So here we are, late in the afternoon: just in from a hot, muggy walk around the ‘Hood.
This neighborhood was one of my luckier finds along the Road of Life. Yea, verily…I do love it here! And surely do hope to pass through old age free of medical and baby-sitting bills right up to the end, so I can hand my beloved house along to my beloved son: lock, stock, and paid-off barrel.
Seriously: Zillow claims the Funny Farm is worth $556,500. M’hijto’s castle: $493,00.
He, however, owes a mortgage , whereas when he inherits this place, he’ll get it debt-free. Then he can sell his place and…who knows? Buy a summer home in Tahiti?
Seriously: he could either turn his house into a rental, thereby generating investment income from it. Or just sell it and invest the cash proceeds in the stock market.
To my mind (such as it is), renting real estate looks suspiciously like more trouble than it’s worth. Dealing with renters — some of them no doubt deadbeats. Paying taxes on the enterprise. Insuring the place. Keeping it maintained, no matter what damnfool thing the renters pull… I dunno. Think I’d rather live in it while it appreciates in value; then sell and collect the increase in property value.
But when the time comes, that will be his decision and none o’mine. Thank goodness! 😀
Of notable interest, though, is the fact that this neighborhood is ballooning in value.
Real estate prices in Phoenix rarely fall, unless a major national recession is under way. So I think it’s safe to guess that this house will continue to grow in value. If he chooses to stay in it or to rent it out, over time he’ll collect a nice increase in dollars.
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An Hour or So Later
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Coming on to 5:30 p.m. And Oh MY, what a gorgeous evening!!! Clear, quiet, deliciously temperate… Moments like this are the BIG reasons I want to be able to leave this house to M’Hijito.
If he likes it here, it’s a joy. And it’s paid for.
If he has other ideas, it’s paid for. And he can turn a nice profit from it.
Either way, he deserves it!
🙂
I do need to get Gerardo’s gentlemen in here to trim up the shrubbery. They haven’t been around for awhile, and the place has gotten pretty overgrown.
Hope they haven’t abandoned the yard care business.
But if they’ve dodged out, that’s OK. This place is over-run with yard dudes. Gerardo is the Great Yard Dude of the Western World, no doubt of it. But others can do the job.
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…and movin’ on…