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Originally posted by jamesblunt
Very interesting. How long did you stay in Sydney? If given a chance, would you move back?
Only for 6 months. I actually had planned to take a job there. It was all lined up and I had to commit to a minimum of 2 years. I was all on board, and my girlfriend at the time basically gave me an ultimatum. If I moved, the relationship was over. I had a very tough choice to make, but in the end, the girl won and I backed out of the position. We are happily married 10 years later, so it worked out in the end!
That being said, Sydney is incredible. It’s very expensive, but it’s a great place to live. The food is awesome. The culture is great. There is plenty to do. Honestly, you really don’t feel that far away from the USA. And fishing is good (striped marlin are the buzz). Pretty much the only thing that would keep me from moving there nowadays is friends and family. I miss my people. If it weren’t for friends and family, I would move there in a heartbeat. But, I love my social network. Also, my wife is a dentist which makes it a lot tougher to move around.
That’s very interesting Jason. But a man such as yourself who’s so much into finance and very prudent with his money, I did get your point about buying a property in 2007 and not exactly being the wisest decision, but seeing as you relo’ed back to Charleston from Miami, and you’re both working (and in good jobs), any reason why you’re not buying a house now and instead paying rent?
quote:
Originally posted by jamesblunt
That’s very interesting Jason. But a man such as yourself who’s so much into finance and very prudent with his money, I did get your point about buying a property in 2007 and not exactly being the wisest decision, but seeing as you relo’ed back to Charleston from Miami, and you’re both working (and in good jobs), any reason why you’re not buying a house now and instead paying rent?
Yes. There is potential for a new business venture in the near future which may mean cutting back a little bit or having money a bit tighter than we are used to. Until I see how that plays out, I don't want to get tied into a mortgage that might he hard to unload in a hurry if I need to do that. I can break the rent and only pay a month penalty. So really, even though I am hemorrhaging money on property payments and rent right now, I want to stay flexible for the next 1-2 years.
Also, for the record, when I purchased my property, I never really knew anything about property and land values. I knew stocks can go up and down, but I didn’t know that property values could decrease. It was easy to make a bad decision when virtually everyone around me told me that if I decided not to build on the property, that I would be able to unload it for more than what I paid for it! That was the common wisdom back then! “If you wait too long, you won’t be able to afford it in the future”. So, I went in and bought a pretty nice lot on a creek about 200 feet from the ICW (Stono River). It’s only about 2 miles from the Johns Island\James Island bridge. Now, everyone is a property value expert, but unfortunately, it’s too late!!! Uggg… I need a bourbon now…
Sounds cool on your new venture. Will it be software related?