My kid…

Spiky Bugger

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Messages
6,215
is finally celebrating about SOMETHING! For a year and a half, she’s been eligible for, AND ACTUALLY DOING THE JOB, she was just officially awarded. Her new “pay scale“ eventually reaches a place that’s $30k/year more than her current salary! That’s not only good, but given the rest of her situation, it’s almost REQUIRED!

2641


Now all she needs is a place to live! Her boyfriend moved in to their current, teeny-tiny, <800 sq. ft. place 18 years ago. She arrived about eight years ago. They stayed because it was crazy-cheap. Boyfriend’s boss sold his company to the parent company, which kept boyfriend and two other employees, all working from their homes. MiniSue’s job also went to work-from-home, so we created an office for her here on our property. His 11-year-old daughter, who is there every other week, had online school last year. She just went back to in-person school, but we expect there will be quarantines any minute. Landlord died and heirs decided to sell in today’s hot market. Property was listed and sold in four days. Appraiser was there this week.

Did I say “hot” real estate market? Their rent has been VERY low and with all the work-from-home stuff they need a third bedroom, so they know there will be a jolt. And with all the “California is a horrible place, so everyone is leaving” talk, you’d THINK landlords would have to LOWER the rent to find renters. But, no. A three bedroom house/condo/townhome, in this town and this school district (important here, where the school district for this town has significantly higher ratings than most of the surrounding towns and the one town that has an even higher rating costs even more) is hard to find and when you DO, it will cost a fortune.

How much is a fortune? Well, there are TWO 3-or-more bedroom, 1.5-or-more bathroom homes for rent right now. The cheap one is $3600/mo. The other one is $4500/mo. (And landlords require that your monthly income is, at least, three time the rent. So there’s that.)
 
Last edited:
I thought Long Island was expensive, but I guess it is all relative.
 
Reading these stories make me glad my house is paid off and I have no intention of moving. So congratulations to her for finally getting paid for what's she's worth and my sympathies in her house hunting. At least the extra money will help.
 
Sad! Always thought CA was so beautiful but I knew I could not afford to live there so I never considered it. Can't even Imagine paying that much rent!
 
Congratulations on being awarded the position and securing an opportunity to reach the high end of the pay scale. How are home sales? Would it be more cost-effective for her to buy than rent?
 
Congratulations on being awarded the position and securing an opportunity to reach the high end of the pay scale. How are home sales? Would it be more cost-effective for her to buy than rent?
We JUST had that discussion. And, yes it would. But it might cost ME some down payment money. :oops:

Poor MiniSue is the only child of a mom who kept saying things like, “Your first real job. Let’s talk 401k‘s and IRAs. Teaching credential? DO start a 403b. NO! You don’t HAVE that money. It doesn’t exist! NEVER take money out, even if you’re really broke. Oh! A 457b? Great. So, anyway…but wait! A separate deferred comp account is REQUIRED…by your mommy, that’s who!” And so on. She’s pretty much convinced that the earth will reverse its rotation and we’ll fall into a black hole if she touches THAT money, which is close to all the money she has!

And, while they both have good FICOs, the best mortgage terms we’ve found so far are for vets…which he is. Unfortunately, her income cannot be considered unless they get married. She’s not convinced that’s a wise move* but they need both incomes to qualify for a loan.

So we’re working on options.


*She has a job with a defined benefit retirement. If they were to marry and it didn’t work out, she’d lose a substantial portion of that retirement. He has no similar employer-sponsored retirement. And, as the mom of a college student, you may have met the FAFSA, which is out to get step-parents. If they marry, her income is added to the incomes of the student’s mother and father, as money available to the student…even though she has no legal obligation to support the child. So, if they marry, his daughter will receive less financial aid. All around bad deal.
 
Looks like her mom has given her excellent financial advice to date, exactly as I would expect!.

Given the rental market is so hot, it might be useful to explore the possibility of a duplex with an apartment that could be rented to help fund the mortgage.
 
Looks like her mom has given her excellent financial advice to date, exactly as I would expect!.

Given the rental market is so hot, it might be useful to explore the possibility of a duplex with an apartment that could be rented to help fund the mortgage.
Are you monitoring my keystrokes? LOL
 
Poor MiniSue is the only child of a mom who kept saying things like, “Your first real job. Let’s talk 401k‘s and IRAs. Teaching credential? DO start a 403b. NO! You don’t HAVE that money. It doesn’t exist! NEVER take money out, even if you’re really broke. Oh! A 457b? Great. So, anyway…but wait! A separate deferred comp account is REQUIRED…by your mommy, that’s who!” And so on. She’s pretty much convinced that the earth will reverse its rotation and we’ll fall into a black hole if she touches THAT money, which is close to all the money she has!

I wish I had that mom or dad. I'm not hurting in retirement because Mr. K9ophile has been wise with money. But if I had to rely on my own savings? I shudder to think about it.
 
I'm glad she is making more money but OMG at that rent. WHERE do the people who don't have good salaries live?
 

Latest posts

Back
Top