All Forum Posts by: Tom Makinen

There is a real play with exotic cars in terms of investment, but I don't know if you truly come out ahead since you have to pay a lot of maintenance and upkeep with it.  I think it is just a mirage.  Treat any money you make from a car as bonus, not an investment.  You will feel so much better about it.

* I bought my California because that car has a potential to go up in value, but that hasn't happened yet and probably wont until some celebrity starts driving it.... *

@Neil Henderson i agree, i am not seeing the value that people are always pumping up about in Vegas or Phoenix.  I am seeing better value in Orlando or Tampa.

8 - Buffalo/Indiana/Detroit

7 - Tampa/St Pete/Ocala/Jacksonville

6 - Orlando / Texas (smaller cities)

5 - Phoenix / Vegas / Miami / Texas (big cities)

4 - Austin

3 - Denver

2 - Seattle / SD

1 - Bay Area / LA /NYC

@Account Closed Thanks for the input.  I will msg you about Indiana.  I am not sure if Indiana and Buffalo will fare better at the next downtown compare to Seattle/Austin.  The jobs are simply different between the two.  Now from a dollar perspective, the big cities will always lose more due to the price even if they both drop 20%.  Indiana and Buffalo just have too many housing for the amount of jobs/population available, I don't know if it will ever experience those big appreciation like you can with the big cities.  

I should also add that I am in my late 30s. If I can start buying a few investments now, I hope it will pay off itself before I retire.  That way I still have an income stream to pay into it in the bad times.

Up to a point yes.  I don’t want or desire a massive portfolio where I have to spend a lot of time on it.  At the same time I don’t want to retire without owning any investment properties either.  I am happy to get a couple to diversify.

REIT still moves a lot depending on the stock market, that's why I am Leary of them. I sometimes prefer the crowdfunding businesses over them. I especially like hotels and big scale apartments if I can find them. They are 25k a pop, so it is kind of scary

I have a Ferrari California, I have a Tesla, other EVs and another gas car I use at the track.  Each car does certain things well.  Dont knock until you actually own one and know what’s good and bad about it.

I live in the Bay area.  While I can afford a place here, but I don't want to commit so much of my liquid asset here.  One of the reason I am being conservative is that I want to wait for the next downturn and then jump on a property or two here, so I don't want to over leverage myself.  

I think in Phoenix and Vegas, I would have to spend 300-400K on a multi family.  It's in the budget, but I have to think hard to see if that's worth it.  I am more comfortable with 200K to be honest.  Actually I should say I am perfectly comfortable with the mortgage, but it would pain me to cash out my stocks to put the $100K down.

Some areas have Texas have duplexes for less than 200K, heck some are like brand new and built for rentals!

I had rental properties before, it wasn't very successful and I sold everything.  Fast forward to now, probably the worst time to buy investment property.  I understand that, but for some reason I still have an itch to get 2-3 just to hold.  I am not looking to get rich off of them, but I do need to diversify as I have 95% of my assets in stocks.  The other day when Donald spoke, I saw a nasty 12% drop in my portfolio.  I think it is time to diversify a little more when I see something.  I have the money to get on something if I see it, but then I could also sit if I have to as I have other investments that make pretty good returns.

Anyway I am a conservative to middle of the road investor, I just want to move my stock holding from 95% to 75% as I still prefer stocks over equity.  Here is my question for you guys.  I can think of several strategies, what is your thought on it?

#1  Invest in an older duplex in places like Buffalo, Indiana where they are dirt cheap, but have to deal with the potential crash in economy, repair due to the age of the homes, but these would generate positive cash to start with

#1b  Maybe spend more to move to markets like Vegas, Bakersfield, Fresno where there are still money, but I have to put up more to start.

#2   Get a small commercial medical office or something, I can get one that will generate positive cash flow for 3-5 years, but it's scary to think about what can happen after.  Big risk for less work short term

#3  Go big and get a one bedroom or studio in hot cities like Seattle, Denver, Austin, NYC, Boston.  It will be bloody expensive and dangerous.

#3b Get a small old home in those hot cities, it will be even more expensive but it doesn't have HOA

#4 Find a city where a SFH makes sense, ideally avoid the condos unless I see something that makes sense. The drawback would be vacancy obviously.

Thanks for the time

BTW I do have some real estate holding on the side via REITs and some crowdfunding stuff.  They probably have just as good of a return as any properties I will be able to buy.  

It's a car.  Nothing really makes sense financially unless you put it up against another car.  If you can afford, just get one and enjoy it.  At 40K, it isn't the worst financial decision you can make.  The constant software updates, autopilot are all big pluses that it's hard to put a dollar value in.  My Tesla is over 6 figures, I hate paying for it but I do enjoy driving it a lot more than my other cars.  

My 6 years old son knows electric cars pollute less than a gas car, I can't believe full grown adults can't believe that.  Sad. 

I would not buy a used Model 3, the difference isn't big enough to justify the risk.  Also these cars are expensive to fix, be careful.