Money Or Happiness?

Um… those sounded more like chords than anything you can derive happiness from… :nauseated_face:

I suppose FI but certainly not RE. It takes a lot of work to manage rentals and remodel properties … and you are a much more seasoned pro than I. :slight_smile:

This past weekend, I had to a) dispose of a deceased pigeon, b) power wash a flight of stairs that was bombed by tons of pigeon poop, c) install pigeon netting, d) meet a tenant f2f to allow for payment — they got burned by their bank b/c the bill pay didn’t show up on the 1st.

The previous week I was hanging sheetrock and mudding.

FWIW, I’m looking at classes to sign up for at City College for the spring semester now. Its all free for residents of SF. I’m really looking forward to taking classes for no other reason than for personal enrichment.

What classes are you planning to take?

Um… I think you are just trying to find work to fill up your free time. My brother has tons of rentals but already went back to China for almost a year. Nobody ever called him to clean up pigeon poop…

You are the pro. I have to hire people to do all repairs except some light painting or simple cleaning. Sometimes I think it would be better if I can handle some simple repairs since calling poeple takes more time than completing the work itself

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Does he have a property manager to handle all the maintenance and management? I think it’s easier to manage South Bay since South Bay tenants are at higher social economic standard.

Probably Business Law, Prop Mgmt, Welding, and Interior Design.

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Ah, maybe @Elt1 is the big pro then - maybe I have you and he confused? Anyways, I like to do much (if not all) of the work myself, and I also like to be proactive and keep the properties in tip top condition. The more frequently I’m on site, the more “plugged in” I am with what’s going on.

For instance, in anticipation of the rainy season, I just dropped off complimentary packages of ant bait for all my tenants.

As well, I find that the more engaged I am with the property’s well being and my tenants’ well being, the better relationship that I have with them — and that ultimately makes everyone’s life easier and less stressful. I do make it a point, though, to target my rentals to those who are in the top 5% of wage earners.

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Actually that sounded like more stress and made life harder for yourself… compared to my brother who could care less and went back to China.

Aalj replaced a W2 job with a handyman job. I would rather go back to a W2 :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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I know right? And my boss, the owner of the properties, is a cheapskate - he doesn’t pay me the handyman a single red cent! :rofl::rofl:

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He did. The cost of letting a handyman to do it is your pay.

Absolutely… I save money every time I go change the tenant’s toilet seat cover… :rofl:

What does your tenant do to destroy the toilet seat? Toilet seat can rarely break

Their butt is too heavy.

Working with one’s hands I think is a super important life skill that is underated in modern American society.

There is another thread here — “Johnny cannot swing a hammer” … I think the separation of the knowledge-economy class vs. working class has really led to the bifurcation of society today and the resultant toxic political polarization. I am doubly surprised by this b/c the States has a strong DIY culture. I can understand other societies, like China or India for example, where an oversupply of people (labor) leads to lack of DIY skills, but I digress…

I find doing a lot of maintenance work puts me in a position to understand how things are constructed … and then I can make better decisions when remodelling properties as I better understand what is involved.

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Do your kids like kiwico kits?

She loves them. So far she’s made a vacuum cleaner (got the see how the beater bar brush mechanism works), LED powered hand crank flashlight with a huge capacitor, and catapult system, etc. Every time she gets one she tears it open and immediately starts constructing it. I’ll PM you a link where you can save $10 if you go for it.

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Which line is she on?

You do realize that all that RE is potentially gonna be sold once your ride is over, right? Are you gonna insist that your kids maintain all that you built or frankly don’t care? Our mom obviously want our family building to stay in the Dragon name as long as possible but there are no guarantees unless my Big Bro literally legislates it in his will or trust. His boy will carry the torch. Will he?