Getting the F' Outta Dodge.

[Hurricane77]

I am shopping. But, the sticker shock is real.

If I average out my contracting costs over a decade it may be more prudent to let someone else do it. I don't know where we'll be in a decade and being saddled with a piece of old equipment may not be something I want to deal with.

The skid steer made short work of the problem.

Yeah, When I bought my BX I was looking at used and the price was ridiculous. If you could find one at private sale and save the HST, you might work out ok. But most ended up back in the hands of dealers so you were paying HST anyway. And then you were only saving maybe 10% on a 5-10 year old machine. On the upside, buying new, you don;t have to worry about depreciation so much since they hold their value pretty well. In the end I ended up financing at 0%.

I debated buying one for years and in the end I'm glad I did. Much quicker to cut the grass - though not as fast as a zero turn would be. For the winter I have a rear mount blower and keep the loader on the front so I don't end up with huge piles (though it sounds like that's a bonus for your girls 🙂 ) Having the loader and a set of cheap pallet forks has been amazing. So much easier moving big stuff around during the garage build. The little BX is strong enough to hold a 305 with transmission. I don't even have my engine hoist around anymore. It's been sitting at a friends for probably 2 years now

 

[motorheadmike]

Looks like I have a real chance of moving from New Jersey to coastal North Carolina this spring.... fingers crossed; most worried about how the 15 year-old is going to handle it. I need to make the right compromises: 1) more spacious home for my family, 2) a garage for my g-body, and 3) a population density that supports a high school with at least 100 kids/grade and basketball/soccer teams. Neglecting inflation, looking at recent sales in my current area, I am likely above water in my current home. In transferring companies, I'm considering plowing my entire 401k into the home purchase in NC - rather than roll it into an IRA. If I pull this off, my 2 and 4 year old will grow up like I did, playing in the woods, and crabbing/fishing. This will be a move from an authoritarian scale 11 police state to more of a 6 (I figure). This is the general area that I have been focused on for several years: https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1151263,-77.8794853,10.75z There is an opening that I fit at the dual-unit BWR (power reactors) there.

The people and community, the education system, the pace, the temperament, and even the politics are better now.

Your kids get one chance at childhood. What does right look like to you: A dense urban jungle full of rage and entitlement or something more spacious and rural with a matching disposition?

Last week we sent our kids across the road and up the hill to introduce themselves to the neighbours and their son. A couple of days later they were in their house playing for hours. A literal repeat of the same situation we had a few weeks ago with our next door neighbour and her daughters (who also came over here).

To be fair we had the same relationship with our old neighbourhood too. But, we were rural there as well.

It boils down to trust and community.

I cannot wait to see what the Spring brings for our kids as they expand their network.

You need to leave and let the cities rot in the mess they made.

 

[86LK]

Looks like I have a real chance of moving from New Jersey to coastal North Carolina this spring.... fingers crossed; most worried about how the 15 year-old is going to handle it. I need to make the right compromises: 1) more spacious home for my family, 2) a garage for my g-body, and 3) a population density that supports a high school with at least 100 kids/grade and basketball/soccer teams. Neglecting inflation, looking at recent sales in my current area, I am likely above water in my current home. In transferring companies, I'm considering plowing my entire 401k into the home purchase in NC - rather than roll it into an IRA. If I pull this off, my 2 and 4 year old will grow up like I did, playing in the woods, and crabbing/fishing. This will be a move from an authoritarian scale 11 police state to more of a 6 (I figure). This is the general area that I have been focused on for several years: https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1151263,-77.8794853,10.75z There is an opening that I fit at the dual-unit BWR (power reactors) there.

I've been looking at NC only for the colleges for my daughter who graduates this year because she wants to be a nurse. They have some of the best schools in the country for that. Talking to a customer at my weekend job last Sunday he mentioned the biggest problem in eastern NC is the flooding and the hog farms.
I would not redeem my 401k for property there though. Stick it in an IRA that is indexed to the market. And only stick it in low/no-load IRAs such as T.Rowe Price, 20th Century, or Vanguard.

 

[doood]

I've been looking at NC only for the colleges for my daughter who graduates this year because she wants to be a nurse. They have some of the best schools in the country for that. Talking to a customer at my weekend job last Sunday he mentioned the biggest problem in eastern NC is the flooding and the hog farms.
I would not redeem my 401k for property there though. Stick it in an IRA that is indexed to the market. And only stick it in low/no-load IRAs such as T.Rowe Price, 20th Century, or Vanguard.

Thanks for the input. Sometimes I have this sneaking suspicion that my money might be better put in property than the market... it's how I cope with the reality of what seems to be nonsensical valuation of certain hyped up stocks and cryptocurrency - might actually just be sour grapes for missing out.

Maybe someday I'll stop thinking like an engineer and just accept how Apple (selling phones), Amazon (distributing Chinese goods), or Facebook (housewives posting their lunch), alphabet (mining people's habits), etc. have greater valuation than GE, Ford, Siemens, etc..

Yes, flooding is a big deal down there. Surprisingly I live at a lower elevation in NJ.

 

[Ribbedroof]

Maybe someday I'll stop thinking like an engineer and just accept how Apple (selling phones), Amazon (distributing Chinese goods), or Facebook (housewives posting their lunch), alphabet (mining people's habits), etc. have greater valuation than GE, Ford, Siemens, etc..

Idiocracy...pretty much called it

 

[motorheadmike]

Idiocracy...pretty much called it

It's got what plants crave!

 

[86LK]

Thanks for the input. Sometimes I have this sneaking suspicion that my money might be better put in property than the market... it's how I cope with the reality of what seems to be nonsensical valuation of certain hyped up stocks and cryptocurrency - might actually just be sour grapes for missing out.

Maybe someday I'll stop thinking like an engineer and just accept how Apple (selling phones), Amazon (distributing Chinese goods), or Facebook (housewives posting their lunch), alphabet (mining people's habits), etc. have greater valuation than GE, Ford, Siemens, etc..

Yes, flooding is a big deal down there. Surprisingly I live at a lower elevation in NJ.

I doubt that your property values will increase at the same rate of the Market Index, but since I'm not a financial advisor I wouldn't know. bought my house 26yrs ago at $180k, now supposedly worth $700k. let's calculate it 2 ways.

if my house value goes up 8% per year like the stock market averages it should be worth about $1.3 million
since the market value according to the tax district says about $700k, that means it's only gone up an average of about 5-5.1% per year
you tell me which is better?
btw, with the market of the last couple years, my Vanguard funds have been annually averaging between 30-51% (which is insane) wish I had more money to put in but I'm in it for the long haul

found this little nugget
Looking at the S&P 500 for the years 1991 to 2020, the average stock market return for the last 30 years is 10.72% (8.29% when adjusted for inflation).

you may live at a lower elevation in NJ but I'm pretty sure NC gets a lot more hurricane weather.

 

[ck80]

I doubt that your property values will increase at the same rate of the Market Index, but since I'm not a financial advisor I wouldn't know. bought my house 26yrs ago at $180k, now supposedly worth $700k. let's calculate it 2 ways.

if my house value goes up 8% per year like the stock market averages it should be worth about $1.3 million
since the market value according to the tax district says about $700k, that means it's only gone up an average of about 5-5.1% per year
you tell me which is better?
btw, with the market of the last couple years, my Vanguard funds have been annually averaging between 30-51% (which is insane) wish I had more money to put in but I'm in it for the long haul

found this little nugget
Looking at the S&P 500 for the years 1991 to 2020, the average stock market return for the last 30 years is 10.72% (8.29% when adjusted for inflation).

you may live at a lower elevation in NJ but I'm pretty sure NC gets a lot more hurricane weather.

There's a degree of error in all those stock market projections over long term vs hard assets like said house though.

The house has always been the house. The S&P or DJI have different stocks added and removed from the average through the years.

Giant companies such as GM and Sears fell to zero... and don't forget Chrysler. In thee day you never imagined any of those would die. GM was reconstituted, but you didn't get shares in the new for owning the old. You were wiped out. FIAT got chrysler for free, just had to guarantee debt funding available. Through the years plenty of stocks were killed off, and replaced. But you had to plow extra money in to buy into the stocks newly added to the average if your argument is just buying shares of every stock tracked saw xyz for growth through the years.

If you include the companies that died off, that %age rate return through the decades is lower.

Also, you sell your stocks you pay capital gains. Sell that same 700k house with a 180k basis, married, and after deductible selling expenses you cash out tax free if married and both you and spouse exercise your exemptions. Liquidating the stocks is a substantial tax hit.

So... house is probably the better choice all considered in that regard, ignoring intangibles of joy in living conditions vs watching numbers on a page.

 

[CopperNick]

So, among other things, You'd be trading snow for snow, because NC is now getting snow accumulation due to global cooling, the Hurricane prognosis remains about the same, You are escaping the rust belt, which is always a bonus, but there are floods and tornados to consider. I do get the desire to escape Big Brother and the helicopter school of thought regarding protecting us from ourselves; as if "they" know any better, they just have louder voices and .........................................

You did mention crabs and fishing, which, along with a cold beer or two sound just about right, given that it is snowing here and not supposed to stop until tomorrow. So the destination would be a small to mid-sized city on the coast but not necessary in the high tourist destination zones which tend to =high $$$$. The teenage angst thing could be a real issue. 15 equals middle school, just about time to get into driver'e ed courses, sports, and, of course, social interaction. It is also just about the time to start looking into colleges and universities and checking off all the prerequisites they like to see on an application for admission.

Well, wish you mounds of luck that isn't colored white! Oh, yeah, bring a few sets of new winter snow tires and maybe a set of chains with you. There is a thread elsewhere around here that shows someone down in NC trying to exit their driveway after what gets called a snow "flurry" around here and getting stuck. Genuine snow tires are not something you can just wander on down to the local tire center and score, apparently.

 

[ssn696]

I hope there is decent-paying job down the for you. I'm still watching this thread, fingers crossed that this works out long-term for both of you.