina- you have been given so many good ideas already. I don’t really have a better idea, so I’ll just tell you what I would ‘probably’ do.
The most important thing for you seems to be that you want to work less and to make things easier for yourself.
So, what would I do? Hmmm, I think I find it more difficult than you to decide what I would do, hehe!!! I’ll give it a try:
Since the house is too big (assuming that I wouldn’t be planning a family ïŠ) I would probably:
* turn this house into an IP since it is in such a good location and recently renovated, (remember to have a depreciation schedule done) and because it is not a sellers market right now.
* organise an offset account or LOC to use the equity to buy one or more IPs.
* If I were as good at renovations as you seem to be I would concentrate on buying properties that I could renovate to increase equity.
* rent a smaller house for myself for the time being. I could always decide to buy another house to live in when I feel ready.OR I would:
Keep it simple, and sell the house, buy something smaller to live in, go on a nice holiday to distress and relax, come back refreshed and decide what I would do with the left-over equity… perhaps buy another IP and/or pay down the existing IP loan so that from now on the rent will cover the loan payments- so it becomes CF neutral or CF+.What would you choose between those two options, Yasmina. Hehe no need to answer this…![biggrin]
Celivia
Hehe, yes, so he can be called a “Master Professor” at the Trump “University”![laughing]
Celivia
Yes, you are right, it can certainly be worth to have a schedule done. I have an investment property that was built in 1930. I had a depreciation schedule done and I can still claim about $7000 a year- this is for some renovations, fittings etc.
If you can get hold of him, discuss this with Depreciator, who is a forum member. He is very knowledgeable and has been of great help to me and others on here.
Celivia
Awwww jpmonty, I wish you the strength to ‘take the plunge’. It may not be easy, but at least you have now realised that something needs to change.
Many people have a good balance- they love their jobs; it satisfies them. And to be fair, we all need to make money. $$$
The only difficult thing for some people is finding the right balance.If you feel that you cannot do it on your own, monty, remember there is always help available.
Celivia
Yes, work can take over our lives if we are not careful… our economic view can get so deeply involved into the perspective of supply and demand that there is not much room left for other values.
Economic values can creep into every nook and cranny of a community’s life, e.g. health, transport, education and very close to you- your family and friends.
We give the developing/3rd world countries a taste of our “economics-above-all†viewpoint as well- think about the idea of dumping our pollution problems there- ‘they’ should be grateful for the opportunity in economic growth in return for environmental problems. A win/win!!!
If people refuse to take off their economy-coloured glasses, then everything that will improve the economy will look like general improvements, like win/wins.
But take off those glasses and you look into the eyes of fragile, neglected social and cultural values…
If, in practice, we do place money ahead of our relationships with family and friends it is because we have lost the ability to place enough value on cultural and social things.
We take these things for granted: an opportunity to make money is never to be missed, it might never come up again, while ‘people’ are taken for granted: “they will wait, they will still be there after I’ve finished this job….just a few more hours, days, weeks, months, years won’t hurt…â€
We also tell ourselves that having a lot of money gives us freedom because ‘with money you can do what you want’.
This view of ‘more money=more freedom’ is a little warped, because next to the economical world there exists a social world which depends on people interacting, socialising, having contacts, having equal relationships; it is all about people functioning in and as groups. The family is one of these groups and every family member values a place, a small space in their life, in their home outside this hard and impersonal economical market.The social environment is the foundation of the society.
Everything else (including our economy) should be merely orbit around our social life as social beings, and not vice versa.
‘Work to live’, not ‘live to work’.
Not everything that exists needs to have a price tag attached.
People give to each other, no price attached. If there was a price attached to gifts of love, of friendship, to spending time with people you love, then the value of these gifts would be minimised or erased.People need the opportunity, the time to search for the things they need and want in their lives. People need to look for friendships, love, responsibilities, involvement. These things are what people crave.
Swapping this time which people need to be able to enjoy the things they need to do to be part of a society or a community for money is not going to make people happier, or give them more freedom. Freedom to do what?After 9/11, we heard people (not only survivers of the disaster) say that the attack has caused a big change in their lives.
Whereas before the attack they were too occupied with making money, spending much more time at work than with people they loved; to occupied with work (or too scared to miss an opportunity to make money) to even take a morning off to take their child to their first day at school- after the attack they came to the realisation what is important in life.
Family life. Family support. Love. Sharing.But in reality many people feel they need to (to keep up with their debts etc) focus on economics.
It is all a matter of finding a balance in our lives. A balance between work and a private life. I hope we find it some day.
Oops, such a long post, sorry for rambling on!
Celivia
[laughing]Hilarious[laughing]
I finally see the point in going to a seminar!
Celivia
Yes, I agree, Redwing- if you use clauses in the correct way you do not lose your deposit as a buyer.
But what I am concerned about are not the clauses, they are just part of the process, and are fair and sensible; what concerns me is what can potentially happen after the cooling off-period if there is a $1 deposit…
Is this a buyer who is not being genuine in their intention of buying?
The vendor does usually not know the buyer- they are total strangers. How can the vendor make sure that the buyer is not going to completely mess him/her over?Property investors can and do put down several very low deposits on properties. Will they drop out of the deal at the last minute before settlement because they suddenly have seen a better deal?
I just want to protect myself as a vendor by only accepting genuine offers and genuine (10%) deposits.
It’s just a matter of how I feel about the sincereness of the interest in the property and the respect I am being paid.
There is nothing the buyer would lose except his $1 deposit, if this is the amount that is sitting in the REA trust fund.
The vendor, however, has to start over from scratch.There is a so-called Guru who advised buyers to:
Quote: …â€think of yourself as the hungry fox chasing the scared hare…
The hare will run if you chase, and it will get scared and act wildly if you corner it.â€Well, *Moi* wanna be a hare with an edge! The fox’s fat deposit sitting in my REA fund gives the hare the edge. If the fox jumps at moi, moi moves away and woooohoooo there goes the fox, right over the edge. Moi can wave him goodbye without losing out.
But seriously, I just feel that I can sleep better knowing that the deposit is a bit more than 5 cents or $1.
Celivia
Congratulations
Keep on [aacool] dazzling [aacool] us with your great knowledge!
Celivia
Redwing,
yes I do realise that the deposit sits in a REA trust account, but isn’t the point of a 10% deposit a security thing- to protect the vendor (and cost of REA etc)if the buyer suddenly changes his mind after the cooling off period?By then the vendor has probably taken the property off the market for example and has some solicitor’s costs etc?
In that case the ‘buyer’ loses a percentage (perhaps about 2.5%?) to cover the vendor’s losses?
$1 won’t cover a lot!
I’d feel a lot more secure with a deposit sitting in my REA trustfund of $25,000 which will cover my losses and/or make up for the stress of having been messed around with.Edited by myself because of an error.
Celivia
“What type of vehicle do you have?”
Oh I don’t want to boast, but I have a few types, in all different colours and shapes. And I have 2 of each.
Some are flashy, speedy and sleek, some are cute, some are sensible….
….I am talking Reeboks, sneakers and Hushpuppies here, hehe.[biggrin] [upsidedown]
Oh BTW and I drive around in a 2001 Mitsubishi Van (Company’s vehicle).
Celivia
I have been reading all of your posts with interest since I do not know much about Graig Turnbull.
That’s why I like to read a range of differing opinions about him.I do not see that any of the posts should be called derogatory, as people merely gave their opinion based on their first (or 2nd, 3rd, hehe) impression. Everybody is entitled to express their opinion.
I value all opinions equally: You don’t have to BE a millionaire to criticise or question a millionaire.
Does someone’s opinion increase in value as his/her net-worth increases?
In that case, I’d better [sealed]
Celivia
I think it is written in our lease that replacing washers in taps is the tenant’s responsibility.
When we rented, (3 different properties) we also always were required to replace the washers ourselves.
Celivia
I guess that all the Stepford wives voted for it?
Celivia
Hi Yack.
Yes, we got our certificate of title from our PPoR about 2 years ago- it was so good to see and hold it!
But then when we organised our LOC, it was snatched back from us- sigh.Celivia
Originally posted by rabprop:We are about to purchase a principal residence.
Well, I just think it is a little different when you are looking for a home to live in and love.
I think that you, if you really love the house and neighbourhood and it is what you want, will be happy to pay market price for it.
Just try to find out what other, similar houses in the same hood have sold for recently.I think there is always a buffer of about 8% or so that is included in the asking price, but you just have to make sure that the asking price is close to the market price.
Real estate agents are not crazy and are not going to start off with an unrealistic asking price in this market.In my opinion it is reasonable to offer 10% below the asking price and negotiate from there, if you really see this as a potential future home for you and your family/partner.
Celivia
Welcome, Rich, thanks for offering your services here!
Dazzling, that’s messy! It looks like your property manager didn’t check out these tenants- I assume that this is not the first house where they act like this and they must have a bad record, I’d have thought. How did they get through the checks?
Hehe Hmackay, maybe build 4 walls around the carpet?
Celivia
Have a look on their website.
http://www.investorschoiceinc.com.au/index.htmlOn first sight they don’t sound too original…
..”if you give a person a fish it will feed them for a day, but if you can teach that person to fish they can feed themselves for a lifetime…”[sleepy]
“…giving people the confidence to move outside their comfort zones…”[sleepy2]
” …choose an alternative path…”[sleepyanim]
“…not be limited when they reach retirement…”[tired]
I’m interested too, to find out if anyone’s had dealings with this company and if they are so good as they claim to be.
Anyway, if they knock on my door I’m sure to wear my [headphone]
Celivia
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