Monkey Bars Not Included
Well, given where the previous post's comment thread is heading I think it is "high" time for a new post. This Mill Valley "tree house" doesn't quite meet all of the "requirements" for the PoS designation, but it's pretty close. Break out the moonshine, grab your cute cousin, and check out these fragments from the realtor's write-up: "mountain home", "this home needs tlc but could be transformed", "currently functioning as 2 non-conforming units". No "life style" upgrades and it costs just a pittance (by Marin standards) -- just three-quarters of a million dollars.
posted by Marinite at 12/28/2005 11:32:00 AM
12 Comments:
mogger -
Austraila is different from the US because A is a commodity driven country and it is benefitting from the commodity boom lately. Also, it is a lot closer to China so Chinese like to buy properties there. A does not have huge deficit like the US. Overall speaking A could weather the RE slowdown better than the US.
I agree with you that it is wise to take advantage of the RE boom time. Cash out and live a smiple lifestyle.
And this tree house will cost about $20 million (correct me if I'm wrong), principal and interest payment combined after 30 year's mortgage is paid off. Will this house be there after 30 years?
As a former Sydney resident during the beginning of their boom (1999-2001), I agree with mogger that there is a difference in the culture and attitude towards RE between here and Oz.
1. Aussies are much bigger risk takers and more ambitious and better-educated than Americans. If Australia were not hampered by its ridiculous tax system, I am convinced their per capita income would be higher than ours.
2. Aussies consider property ownership a birthright and the idea of owning investment property is considered quite normal. Plenty of people consider residential investment real estate a component of their retirement plans, like their superannuation (401k). Here, it seems very few people actually look at real estate as part of a diversified investment portfolio.
Also, just to set the record straight, Australia has a huge trade deficit, mainly with China (surprise, surprise), although their government runs a budget surplus.
My plan is to retire at 40, sell my 3 Marin properties, convert the proceeds to A$ (a 30% boost), buy a place for around A$300k on the beach in Queensland, throw the rest in the bank and call it good.* There is so much cheap coastal RE in Australia -- I am surprised it isn't more expensive.
Beats the crap out of retiring to Arizona, eh?
*I am kidding. My wife would kill me if we moved across the Pacific yet again and had to fly 13 hours back to the US to see her parents. But I can dream...
My plan is to retire at 40, sell my 3 Marin properties, convert the proceeds to A$ (a 30% boost), buy a place for around A$300k on the beach in Queensland, throw the rest in the bank and call it good. - rejunkie
Yippee. Even rejunkie is planning to cash out his RE holdings in Marin and move to somewhere cheaper in Australia. Does this mean rejunkie sense the Marin RE price has peaked?
Thank goodness there are a lot of people who want to live in places like Marin!
What that means is prices for the type of property where I like to live are affordable for me.
5-10 acres with a small house (not a trailer), close enough to a Big City for great shopping; quiet seclusion, hunting, fishing, growing organic food, livestock if you want it, crime rate lower than Marin's -
one-tenth the price.
The richest people of this country do not live in Marin either because they could tell value from illusion. They rather spend money on big parcels for seclusion and privacy with reasonable price. This is how they get rich. Right now, Warren Buffett is downsizing his real estate holding and it probably means something.
Yippee. Even rejunkie is planning to cash out his RE holdings in Marin and move to somewhere cheaper in Australia. Does this mean rejunkie sense the Marin RE price has peaked?
Um, that was a joke. The little asterisk thingey sort of said as much. Believe me, I ain't selling.
fredtobik, I have just one thing to say: "Amen brother".
The richest people of this country do not live in Marin either because they could tell value from illusion. They rather spend money on big parcels for seclusion and privacy with reasonable price. This is how they get rich. Right now, Warren Buffett is downsizing his real estate holding and it probably means something. - anonymous
Andre Agassi, George Lucas, Sean Penn, Robin Williams, Yahoo! founders, numerous CEO's. All foolish idiots who have ruined themselves financially by owning Marin real estate.
Andre Agassi, George Lucas, Sean Penn, Robin Williams, Yahoo! founders, numerous CEO's. All foolish idiots who have ruined themselves financially by owning Marin real estate.
No one said they are foolish idiots and have ruined themselves financially by owning Marin real estate. It is fine that they chose to live here. Other very rich people rather live somewhere else. Not every one has a passion for Marin.
Besides, Andre Agassi's mansion in Marin has been on the market for at least 2 years. Two Russian oil men have been trying to sell their multi-million houses for quite some time.
rejunkie, where in Queensland would you move? Near Byron or Sunshine coast?
I see the big change these days being moreso that everyone wants the best house in the best street right now!, why is it people think that they deserve everything?, and easily?
Yes, we are at the era of "entitlement". It is never enough, bigger cars, bigger TV screens, and bigger houses. It takes a clear head to know that the real virtue in life is to have a modest lifestyle and be happy with what you have got.
I am not sure that there really is much of a difference in attitudes between your average mariner and your average sydneysider and for that matter the average auckland resident.
The reason that Marin (and Santa Barbara and San Diego) real estate is higher priced than elsewhere in the US is that people of middling means (teachers, bartenders, hairdressers) feel that they must own a home in marin. Call it a birthrite attitude. These are the marginal buyers that have pushed up the starter and POS homes in the area that we all poke fun at. In Sydney, you get the same crowd of police and nurses making $40k aus crowding into the market and pushing up the bottom while the rest of the market trades up. Human psychology is the same.
Financially, on a per capital basis, the residents of Aus are not even close to as well off as the mariners. Their debt per gross income is higher and those that have mortgages carry mortgages that are a huge ratio of their after tax income.
I doubt that sydney residents are more risk taking than mariners. One difference may be that many are expat workers from an early age and manage to bring a lot of cash back into the country that finds its way into real estate.
Better educated? Give me a break.
Highly flawed tax system that is for sure.
For my money, the gold cost looks a lot like the Vegas strip without the neon. Tacky. If that is your version of paradise, you can have that surfers paradise.
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