Bank of Michelle – Alternate Mortgage Paydown Strategies

By |2019-09-15T16:04:13+00:00July 23rd, 2019|

Previously, we explained how we got a loan from “The Bank of Michelle” to finance the purchase of our first TMP house when the lender could not meet the close date. Here’s the comparison of using a 30-year fixed loan at 4.99% versus a 15-year fixed at 0.625% less. The rate differential is per Wells [...]

Opportunity Cost – 75th Anniversary of D Day Trip

By |2019-09-15T16:04:16+00:00July 19th, 2019|

In the middle of escrow for the house on Valencia that we eventually purchased, Jim and Michelle left for a 12-day trip to Europe to celebrate the 75th anniversary of D Day. We went with the Concordia Wind Orchestra of Concordia University, Irvine who were invited to play on Omaha Beach at 4 pm [...]

Wix Vs WordPress – Introducing Chris von Nieda, Webmaster

By |2019-09-15T16:04:19+00:00July 14th, 2019|

I’ve been reading “FIRE” blogs for years. Wikipedia says “The FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement is a lifestyle movement whose goal is financial independence and retiring early.” I already gave a shout out to JL Collins in my very first blog post. Now my go-to FIRE guy is Sam at FinancialSamurai.com. I started [...]

We Bought Our First House-Part Three – No Loan Available, We Buy ‘All Cash’

By |2019-09-15T16:04:20+00:00July 12th, 2019|

We’re coming close to buying our first house for TheMonopolyProject.Previously we had to specify three fixes to the house on Valencia. Then the appraisal came in $11,000 UNDER the sales price. As you learned, we turned that to our advantage and negotiated a reduction in price of over $5,000. That $5,000 goes directly into our [...]

We Bought Our First House-Part Two, Appraisal Woes

By |2019-09-15T16:04:21+00:00July 10th, 2019|

Previously, we explained our ongoing purchase of the house on Valencia. The financial analysis assumed a purchase price of $203,200 with a 20% down, 30 year fixed mortgage of $162,560 at 4.99% yields a monthly PI (Principal and Interest) of $871.66. Taxes ($105), insurance ($51), HOA ($65) and management fee ($127) total $348. Assuming [...]

We Bought Our First House-Part One, Three Repairs

By |2019-09-15T16:04:23+00:00July 8th, 2019|

Previously, we made an offer on a house in Laveen and declined to buy the other shot up house in the same neighborhood. Our realtor/broker Jeff is in Israel, so he has arranged for a colleague, Rayven Macnab, to fill in. Jeff introduced Rayven via email: To Jeff Sutherlin, RAYVEN MACNAB, Jim Sarina [...]

We Make an Offer on Another Laveen House – But Don’t Remember the Details

By |2019-09-15T16:04:24+00:00July 5th, 2019|

We’re still in the middle of our negotiations for the 48th St house in Laveen that was shot with 35 bullets. We had seen another listing in the same area that appeared to be a better deal for two reasons. Financially, the expenses (taxes and HOA) were significantly less, about $150/month less. Geographically, it is [...]

Our June 2019 Standings and We Bought Our First House

By |2019-09-15T16:04:25+00:00July 4th, 2019|

Our results to date are reported on a monthly basis on the “Score” table on the Home page. We give you the current total value of TheMonopolyProject (TMP) as a combination of cash held (bank deposits) and the estimated value of the real estate owned minus liabilities (loans).To determine how well TMP project is [...]

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