Property / Real Estate As An Investment

Rax Moscow said:
But there is also the absurd category of "depreciation" where you can subtract a mathematically calculated percentage of your building value every year, thousands of dollars, offsetting your rental income. And then many times when you sell, you can defer or eliminate taxes on your profits as well.
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To be fair most modern buildings do have a limited lifespan. Depreciation is a very real expense if its a newly built crap-box that has to be demolished in 50 years time and new house rebuilt.

But if for example if its an 800 year old stone house in Italy that house could survive for another 800 years if its maintained properly then depreciation is a less real expense (albeit the interior of the house will still need renovation every so often so its still partly a real expense).
 
Was asking today a budget for renovating a small villa and the contractor was worried about the price of materials. He is a really small contractor. But he kept asking if I could be the one paying the materials and he would just put labor. He is probably worried about inflation. I hope Trump don´t fuck this up again. This house was left unfinished since corona started. Just walls and roof up to now.

I started thinking. Small construction companies really got a beating probably during corona inflation. Cause prices went up. And they probably had 6-12 months works with a price locked. They probably skipped some materials. I would not buy houses made between 2021-2024.

My oldest kid was sick and doctor said it was a type B flu. Today he is without fever already recovered. My wife told me doctor had specifically said type B. And I asked her why type B? Normally they just say flu. My conspiracy brain started to make questions. And type A is the bird flu. They are differentiating maybe cause they are expecting a surge in type A. Anyway. Magoo ramblings. Don´t give it much credit.
 
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magoo said:
Was asking today a budget for renovating a small villa and the contractor was worried about the price of materials. He is a really small contractor. But he kept asking if I could be the one paying the materials and he would just put labor. He is probably worried about inflation. I hope Trump don´t fuck this up again. This house was left unfinished since corona started. Just walls and roof up to now.

I started thinking. Small construction companies really got a beating probably during corona inflation. Cause prices went up. And they probably had 6-12 months works with a price locked. They probably skipped some materials. I would not buy houses made between 2021-2024.

My oldest kid was sick and doctor said it was a type B flu. Today he is without fever already recovered. My wife told me doctor had specifically said type B. And I asked her why type B? Normally they just say flu. My conspiracy brain started to make questions. And type A is the bird flu. They are differentiating maybe cause they are expecting a surge in type A. Anyway. Magoo ramblings. Don´t give it much credit.
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Having the customer buy the materials is just something some guys like to do for simplicity I guess you could say. For one thing - he doesn’t have to pay the bill so he doesn’t have to take a deposit from you, get your money in his account, then buy materials out of his account. It’s just less responsibility on him and more straight forward if you buy the materials. Even more understandable if he’s billing you labour by the hour after he’s done.
As for you - the upside is that you don’t have to give him money for the materials upfront and you know he’s not marking up the materials price, which he almost certainly would if he was supplying them, to cover his time/hassle.
If you ask me there’s no downside for you to buy them but it definitely does mean he’s a small contractor… no problem with that either .
 
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BeatUpTruck said:
Having the customer buy the materials is just something some guys like to do for simplicity I guess you could say. For one thing - he doesn’t have to pay the bill so he doesn’t have to take a deposit from you, get your money in his account, then buy materials out of his account. It’s just less responsibility on him and more straight forward if you buy the materials. Even more understandable if he’s billing you labour by the hour after he’s done.
As for you - the upside is that you don’t have to give him money for the materials upfront and you know he’s not marking up the materials price, which he almost certainly would if he was supplying them, to cover his time/hassle.
If you ask me there’s no downside for you to buy them but it definitely does mean he’s a small contractor… no problem with that either .
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I already tried that. The problem is material on the way to the construction site from the store makes a pit stop and half misteriously disapears. Only if it´s ceramics and shit like that you can supply. But if it´s cement, sand, paint, etc. Forget. Even if it arrives in the site it also vanishes.

I made one big renovation during corona. The contractor was always bitching about the cost of material going up. And I remember his foreman saying there were many works losing money. This is pretty easy to understand.

My mother in law painted her villa. Some years ago. And incredible coincidence the villa next to her got painted around one month after the guy started painting hers with the exact same paint. She found it strange. But couldn´t figure it out until I asked her who supplied the paint. She supplied. Ahahahahaha.

If you want to ask construction budgets ask them around this time of the year. The construction companies are generally without much work. Until the end of January they are working full time for you. Not only the budget is cheaper. After around 15th of February/beginning of March the delays start.
 
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Where are you? You say villa which makes me assume your in Europe but then you mention trump so I’m not sure.
All I know is contractors stealing half the material wouldn’t fly where I’m from. That’s bullshit.
 
BeatUpTruck said:
I’m the contractor dude haha… and you sound like a prick
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Ahahahahahahahaha

Nope. They get angry cause they don´t manage to rip me off. Normally in the end of the construction. When things get prettier. And they think they should´ve charged more.

Never supply unless you are in site to control. CONTRACTORS WILL ALWAYS STEAL MATERIAL.
 
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magoo said:
Was asking today a budget for renovating a small villa and the contractor was worried about the price of materials. He is a really small contractor. But he kept asking if I could be the one paying the materials and he would just put labor. He is probably worried about inflation. I hope Trump don´t fuck this up again. This house was left unfinished since corona started. Just walls and roof up to now.

I started thinking. Small construction companies really got a beating probably during corona inflation. Cause prices went up. And they probably had 6-12 months works with a price locked. They probably skipped some materials. I would not buy houses made between 2021-2024.

My oldest kid was sick and doctor said it was a type B flu. Today he is without fever already recovered. My wife told me doctor had specifically said type B. And I asked her why type B? Normally they just say flu. My conspiracy brain started to make questions. And type A is the bird flu. They are differentiating maybe cause they are expecting a surge in type A. Anyway. Magoo ramblings. Don´t give it much credit.
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Normally it's the other way around, they want to provide materials so they can mark them up on you. The contractor is most likely broke and can't afford the materials up front, it's a good thing for you unless the guy is broke because he has some personal issues which are going to affect the job..... that happens. Not sure what trump has to do with the price of materials in france.

Hope your kid gets better.
 
FrancisK said:
Normally it's the other way around, they want to provide materials so they can mark them up on you. The contractor is most likely broke and can't afford the materials up front, it's a good thing for you unless the guy is broke because he has some personal issues which are going to affect the job..... that happens. Not sure what trump has to do with the price of materials in france.

Hope your kid gets better.
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From my experience there´s two type of materials. One type you see when you walk in a house. The others are more technical. And will only surface with time.

If the contractor supplies materials. Not only theres a mark up. Thats a given. But you are not sure they will even use them. If they write 3/4 coats of paint how do you know they actually applied it? You are not only paying more 30% for the paint. You are paying besides the mark up. The actual paint which is not used. Some people use a steel nail. And measure. But come on. I´m not gonna go around with a nail.

Bathroom tiles it´s easy to see. The materials the eye can see I supply. Tiles, floor, doors, windows, etc.

All materials have an impact on the overall resistance of the house. But you will only see it with time. The difference between a good and more and less contractor is only noticed with time.

If I would bet this contractor started out as a worker. And now had some work. In the summer he hired a lot of workers and now have to pay them in the slow months. December/January/February. It´s a small villa to be rented. Not a palace. Besides electricity which I always pay handsomely and separately to another top company. I also subcontract windows to a german company. The rest can be average or even be bellow average. It´s for rental. Tenants will destroy it anyway.

There´s too much demand. It´s not only in construction. The overall quality is going down everywhere.

Thanks kid is without fever. And playing football outside. Maybe we will go skiing. Booking trips with kids is always an headache. Always wondered who paid for insurance in trips and now I know. Parents.
 
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BeatUpTruck said:
Don’t be a prick to blue collar men and expect things to go smoothly. That’s probably your problem right there. I hope you say something to one of them and they kick your ass
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Looll. I have to be much more nicer to blue collars. Because they are fucking divas. I never thought construction people had so low esteem. I had lawyers working for me and I would treat them 100 times worse.

I actually just had a worker sign me a POA because of a DUI. One more freebie. Retard only contacted after going to the cops and confessing everything. Retarded fuck. Now I will have to pull a hail mary. And hopefully he wont go to court.

As long as there´s no knives involved. I will fight anyone/anywhere. I have a expro boxer russian worker. I like him. The guy is the best painter I had. Call him Da Vinci and Tyson. I yelled at him cause the cunt was stalling in a section because he had to do masonry and he hates it. Russian always say the same shit when they are angry: "Why are you so nervous". I answered him "you retard fuck. I practice Muay Thai. You think I´m scared of you. "

I sparred with my teacher. Boxers are like handicaped. They don´t stand a chance. A kick and goodbye.

He is a good worker. Incredible painter but bellow average in everything else. I´m trying to keep him because he is such a good painter. And never stole anything up to now. But painters theres no ongoing work for them in farm. Maybe I will put him inside the house. But there´s no real work.

What is this blue collar bullshit. White collars have MUCH MORE MERIT. I mean real white collars. Not arts and those liberal shit degrees. Doctors, lawyers, engineers. You think you are better than them? Nope. You are worse. I can learn your trade in 15 days. The last contractor I had here. I watched him do things. And asked them the proportions of cement sand and water. Which type of sand, etc. One trick one contractor used was to mix a bit of paint in the primary paint.

I wrote everything and I now know more and less how construction works. And can do everything if not better than him. It´s not that hard. It´s time consuming. You are in most cases paying time.

I will repeat only in a communist decadent society does a blue collar have more merit than a real white collar. What blue collars have a lot is envy.

A difference I noticed is in construction things work as layers. And to reach a previous layer you need to destroy the actual layer. In law things dont work like that. If you are writing a text. You can move upwards in word and just change paragraph 4. In construction to reach paragraph 4 you need to destroy everything. So everything needs to be planned out strictly. No creativity. Not do as you go.

Trump and US have global reach. But this is not the place. I like Trump but he is an amateur. And has no real power. But I want and expect to be wrong.
 
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magoo said:
Looll. I have to be much more nicer to blue collars. Because they are fucking divas. I never thought construction people had so low esteem. I had lawyers working for me and I would treat them 100 times worse.

I actually just had a worker sign me a POA because of a DUI. One more freebie. Retard only contacted after going to the cops and confessing everything. Retarded fuck. Now I will have to pull a hail mary. And hopefully he wont go to court.

As long as there´s no knives involved. I will fight anyone/anywhere. I have a expro boxer russian worker. I like him. The guy is the best painter I had. Call him Da Vinci and Tyson. I yelled at him cause the cunt was stalling in a section because he had to do masonry and he hates it. Russian always say the same shit when they are angry: "Why are you so nervous". I answered him "you retard fuck. I practice Muay Thai. You think I´m scared of you. "

I sparred with my teacher. Boxers are like handicaped. They don´t stand a chance. A kick and goodbye.

He is a good worker. Incredible painter but bellow average in everything else. I´m trying to keep him because he is such a good painter. And never stole anything up to now. But painters theres no ongoing work for them in farm. Maybe I will put him inside the house. But there´s no real work.

What is this blue collar bullshit. White collars have MUCH MORE MERIT. I mean real white collars. Not arts and those liberal shit degrees. Doctors, lawyers, engineers. You think you are better than them? Nope. You are worse. I can learn your trade in 15 days. The last contractor I had here. I watched him do things. And asked them the proportions of cement sand and water. Which type of sand, etc. One trick one contractor used was to mix a bit of paint in the primary paint.

I wrote everything and I now know more and less how construction works. And can do everything if not better than him. It´s not that hard. It´s time consuming. You are in most cases paying time.

I will repeat only in a communist decadent society does a blue collar have more merit than a real white collar. What blue collars have a lot is envy.

A difference I noticed is in construction things work as layers. And to reach a previous layer you need to destroy the actual layer. In law things dont work like that. If you are writing a text. You can move upwards in word and just change paragraph 4. In construction to reach paragraph 4 you need to destroy everything. So everything needs to be planned out strictly. No creativity. Not do as you go.

Trump and US have global reach. But this is not the place. I like Trump but he is an amateur. And has no real power. But I want and expect to be wrong.
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yeah man, building a house is a little different than writing words on a page haha. Although I wouldn’t call writing paragraphs more ‘creative’.
If they’re stealing your materials they have no respect for you
 
BeatUpTruck said:
yeah man, building a house is a little different than writing words on a page haha. Although I wouldn’t call writing paragraphs more ‘creative’.
If they’re stealing your materials they have no respect for you
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If you ever need a budget from beatuptruck ask him in December. As you can see he is not happy.

Contractors budget work like a stock. The highest demand time is in summer price goes up. The lowest between 15th december to 15th January. The diference in budgets can reach 50%. Around March they will start having new projects.

Stealing or not stealing has nothing to do with respect. You dont steal period. Having to deal with this type of prison/bullshit mentality is soul draining.

Building a house is easy. Except for electricity. Which is more technical. Its time consuming. And boring because its mechanical and repetitive. Also hard on the body if you dont know how to operate right equipment.

Doing intellectual work is much more demanding than labor. In Cuba doctors work as bell boys for hotels.

Because in a sane healthy society intellectual must be obviously rewarded. Having to write this is a true sign of the level of bolshevik retardation we are reaching. Telling young people to work in a trade to fall of a roof and die. Is beyond retarded.

Manual labor is reserved for the dumbest. Maybe in the past it was different. The idiot who cant spell a 3 letter sentence.
Of course theres exceptions. Migrants. Some people like the trade. Carpenters. Others had poor options due to lack of money. But the brightest who only do it cause of money issues. Will get out as soon as possible.

Construction workers steal everybody. They steal between themselves. It has nothing to do with respect. But prison mentality and personal issues.

Most of them are excons. Related to drug issues as dealers not consumers. The ones that steal normally are ex cons.

If I spoke russian I would make buildings for rental. Russian speaking workers are the best. I could actually try to learn russian. Or putting my kids learning it.

The problem is our go to contractors we used to deal with got too big. They dont care about small villas. They are building mansions for themselves to sell. They only work for themselves. I had one really good who still do me some works because Im an old client. If I need above average work it’s him I talk with. He gives me a price and it’s done.

He quoted one price for a closet to my wife in september. And now he is giving two closets for the same quote. As I had told her call him again in December. Instead of him making a 300% profit margin he will only make 100% probably.
 
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magoo said:
If you ever need a budget from beatuptruck ask him in December. As you can see he is not happy.

Contractors budget work like a stock. The highest demand time is in summer price goes up. The lowest between 15th december to 15th January. The diference in budgets can reach 50%. Around March they will start having new projects.

Stealing or not stealing has nothing to do with respect. You dont steal period. Having to deal with this type of prison/bullshit mentality is soul draining.

Building a house is easy. Except for electricity. Which is more technical. Its time consuming. And boring because its mechanical and repetitive. Also hard on the body if you dont know how to operate right equipment.

Doing intellectual work is much more demanding than labor. In Cuba doctors work as bell boys for hotels.

Because in a sane healthy society intellectual must be obviously rewarded. Having to write this is a true sign of the level of bolshevik retardation we are reaching. Telling young people to work in a trade to fall of a roof and die. Is beyond retarded.

Manual labor is reserved for the dumbest. Maybe in the past it was different. The idiot who cant spell a 3 letter sentence.
Of course theres exceptions. Migrants. Some people like the trade. Carpenters. Others had poor options due to lack of money. But the brightest who only do it cause of money issues. Will get out as soon as possible.

Construction workers steal everybody. They steal between themselves. It has nothing to do with respect. But prison mentality and personal issues.

Most of them are excons. Related to drug issues as dealers not consumers. The ones that steal normally are ex cons.

If I spoke russian I would make buildings for rental. Russian speaking workers are the best. I could actually try to learn russian. Or putting my kids learning it.

The problem is our go to contractors we used to deal with got too big. They dont care about small villas. They are building mansions for themselves to sell. They only work for themselves. I had one really good who still do me some works because Im an old client. If I need above average work it’s him I talk with. He gives me a price and it’s done.

He quoted one price for a closet to my wife in september. And now he is giving two closets for the same quote. As I had told her call him again in December. Instead of him making a 300% profit margin he will only make 100% probably.
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It’s so creative for you to edit your post an hour and twenty minutes after you posted it. Did you move some paragraphs around?
 
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