[ognend]

When I was teaching in public schools, I purchased small family houses that needed fixing up. Did as much of the work myself as possible. I rent them out, and on the whole, I have had great long term renters.

I don't have to teach anymore.

How were you absorbing two mortgages (one for the place you lived in and the second one for the fixer upper) and all the repair costs on a teacher's salary?

 

[ognend]

Answer to the question above about buying houses on a teacher salary. We were a two income family. However, we are quite frugal.

I didn't have a mortgage on my home. I bought small homes at depressed prices for cash.

For example: a small home on 1/3 acre for $10,000. Did repairs myself. Rented it out. Saved for next purchase.

Purchased a small three bedroom house that couldn't be sold to anyone else. Not enough land for a new septic system after the laws changed. We owned the contiguous acteage. Only paid $25,000. Did clean up and repairs myself. Rented out for years to nice dependable family. Saved for next house.

I am not knocking your story but there are a few points that should be noted in it:

1. You were a two income household and there is no information on the second income. Was it another teacher or was it a CEO? We don't know.
2. Your own home had no mortgage. Was it paid off? Was it inherited? If it was paid off, how did you do it? How fast? So on and so on.

My point is that you can find these stories all over the net. The problem is, nobody gives you full disclosure into their finances. So, the story is incomplete

 

[ognend]

There is a more accurate way than "full disclosure of finances" The following is what the schools in this nation do not teach their students.

Nah, I think the best way is full disclosure of these things.

For example, my wife and I bought a mobile home foreclosure on 5 acres in the famed TX hill country. We borrowed money to pay for it (put down 3%). I am an educated professional and so is she. We both worked full time, lived in this home and renovated it for 3 years while we lived in it. When we bought the place it was grazed down to nothing, lots of damage to the land and home. We put in a horse shelter, hay storage barn, riding ring, fencing and cross fencing, organic gardens, rehabilitated the land, you couldn't tell the home was a mobile by the time we were done. Did everything ourselves with the exclusion of doing the dozer work on the arena. At the end we sold for a very handsome profit because the place was near a city that was exploding in newcomers who were also educated professionals and were looking for a "green" lifestyle in the Hill country. On this home we made money. At the time we also had a home in Florida (with a mortgage) we were renting out - it was our original/first home we bought in 2007 right before the market crash. We had rented out this home after we left Florida for a rent that was lower than the mortgage. It took 10 years for the price to come back up to the place we could sell it AFTER extensive renovations. We lost money on this one but less than what we had made on the rehabilitated mobile home. Net, we came out positive, debt free and now have the choice to live anywhere we want in the country, provided we can find high speed internet (I have the ability/liberty to work from home). We never inherited anything here, we have no family in United States that has anything of significance to leave/give us.

There you go, full disclosure without mentioning numbers.

The teacher story did not go that transparently. First it looked like it was only the teacher doing the paying and the work, which immediately raises doubts, made it sound she did everything herself on a teacher's salary. Then it was teacher and another income..... THAT makes a world of difference. We now know they started this process of buying/rehabbing homes with a paid off mortgage on their first home. We still don't know how they paid the mortgage off to begin with or if they inherited the home. Makes a BIG difference as not everyone can inherit something of value.

 

[ognend]

I've seen a lot of college degree snobbery in this thread. I find it interesting how much some people value a degree over skills. I find it interesting how much value some people think people adds.

It is quite the opposite with the college degrees. There are plenty of them around but they are not worth the toilet paper they are printed on. Why? 'Cause degrees in USA have monetary value and they are a money making machine for the education industry (industry, really?). When I say "educated professional" I actually mean EDUCATED PROFESSIONAL in both senses of the combined words

 

[ognend]

To the person who asked for full disclosure, here is 40 years of following my plan.

PINCH PENNIES.

Work.

Pay off homestead ASAP.

Don't buy fancy cars every two years.

Buy low, sell a bit higher. Or buy low, pay cash or pay off ASAP, do the work yourself, and rent it out. Use income for next purchase.

Repeat.

Not rocket science, and I'm not posting my tax return or providing other personal info here. If I could figure out those basics, you can, too.

If you can't figure it out, I would recommend Dave Ramsey's book and classes.

By the way, I have 40 acres and a house for sale in southern Missouri. I will make a modest profit. Asking price is $119,500. Prices are low there.

Meh, generic advice. Again, no disclosure. I have read a bunch of these books and articles. Usually the ones with fat bank accounts write them when they "go off grid"... Not saying you are one of them, don't take it personally

 

[ognend]

Inexpensive land is available, but you have to go where the inexpensive land is. If, for example, you live in Virginia and aren't willing to leave Virginia then you'll have to find a way to afford Virginia land. But there could be land with the attributes you require in other states for only a few hundred per acre.

I'm currently looking for affordable wooded mountain property to retire on. I know that I'll need to leave the area where I currently live, but that's ok. I"m looking for properties mainly in Colorado & New Mexico. But I have to be flexible. I know that there is no way I can raise a million dollars to buy a place in Vail, Aspen, Telluride, or Breckenridge. That's just not realistic (for me anyway). But that doesn't mean I can't buy a terrific mountain property. I just need to remain flexible and look for more affordable property.

Been there done that. I agree on the Virginia comments. But, you actually are confirming my point from another thread - it is not the land of equal opportunity. Why? 'Cause good land is already owned and if YOU want to own it, better find a way to become rich...It is a finite resource...

You can live in any state you want if you have skills that are in demand and will be in demand in the next 20+ years. So long as you have internet, that is...

There are many considerations when looking at land, price is only one of them. Can you get water, internet, access, install septic. Can you grow food? Are you in a fire prone zone? Drought prone? Hurricane/flooding prone? So on and so on...

 

[ognend]

I live in the breadbasket of the nation and my land is *VERY* good, in every aspect. Also it was not expensive. But, to buy land like mine, for the price I paid, you WOULD have to move.

Yeah but that would be moving JUST for the land, no? For most people the equation is cost, climate, work, amenities, doctors, schools, commute, landscape, views, LAND, so on and so on.

 

[ognend]

I am not going off the grid. I like modern conveniences.

I am, however, building a SIPs house that will require very little heating or cooling. Think of it as a YETI house. Years of saving on electric bills are in my future. More money in my pocket.

Really, you don't need full disclosure of anyone's journey. As mentioned above, Dave Ramsey has it laid out in his book and classes. Don't borrow money for anything other than your primary residence. Don't accumulate any credit card debt. Save money. Have goals and a plan. Build a large nest egg. Spend less money than you make.

We had done all of these before he wrote the book. It a lifestyle choice.

That's it.

We have done all of those. Earn more than you spend, pay off the credit card at the end of the month, don't buy a new car off the show floor etc. etc. etc. All good advice. However, for us the break came when we bought a foreclosure, renovated it and sold it for a big profit. That made a huge difference. For a lot of people that is the difference between accumulating crumbs and actually having choices early in life and having choices when they are 65...

Full disclosure lends credibility to the person writing the book or giving advice. People quote Joel Salatin all the time but did he really buy that farm at market price? Did he pay rent to his parents while living on their farm and earning in town? All things that make a HUGE difference in the starting point. If the former were true (that he bought his parent's farm for next to nothing and lived prior to that on it for nothing), 80% of the people would not even bother reading the book? Why? 'Cause how many of us have a situation like that?

Or, what about prices of land in his area adjusted for inflation? 40 years ago land may have been cheap there compared to local income. Now it is like gold. Someone moving to the area today could not afford more than 3 acres. Joel has 550 - it would take a multi-millionaire to come in and buy what he has, just to run a few cows...

 

[ognend]

They must not have included a course in Irony 101 at your educational institution......

What makes you say that? I never claimed anywhere that you should get a degree from any institution at any price. In fact, if you remember, I said college is for learning, not for delivering pizza while you are getting the piece of paper. To each their own...

 

[ognend]

@Terri and Yvonne's hubby:

I did not mean to say these things are impossible. I suppose I was writing in the context of the "other" thread we had going about equal opportunity. I suppose I was also writing in the context of addressing all the people who use books written by folks such as Joel Salatin, who started a whole movement based on non-disclosure. That is what kind of irritates me a bit, that people would take advice from someone who is not willing to disclose fully how they made a go of it.

I like the book by Jean Martin Fortier called "The Market Gardener". It is one of the rare books that describes the whole process and if I remember correctly, it does say freely that they spent winters living in a tipi in Quebec!! Yikes...

That I can believe and it does relate to your average Joe Shmoe. What irritates me is when some sad soul who works in a cubicle and yearns for a better life in the country, gets their ideas of making a go from books where the author was a high-level corporate shrill for 20 years in some big city and then they decided to go farm - they will never admit to that in the book, though, making it sound as if everyone has an equal starting point...