Fall from Grace, but no longer homeless - 1 Week left Dogmeat Contest

dogmeat · #1 08-14-2005, 11:27 PM

Howdy, I had a little fall from Grace this week in my 30-day contest, but many of you are still in the action. When I crested $3500 (from $122 three weeks ago) I figured only a few 2+2'ers were still in the running, but I took a four-hour doof-fest at 4-tables of $15/$30 and cut that down to $1930.

So, one week left and $1930 and back at $3/$6 and $200NL 4x - and we'll see if I can get back to $3k in the 10 hours I'll probably play.

I'm not homeless anymore, as we finally got the keys to our new house. For those of you that are young and still wondering what to do with all that poker cash you're making, many cities in the US are in the middle of a huge Real Estate boom, and while the bubble will eventually bust, this is a prime time to get a home (or two).

My wife and I have owned and sold four homes and a condo in the past 5 years. Believe me, the money is a lot better than what I'm making at poker.

As an example, the base price on our home went up $91,000 over the 13 months we were waiting for the home to be built. I put down $2,000 to show interest, then another $3,000 when we picked the home. It cost me another $6,500 out of pocket before closing. We'll be starting another one in a week or two. My brother in-law has owned three homes in the past 18 months (plus one being built and ready in a couple months) and the one he is in right now has appreciated $210,00 in 6 months.

Do yourself a favor, buy land and homes in nice area's. Even when the boom slows down, you'll still have a home to live in. FWIW, the interest you pay each month on your loan helps you qualify to itemize your deductions for taxes, and you save a lot of cash this way.

Anyway, best of luck to everybody this week, and on Sunday I'll let you know my final BR and see who the two winners are.

Dogmeat [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

Losing all · #2 08-15-2005, 01:55 AM

Oh man, if you ran goot at 15/30 my silly $7500 or whatever would've been golden. Thanks for the effort

Also, congrats on not being homeless anymore [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Keith Fellmy · #3 08-15-2005, 12:27 PM

Try it here in Cape Coral Florida. One of my friends bought three lots and built three houses at a golf course that was starting up. He got the money from his lump sum retirement check from General Motors. Around 600K. He built the three houses with all the money from his large check. He waited for two years until all the lots were sold. he put two houses up for sale (lived in third house). No one wanted to pay 350K for each house. The houses were on the market for two years. Once all the houses got built the real estate agent was asking 650K each....sold them within two months of all the houses being built. made money plus his house is basically free. Only in southwest Florida.

My condo where I stay was purchased by my grandfather in 1995 for 65K. they now sell for 225K.

dogmeat · #4 08-15-2005, 03:12 PM

That's wild. In Phoenix now, they are building some high-rise condos, and two of them are just starting construction and are already sold out, with prices from $300k to $1.4 mill.

There are also some condos going in around Camelback Mountain, that won't be done until 2007 and they are almost sold out already. If the market stays hot, how much are those purchasers going to be able to flip their condos (once they are finished) for? A couple hundred thousand profit? Maybe more? ..............wow.

Dogmeat [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

Keith Fellmy · #5 08-15-2005, 06:45 PM

a gal here bought a condo out of bankruptsy for 140K and she sold it 5 months later for 245K. Not bad.

J_B · #6 08-15-2005, 11:59 PM

Am gonna sell my house and move to the middle of nowhere soon, maybe a year or so. I bought 4 years ago and I figure my $$$ has almost doubled.

Keith Fellmy · #7 08-16-2005, 12:25 PM

depends on where you live. All land value has gone up in 99% of the USA. It should be worth more than you paid. Here in Southwest Florida the town of Cape Coral is the fastest growing town (percentage wise) in the USA. Prices are nuts down here!! Cape Coral has a thing called an "impact fee" that you pay when you have a house built. Up through June 1 the fee was 2100 bucks. As of June 1 t is now 5300 dollars. WOW. What it is doing is pricing the middle class working guy right out of Florida. It will be only for the rich or the Mexicans (that do the crap work-and live 40 to a house). I like Florida but can see why people say they were glad to get out.