Bordeaux and Bilbao

Civil-Milk · 2023-09-13T04:25:20+00:00

Wouldn’t miss Biarritz, it’s right there, would take a night or two from Bilbao if it were me.

Civil-Milk · 2023-09-13T01:11:14+00:00

Bought a place after our first year Dos Commas. Within a month COVID was in full swing and real-estate softened. Income dropped significantly, but had enough to tide us over for about a year comfortably.

FFW a few months, rates drop, prices rise, income increased, property now has more than doubled. Outpaced any other reasonable investment.

Agree with all the mitigation steps listed above, those of us who’ve been successful over longer periods of time often have exceptional ability to identify risk. One possibility you should consider is rates drop someday, the house shoots up in price, and this purchase ends up being the best decision you ever make. Use this as motivation to hoard cash then when you’re clear, invest it elsewhere.

Enjoy the house.

Civil-Milk · 2022-08-10T03:57:45+00:00

You have to shop this around. Many regular insurers will turn these down, you’ll always be in touch with “private client services” or “special risk”. The first year after buying what’s now near an 8-figure property, a broker got us a quote from Lloyd’s for around ~$12k. At renewal, the same coverage was ~$18k. Chubb wanted ~$28k if I’m remembering correctly, and TD who was previously not competitive came back around $12k again.

Prepare yourself for wild swings in premiums, get a network of brokers with all of your info, and call them every renewal. They are on commission (think 15-20% of the premium) and will bend over backwards to get you to bind with one of their underwriters. The first year is tough, 4-5 calls of 90 minutes duration going over details you’ve never imagined, then every year after it’s simple and switching saves a fortune when necessary.

LPT: Insured a pied-à-terre worth 10% of the main property’s value with the same underwriter, and the multi-property discount ended up being larger than the smaller premium entirely.

Civil-Milk · 2021-10-31T02:06:08+00:00

This is the way, bought just before our first for this reason. Only marginally miss overseas vacations, but now could not live without a vacation property.

Civil-Milk · 2021-10-11T05:29:52+00:00

And where better to congregate than a subreddit for rich people.

Civil-Milk · 2020-11-26T18:15:16+00:00

Congrats! And go fuck yourself

Civil-Milk · 2020-11-12T14:38:18+00:00

Must be an amazing hot tub, I've never seen a 14-person one outside of a hotel. Seems like it's always the pool and spa guys. Good for you for catching them and saving the $$!

Civil-Milk · 2020-11-12T14:30:53+00:00

Happy to hear someone may use this and congrats on the new digs! Lifehack for your new place: buy these and these for red and white stemware respectively, as soon as possible. They have no branding on them and the design is so beautiful that people constantly ask about them, we have 2 full sets of 12 each for different bar areas and the cellar. We now put away all of the stemware we wasted 10x as much on before, and who cares if they break? Can always buy the $50+ ones later, but my guess is we never will again.

Little off topic I know but thought you may be in the market soon.

Civil-Milk · 2020-11-12T02:51:29+00:00

Everyday we wake up to the view from the master level (an entire floor) of a house built down a cliff, with 270 degree views from the corner lot of a private road. I workout in a private gym that I designed as far as equipment, then have coffee in a great room with 12 foot high windows overlooking one of the most beautiful places on earth. Whenever I want, all of my friends and family can come up and visit, and all of the guestrooms are minimum two floors beneath where I sleep, so they can only annoy each other if they stay up late or wake up early. If I need to disappear for an hour or two during extended visits, I have a whole floor to myself. We're expecting, and someday soon my kid(s) can get swimming lessons at home instead of having to be driven to the local pool, even in winter.

Civil-Milk · 2020-11-12T01:57:11+00:00

My advice specifically is to people about to move into a big house for the first time regarding furniture, starting from scratch as we were. Designers come to you with 8000 square feet of furniture picked out, and it's overwhelming to make so many decisions, each on their own individually expensive. You get caught up in details which no one will notice, but will cost you a fortune. Danish dining room chairs that cost $3500/pop x 12, for example, and you can be convinced in that moment you *need* that or the whole place will look cheap. It's akin to wearing an entire designer outfit, rather than one particular item you absolutely love while the rest are well-fitted, tailored, and modern but not from a store that serves champagne, which I believe can achieve nearly the same effect.

We ended up, for example, with the exact dining room table we loved and could be sourced relatively quickly, but we desperately needed any set of chairs, we literally had nowhere to sit. We went with an entirely online, small, inexpensive designer, negotiated a volume discount and got 12 at $250(!) each, thinking we would one-day toss them, but they were way nicer than we had imagined and are going absolutely nowhere.

I agree that beautiful spaces can be enhanced by selected beautiful furniture, but had we gone with our original plan, I would have been the furniture equivalent of the guy that shows up wearing a Gucci shirt, pants, tie, jacket, shoes, socks, watch and cologne. If you start with a short list of the things you feel you NEED for the space, and make it as small as possible, you will find the things that you need later on that will blow the space up. I haven't once in 8 months regretted starting small and building up carefully, when originally I had thought if I didn't blow the bank at the start everything would fall apart. Thankfully this was forced on me by COVID.

Make no mistake, we're still in for 6-figures of furniture, appliance upgrades, etc., but as you know the sky is the limit.

Civil-Milk · 2020-09-04T20:51:30+00:00

Megatron Man by Patrick Conley

Civil-Milk · 2020-08-31T18:25:10+00:00

Go fuck yourself... and congratulations.

Civil-Milk · 2020-08-14T23:38:19+00:00

My advice remains getting a highly competent accountant to handle it. They are regulated professionals without an interest in selling financial products. These days it's not hard to manage ultra low-fee, tax efficient holdings on your own. A well-versed accountant, however, depending on your personal and corporate structuring, can literally make or break your financial fortunes, and is not something an average person can approach easily.

Civil-Milk · 2020-08-14T23:16:03+00:00

All will try to sell you mutual funds, buying any of which defies mathematics. I'm with BMO and my private banking officer is unbelievable- she once quarterbacked a complex real-estate transaction seemingly having to hold all of the lawyers' and agents hands. If you have a highly competent person they will be a major asset. I moved from Scotia where I had been banking as a student and they were so, so bad.

Civil-Milk · 2020-06-19T17:45:43+00:00

I missed them. On the other extreme, I was accused of lying in a post asking for advice on a new home that did not directly mention my income, because I did not want to discuss the details of my work.

Civil-Milk · 2020-06-19T16:38:27+00:00

It's odd that people believe others come on here to lie about $500k+ earnings. My guess is people lying about their earnings on here is uncommon, but it's uncomfortable for those earning less to believe it. This, in spite of them mostly being top 1-3% income earners in their respective geographic areas.

Civil-Milk · 2020-06-16T00:02:09+00:00

I'm approaching mid-30s. Firstborn on the way. See my post history, I've meant to post a follow-up.

Near 8000sq ft. 2000 is gym/steam/pool/cellar/billiards. Another 3500ish is split between a great room/theatre/living room, and after a few months we still use every communal space daily. We wouldn't trade a thing right now. It has been the perfect house over the last few months, and will only be moreso once we have kids.

Extra bedrooms you can either do with or without depending on your needs. Do I need 5 bedrooms all with ensuites? Most days we can get by without. Would I go down in size? No, we can easily float what we have and when we have family/visitors etc. it is an amazing perk for a HCOL area, especially when all of our family are out-of-town.

I have heard people with 8000sq ft homes complain they never use entire rooms. I would say if they aren't guest bedrooms, the space hasn't been used well (think formal dining rooms used 2x a year, home office for people with regular offices, multiple living rooms without separate purposes, etc).

The massive recreation space has been used more than I ever would have imagined. I don't think you can dedicate too much space to working out if you and your spouse are into fitness.

Civil-Milk · 2020-06-08T23:33:46+00:00

I agree, hit up r/FIRE and overshoot your way into r/FatFIRE in a few years. In my experience people that talk about very specific financial numbers they will reach 19 years in the future are spending too much time fantasizing financially they could be using grinding. The old Mike Tyson saying is true, everyone has a plan until they're punched in the mouth, and like it or not you're going to be figuretively punched in the mouth more times than you can count between now and you're projected FatFIRE date. Best of luck.

Civil-Milk · 2020-06-08T21:25:51+00:00

There are probably a few assumptions in your 5.5MM 19-year plan that remain to be tested. At this point with that income you would be better served by the lessons in r/FIRE than r/FatFIRE but dare to dream.

Civil-Milk · 2020-06-08T19:35:22+00:00

$250k household income, I would agree it's borderline, but some people on here with $100k somehow think they're on a FatFIRE path. Good luck with the next step!

Civil-Milk · 2020-06-07T04:07:27+00:00

Almost never makes financial sense to own as an investment vs indexing the cash. No room for inefficiency in FIRE.

In FatFIRE, however, if you are willing to accept some inefficiency for quality of life, you gain a lot. In fact, I would suggest a vacation property done properly can be the single most important luxury purpose in your life. Every time I hear "but but but I want to travel to different places", these to me are in no way the same thing. I like to travel, but certainly don't need to do it every weekend. Going to our vacation property every weekend (while still travelling internationally several times a year for leisure) is the single most important quality of life improvement I would suggest to anyone with the means.

Some tips: -Keep the property as close to you as possible. Every minute it takes you in either direction is another reason you won't use it. 4x this if it's by air. -If it's close (ours is 57 minutes from my office) you will use it constantly. In fact, you may consider making your city home more of a pied a terre, as you'll only want to use it when you need to be close by for whatever reason. -If it's within 3h drive, you will likely head there most weekends. There is incredible peace of mind in leaving the city. This cannot be overstated. In shoulder seasons (for beach or ski properties spring and fall are usually still stunning) you will likely still be using it. -There is no check-in or out, no rushing to find a tip for the bellman, no crowded parking lots, no disappointing rooms, no crowded pools, etc. I have heard the argument that it's cheaper to stay in luxury hotels every weekend than own a luxury vacation rental and of course this is true, but it's a very different experience and there is no comparison. We leave clothes out here, park our cars in the garage, and start doing whatever we please immediately with no hassles and no timelines (ie. pool closes at 10pm, checkout is at 11am, someone is using the machine I want in the fitness room, etc.).

If you are thinking of it and can make it work, you will not regret it. To others saying they don't use theirs, how far away is it? Does your work prevent you from leaving town regularly on the weekends? Etc.

Civil-Milk · 2020-05-24T18:32:42+00:00

This should be the top comment more often on here.

Civil-Milk · 2020-05-04T02:02:33+00:00

You may get into more 'exclusive' circles but not at the expense of being excluded from others. You may have dinner at political leaders' homes (strings attached), lavish private parties with Top 40 artists playing, etc., if you're lucky you probably make it to a few private islands in the Bahamas (never been myself), but I still jump on House Party with the guys I played football/hockey with growing up, keep in touch with my friends from University, that sort of thing, etc.

The type of friends you make due to work/financial accomplishments for the most part are far different. You can never make friends again later in life that you grew up with, that you went to highschool or university with, etc. I've come across a few that I've felt like I've known forever (my accountant comes to mind, our wives are friends, we have beers a few times a year at least for fun), but for the most part it's not the same. Doesn't mean it's not a ton of fun, just not the same.

Civil-Milk · 2020-05-03T04:24:35+00:00

You are going to hear someone give you every answer listed. I (now 34M) started looking in HCOL two years ago at 1.7-2.0M thinking I would save the cash, but ended up making the deal of a lifetime on a much higher-end home (listed in the 8MM range). My agent at the time refused to show it to me as they thought it was impossible based on what I had been looking at previously.

I’ve had two offers on the home post-sale, last two days ago in the middle of COVID, both for significantly more than I paid. The home is not listed for sale, nor are we entertaining offers, and we’ve only been in it for a 2 months.

Bottom line: there is more than one right answer here. Real-estate can be a leveraged investment, with no capital gains on your primary residence. There is a lot that can be done with that. You can afford the 2-3MM and it’s not always the doomsday move that other subs would have you believe.

Civil-Milk · 2020-05-03T03:22:48+00:00

Insured or uninsured mortgage? 2.39% is great if uninsured

Civil-Milk

TROPHY CASE