A new game... Post pics from your cel phone V.1.0

[ve9aa]

If I lived 10 lifetimes, I'd never have that kind of money.

[MiniDave]

Why? Are they looking for thieves? How would they even get in there? Posing as construction or maintenance workers?

I agree, it's hard to understand this kind of wealth being so common there......

[94touring]

My guess is the wealthy in there wanted the over the top security.  I have 24/7 security where I live, but they're basically idiots who wouldn't know what to do in any real confrontation.  Years ago I took it upon myself to drag a meth head out of the elevator, who I watched jump the property fence, while the security guard didn't know what to do.

Manila had security guards all over local businesses and malls, and packed with shotguns.  The areas were very nice and I never felt like there would be an issue with crime. I visited a not so nice area and definitely knew getting pick pocketed was a high probability.

[Jims5543]

Some of the people in this place most likely have their own security.

Dave, the people in this community are targets.

I remember reading a post somewhere years ago that was created by a cyber security guy. He was commenting on the problems that arise when you start getting near billionaire levels. People like us do not understand it, I had no clue.

Things get very complex when you are that wealthy. You have to add security levels to your home, finances, family that us plebes never think about.

Examples that guy gave were many.  Body guard for your kids, due to higher kidnapping risks.  More levels of cyber security for obvious reasons. Then you need people to keep all the scammers from approaching you, a management level of sorts that keeps the general public away from you.

I remember reading that Michael Dells kids were a security nightmare because they were constantly posting up where they were on Instagram, Dell had to forbid them from doing that as it increased the risk of kidnapping.

Many years ago, one of my customers was a victim of a home invasion. He is a very successful local realtor who has a large office and lots of agents. It was no secret he was very wealthy. He lived in a regular neighborhood with no gates and no security. Until this happened:

Here is a news article about it.
https://archive.tcpalm.com/news/suspects-in-armed-home-invasion-robbery-of-real-estate-broker-patrick-stracuzzi-face-combined-40-fel-346390272.html/

He sold that house right after that and moved into a gated community.

[94touring]

When I spent a lot of time in Mexico the wealthy had the same issues.   Needed personal security because they'd have family kidnapped for ransom.

[Brit_in_TX]

Looking up that owner from the appraisal link you posted, they are linked to the family of this guy. Family wealth is valued at over a billion dollars. So $200K a year is probably pocket change to them.

My mother lives near a village in the UK where older houses are frequently purchased and demo'd to make way for modern home with all the modern requirements the mega rich have and these are not small homes to start with.

We have a community in San Antonio which has similar high end security, ex-military and off duty police officers are what guard that community.  Namely as most of the San Antonio Spurs live there, George Strait has a house there and a number of other senior business executives.

The company I work for spends over $1 million a year on security for the CEO and their family. This has increased after the CEO of United Healthcare was murdered outside a hotel in New York.

[Jims5543]

Yup!! This is a level of wealth that is just beyond comprehension.

I posted a house a couple pages back that belonged to the McCormick Spice family, I remember the GC on that job pondering out loud why they were trying to remodel the house (budget was over 1 million) and not knocking it down.

I think it is sad they just bulldoze them with no regard for history, I imagine in the UK some of the houses they were knocking down were built over 100 years ago and closer to 200 years ago and beyond. Tearing that down is heartbreaking.

[Dan Moffet]

By comparison, it is so nice to be middle income (Canadian) and not have to worry about paying someone for security services, HOA guards, fees and their made-up rules. Here, the City has a police service (all the security we need) and an assortment of bylaws including zoning and property standards - all just a phone call away. Property taxes for us are $4918.00 CANADIAN !

[94touring]

More on the messy tenant.  I discovered the all in 1 washer dryer combo isn't drying. Sorta dries, dumps some additional water in there, then spins on 1 minute forever "cooling down". After much research discovered a possible cause is the cold water valve unit. All in 1 units need cold water to condensate to do the drying.  Somehow it triggers the system to dump water in with a faulty sensor.  I figured out how to take it apart and sure enough the water valve and the sensor that would operate during drying is discolored on top and has a crack.  To troubleshoot I dried clothes with the cold water turned off and voila it doesn't dump additional water in when it shouldn't.  New part ordered. 

[ADRay]

1999 Rover Mini from the Netherlands, as seen at Larz Anderson Auto Museum's British car day 6.22.25, Brookline, MA. The owner has only had it since last Wednesday.

[Jims5543]

By comparison, it is so nice to be middle income (Canadian) and not have to worry about paying someone for security services, HOA guards, fees and their made-up rules. Here, the City has a police service (all the security we need) and an assortment of bylaws including zoning and property standards - all just a phone call away. Property taxes for us are $4918.00 CANADIAN !

Golden Handcuffs, sort of, keeps me planted right where I am.  I remember about 15 years ago, I read a quote from James Woods that stuck with me, "Exactly 4 people in this world give a shit about the house you live in, do not buy to impress people, buy for you to be happy."

We purchased our house in 1997. We had it paid off by 2003. In 2004 we refinanced it and used the money from it to purchase a vacation house in Western NC 40 minutes from the Tail of the Dragon (Sylva is the town).

Sadly, in early 2008 we sold that house in a panic because we could see the housing crash coming. We were circling our wagons in preparation of a huge crash. Since my business depends on a decent economy I was bracing for impact. I sold my 1980 Porsche 911 hotrod too.

I then sat on the cash from the sale to help my business survive the great recession. I thought it would last 2-3 years, I was caught off guard by the 6 year span it lasted, I burned through a lot of the money from the sale of that house trying to keep my company open. I also went without a paycheck for over 2 years.

In 2021 we paid the house off again for the second time. Property taxes on it are half what you pay, around $2500 a year. We self insure because insurance here is insane, like 6-8K a year for full insurance due to Hurricanes.  The last one that hit us directly was 20 years ago.

We stay here because the house is so cheap to keep and we love the area it is in, we love our small little coastal town.

I am quietly looking for another home in WNC as close as I can get to the Dragon, one, because I love the area and 2 because I have a business idea, I hope to have that up and running in the next 2 years. I need to be in that area for the idea to work.


I just got a notification from zillow this house is for sale. In 1997 we looked at this house to buy for 100K. We passed on it because we thought the front yard pool was weird.  We ended up in the house we have now because it had a pool in the back yard and the street we are on is quiet whereas that house is on a busy road.

It has been totally remodeled now, and now it is selling for 1 Million.  which is mind blowing to me, In 2010 you could buy this house for 115K. Granted, they remodeled the entire home, added that outdoor kitchen to the pool deck and put a wall around the pool, when we looked there was a metal fence with bushes around the pool.

*edit* Was talking to the wife last night about this house, she pointed out it looked like a different house. Well, I did some digging last night and indeed in it is! It is a brand new home, they bulldozed the old house and built this one, hence the insane price jump. Although, looking around most every house in that area is on the market for close to 1 Mil, in the 90's you could buy houses all day long in there for 125-150K.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1269-NW-Fork-Rd-Stuart-FL-34994/45670486_zpid/

https://www.pa.martin.fl.us/app/search/view/7538

[Jims5543]

1999 Rover Mini from the Netherlands, as seen at Larz Anderson Auto Museum's British car day 6.22.25, Brookline, MA. The owner has only had it since last Wednesday.

Straight to a car show!!  Gotta love petrol heads!!

Good looking car and I like the color. LOL!

[94touring]

I was only home a few days after my Philippines trip before having to head back to work.  There was a storm that hit the town where my shop is, specifically my street.  Several trees down and or large portions of trees.  I had a huge tree portion fall behind my shop and up against it but no real damage.  A guy a few houses down got smashed bad and will end up with a new roof plus new walls looks like to me.

In other news the washer cold water pump arrived and I have a properly drying unit again.

[Jims5543]

That is amazing you were able to trouble shoot the washer/dryer.  How much was the replacement part?

[94touring]

That is amazing you were able to trouble shoot the washer/dryer.  How much was the replacement part?

If it wasn't for Google I'd have forked out $1300 for a new all in 1 unit.  I read a couple people explain how the cold water is needed to condense air in the dry cycle. This particular unit had the same symptoms another guy posted which it would hang at 1 minute "cooling" forever and then the brains of the unit would toss some cold water inside on the clothes and then turn off like it was done.  The cold water valve has a few sensors that inject cold water at different times and through different ports.  The port that does the condensing had the crack at the sensor.  One way to troubleshoot was turn off the cold water completely and see if it dried well enough without tossing water on the clothes.  Once that verified it worked, I tore the washer apart and found the valves and sensors, saw the Crack, and ordered a new part, which cost $70 after shipping.

[Jims5543]

You remind me of my BIL and his older brother, they can figure anything out.

The older bother and I were just in touch, he is a handyman, he is coming over to my house in a couple of weeks to installed 2 Mini Splits on my house for me. One in my garage (woo!!) and one in my master bedroom.

My AC in my house is laid out all wrong and it will cost way to much to fix, my air handler is on the other end of the house from the bedroom. As a result that bedroom is always 5 degrees warmer than the rest of the house.

It does not bother us during the day, at night its just too warm in that room. Our plan is to put in the 12K BTU mini split and use it at night to keep the room cooler to sleep.

Since the mortgage is paid off we have been spending a lot of money on the house trying to fix anything that bothers us about it.

[MiniDave]

You will LOVE having the A/C in the shop, I couldn't work without mine on hot summer days, plus keeping the humidity out of the garage saves your tools and such from rusting.

We put a window A/C unit right over the bed, that way we can let the house temp warm up a bit and not run the main house A/C all night and we sleep cool. Plus, my wife is a night person - she comes to bed around 4 am and sleeps till noon or later, so it gives her some "white noise" to let her sleep.

[Dan Moffet]

Property taxes on it are half what you pay, around $2500 a year.

I suspect the main difference is that city snow removal in your area is much less than it is here. That and energy costs to heat municipal buildings, fuel vehicles etc.

[94touring]

My tax bill for the year was $2900 for 3 properties 

[Jims5543]

Property taxes on it are half what you pay, around $2500 a year.

I suspect the main difference is that city snow removal in your area is much less than it is here. That and energy costs to heat municipal buildings, fuel vehicles etc.

What is this snow thing you speak of?   

I think the biggest factor is I am in the same house since 1997. Hence the golden handcuffs. I am not paying 10K+ a year in property taxes. Someone pointed out, you never really own your home and the land under it, you are leasing it from the Govt.

My tax bill for the year was $2900 for 3 properties 

The way it should be. TBH

I have been looking at houses in WNC and was happy to see property taxes there are very low, like $400 a year for a 300K home.

[Brit_in_TX]

My tax bill for the year was $2900 for 3 properties 

Wow - definitely not like that in Texas. 

I have a ~$300K house I rent out, the property taxes on that are over $6K.  Property taxes on my main house are probably going to be around $13K this year. But we don't have a state income tax! The government still wants their cut they just do it a different way.

[94touring]

Now granted Oklahoma roads are really bad lol.  Plus none of my places are very big.

[Brit_in_TX]

The older bother and I were just in touch, he is a handyman, he is coming over to my house in a couple of weeks to installed 2 Mini Splits on my house for me. One in my garage (woo!!) and one in my master bedroom.

When I built my house, I had a mini split put in the garage.  It is amazing, especially living in central texas.  The garage at my old house was like an oven and it would be around 20 degrees higher than the temperature outside in the summer, so even small task was like a sauna based workout.

Now the garage is big enough that I have my truck, the wife's van and the two minis in there and it keep it around 76 degrees.  Which is great for getting in a car here in the middle of the summer that it is already cool and the AC is not fighting to cool the car.

[BruceK]

Michael and I saw this Ram truck at a car show this morning.  I guess basic black and white never goes out of style and you can "theme" it too!

[94touring]

If anyone wondered what the southern area of Greenland looks like.