The house deal sounds good. I suggest we buy it.
It's a TRAP!
to go for the second house or not to go for it?
I'm sitting on the metaphorical fence.
Getting over our heads without a steady source of income is a bad idea.
Morning, January 13, 2013You debate with yourself at great length whether to buy the house. Eventually you call up your property manager.
Michael, your property manager, now has a name and an avatarYou: "Hey, Michael...about that house..."
Micheal: "Hi, Bob. Glad you called. Do you want to go ahead?"
You: "...I think I'm going to have to pass on this one. I appreciate that you're looking for properties for me, and I'm totally in the market for good deals...but I'm just not feeling this one."
Micheal: "That's no problem. Not every deal is for everybody. Can you give me a better idea of what exactly you're looking for so I can be sure to only run things by you that you'd be willing to consider?"
You: "Well, the real problem is just the amount of money involved and the loan. I'm just not comfortable taking on that kind of debt. I'm not sure I'd even be approved for it anyway. I understand the deal makes sense on paper, but I'm just not interested in taking on that kind of risk right now."
Micheal: "So...less expensive properties, then?"
You: "Yeah. That could work. Like the house you're managing for me now. I bought that outright for cash. No loans, and if anything goes bad, I have nothing to lose beyond my investment. I think I'm comfortable with that. But carrying a hundred thousand dollar loan for
decades...that's just too much right now. Maybe someday, but not right now."
Micheal: "I understand. That will exclude you from a lot of possible deals, but I can keep you in mind if anything smaller comes up. Properties of that sort are rare, but they do come up every now and then. I'll let you know the next time I see one."
You: "Great. Thanks."
Find out stans last name,then search local police and jail websites for anybody with his last name and him as family.
You call up Gilbert.
Gilbert: "Hey, Bob. What's up? Find another swapmeet you want to go to?"
You: "No, I was just wondering about Stan. What's his last name?"
Gilbert: "Clark. Why?"
You: "Oh, no reason. I was just going to do a google search to try to find out more about him."
Gilbert: "Oh. I think he has a facebook account. Hang on...I've got it somewhere...yeah. Here you go."
Gilbert gives you Stan's facebook name and you look him up. You find a bunch of pictures showing a broad cross section of activities. A picture of him drinking from a beer bong at a party...a picture of him at that same party passed out on the couch with penises drawn on his face...a few pictures of him walking a labrador retriever...a few formal pictures in a tux at somebody's wedding...a couple pictures of, oh...this is interesting: there's a picture of him with Clara. He's wearing an australian duster, cowboy boots and a fedora and she's dressed up in full-on goth-girl mode. They're standing back to back in front of an old style payphone booth with their arms crossed. The post is dated two years ago, so apparently they've known each other for a while.
Interesting. But not exactly incriminating.
You do a few google searches for his name, but unfortunately there are about a dozen Stan Clark's. An attorney, a restaurant chain owner, a composer...nothing that looks like your Stan.
While you're searching you hear your mother walk into the room. You quickly open up a new browser tab so she won't be able to see what's on your screen. It would be harmless enough for her to know you're looking at a friend's facebook page...but you decide to be discrete about it anyway. Along that line, it occurs to you that it might be a good idea to get a computer for your room rather than using the one shared by the entire family. While you consider this your mother mentions that she had a talk with your father last night. She's happy to have you staying at home, but apparently your father mentioned that he thought since you won the lottery...and they're paying for you to attend school...maybe you could be pitching in and at least paying a little rent. She explains that she told him that you're wisely investing the money in funds and things rather than blowing it all partying, and that she really believes you're doing the right thing. After all, it would be silly to have such an opportunity, and graduate penniless. So the conversation was left unresolved. Nothing has been decided yet, but she wants you to know that it was discussed.
Current statusWhat do you do?