Which % of saving would you spend for your cat

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by riki

I agree with diversification, but depends on what you are investing. Can you remember if anybody ever went broke owning (owning, not having a property got borrowing money), i can't recall and even if up and downs happen if you own your property i can't imagine a loss in the long term. Around 8 years ago i was close to invest in Miami, bottom real estate market, i didn't.....look at it now....

Yep, a friend who did a similar move (not moving onto the boat though).

Had 3 rental houses and decided to quit and become a realestate mogul. At roughly the same time two of the houses were trashed by renters and they stopped paying the rent.
- Took around 6 months to evict them with significant legal expenses in the thousands.
- Around $30k in repairs before he could rent them out again.
- Property tax and other baseline costs still ongoing during the year this process took.

He nearly lost his own house trying to recover. Only thing that saved him was his wife was still working.

[a64pilot]

I rented my house when I was stationed in Germany, first two renters were very good, treated it as if it was theirs.
Last one trashed it, and I mean serious irrevocable damage trashed, as in had to replace HVAC system all kitchen cabinets, every wall in the house and most doors had damage trashed.
After Retirement we lived in our 5th wheel for at least a year fixing up the house. I was on a first name basis with most that worked at Lowe’s.
I didn’t keep up with costs, but it was over $100K.

This time I sold the house and farm, I won’t go through that fiasco again.

[doninreno]

I'd say that is actually not enough info upon which to make a financial/life decision....BUT, Me...if there is more than one rental property AND it is (or they are) paid off....so that the 4 grand you mention is not just positive cash flow after paying mortgages and you have A property that is paid for that you can sell without "totally wrecking" your monthly positive cash flow (income!!), I'd sell one in order to pay cash for a boat, lose the landlord headaches and NOT have to deal with lying, cheating renters or stupid renter "protection" laws! I'd then sail off into the sunset and enjoy a nearly headache free lifestyle!! YEEHAW!!!

One quick note, though...If you are NOT an experienced long term boater, rent or lease a boat and go "on the road" for long enough to see if you'll like that lifestyle before committing to it nearly irreversibly. I know folks that have sold or given away nearly everything to buy either a motor home or a boat and go "on the road". AND THEN---after about a month of that, they were thinking "WHAT IN THE HELL have we done to ourselves?" Some folks find that, upon retirement, they can NOT give up all the fun toys that most of them have accumulated by retirement age (ME!!!) and just can't live happily without them!

[riki]

Originally Posted by doninreno

I'd say that is actually not enough info upon which to make a financial/life decision....BUT, Me...if there is more than one rental property AND it is (or they are) paid off....so that the 4 grand you mention is not just positive cash flow after paying mortgages and you have A property that is paid for that you can sell without "totally wrecking" your monthly positive cash flow (income!!), I'd sell one in order to pay cash for a boat, lose the landlord headaches and NOT have to deal with lying, cheating renters or stupid renter "protection" laws! I'd then sail off into the sunset and enjoy a nearly headache free lifestyle!! YEEHAW!!!

One quick note, though...If you are NOT an experienced long term boater, rent or lease a boat and go "on the road" for long enough to see if you'll like that lifestyle before committing to it nearly irreversibly. I know folks that have sold or given away nearly everything to buy either a motor home or a boat and go "on the road". AND THEN---after about a month of that, they were thinking "WHAT IN THE HELL have we done to ourselves?" Some folks find that, upon retirement, they can NOT give up all the fun toys that most of them have accumulated by retirement age (ME!!!) and just can't live happily without them!

I can buy my boat cash without need to sell any property, and in any case i wouldn't sell an apartment trading it for a boat.