Welcome to Chez Cliff!

This has become an annoyance.

The pilot light in the back tenants house refuses to stay lit.  Sure, it will stay lit during the day but once it gets cold the heater shuts off: when it’s needed the most.

The gas company man nearly burned his hair off because of the intensity of the flame.

"Yeah," he stated, picking his singed toupee off the floor, "That’s not going out."

The next morning, the heater was as cold as ice.

"I replaced the thermocouple," the wannabe Larry Carlton repair man said.  "This groovy heater is not going to go out."

The next morning, the heater was as cold as ice.

ugh

To be honest, having problems to be fixed doesn’t bother me.  It’s the driving, sitting and waiting that becomes annoying.  In addition, the tenant is facing these cold nights without a heater.  This flies against one of my theorem’s of real estate:  "A happy tenant is a paying tenant."

My schedule has been a bit hectic as of late.  I don’t have a post ready for today.

My next post will go out tomorrow.

"Shocking" is one word to be used to describe the large amount of money that has flowed from my wallet these past two weeks.

Moving, no matter how cheaply done, still requires a lot of money.

Buying the bed, sheets and comforter was a small investment.  I admit I could have chosen a cheaper air-bed but concern for my back came to mind.  But that’s not where the financial hole could be found.

Glancing over my finances, I see that my biggest expense has been food.  Eating lunch and dinner daily has cost between $20 and $30 per day.  I did curb that expense last Thursday, buying all the delectable goodies for making lunch.  Now the time has come to curb the dinner expense as well.

Fortunately, I was able to save most of the meat from the botched purchase.  Thanks to my "non-cooking" friend for having an empty freezer.  All I really need now is vegetables and another "financial hole" will be plugged.

An expense I see encroaching upon me will be to replace my Dell POS.  My laptop model was not covered in the recent lawsuit with Dell and was not eligible to be "fixed".  By "fixed", I’m referring to replacing the molten lava which doubles as a battery. 

I’ve thought about trying to fry eggs on my laptop, video recording the experience.

My laptop melted down over a year ago, requiring the replacement of the hard drive and RAM.  This is a common problem with the 5100 series of Dell laptops.  What has scared me is seeing the exact same "Blue Screen of Death" within the last month.  The last time I saw this screen was before my laptop set my carpet on fire.

I hate Dell.

For this blog and my life in general, the primary goal is to increase the quality of my life.  Penny pinching beliefs such as the Latte Factor mean nothing to me.  Nor is dipping my finger in coin return slots a viable source of extra income. 

A nice hybrid between the "quality of life" argument and "reducing expenses" must exist.

Thus Frequent Flyer Miles.

It’s no secret my preferred airlines is American Airlines.  My frequent flyer credit card has proved invaluable for collecting miles.  Also, shopping through American Airlines website this last week netted me hundreds of frequent flyer miles.

There are so many other ways of collecting miles.  Financing a home loan through Wells Fargo nets 1,000 miles for every $10,000 financed.  You hate Wells Fargo as much as I hate IKEA?  LendingTree.com gives 1,250 miles for every $10,000 financed.  BankDirect.com gives you 100 miles per month for every $1,000 kept in a checking account PLUS they pay interest.

What to do with all these frequent flyer miles?

Free flights is not my answer.  However flying first class for a fraction of the price sounds good.  In other words, my sights are set on free upgrades.

After all, when flying would you rather go economy class or business class?  The choice might be easier if thought about this way:  For breakfast, would you rather eat a stale muffin OR have a hot omelet with a mimosa?

If your argument is "Yeah Cliff but that hot omelet cost you $1,000 more because you’re in first class!" then that’s cool.  You’re arguing for your right to have a free uncomfortable seat in the cattle car, surrounded by little kids who scream and projectile vomit.  Your fighting for a seat which doubles as a punching bag for the passenger behind you.  That mystery meat you’re about to eat . . . wait, the airlines have canceled meals on economy flights.  Oh well, that mystery meat you would have eaten didn’t cost a dime.  And the smelly passenger seated next to you, rubbing against you the entire flight because he already forgot his new years resolution of showering daily . . .

I respect your opinion.  But I don’t believe in it.  I’ll take the hot omelet with mimosa, s’il vous plait.

A knock at my door was followed by an interesting question:

"Clifford, my dad is going to help me buy something.  I’m debating between a condo and a house.  What do you think?"

Welcomed diversion.

On his own accord, he decided to yield to the advice of a certain section of experts that believe now is the time to buy.  I believe wholeheartedly this is a buyer’s market.

So my opinion spewed forth.  But not in a manner he expected.

Clifford:  How many times have you taken a landlord to court?
Buyer:  Twice.
Clifford:  How often do you call a landlord to fix your problems?
Buyer:  Never.
Clifford:  Then you should consider being a landlord.

The MLS had some properties in the Long Beach area that, with his dad’s financial assistance, would put him into positive cashflow by several hundred dollars.   This is possible due to the properties having multi-unit housing.  I told him that right now, the better idea for him would be to rent out the other units and live in one.  He’s paying $1450/month in rent and if he lived in the other unit, that would reduce to $650/month.

The decision to forgo all talk regarding ROI, appreciation, tax write-offs, depreciation, etc was easy.  He isn’t ready for that conversation, financially speaking.

My assistance was offered, in setting up a spreadsheet for him to run calculations.  But I believe his mindset is correct for being an investor, and that’s why I agreed to help him.  His thinking is not to find a reason NOT to buy but rather figure out how to buy.

This, I believe, is credited to his father.  He owns multiple investment properties, purchased decades ago.  From his father’s perspective, he has seen several real estate booms as well as flat periods (market corrections, bubble bursts or whatever other term may be applicable).  After all this time his father is convinced real estate is a wise investment.

Even in today’s market.