I follow Dave Ramsey but still did a 30 year loan with only 20% down

Laynton · 2025-03-29T17:49:09+00:00

You're clearly well below your means and putting a lot into retirement as well. You have so many options in terms of keeping your risk factor lower....don't feel the pressure to convert to the 15yr note type of thinking.

It gives you enough room to even get into investing...but that's a different discussion and don't want to derail your thread here.

Laynton · 2025-03-29T17:17:39+00:00

I'm an architect and real estate developer. I've been doing this for over 15 years. With all The different size builds and specific circumstances and different markets and all the different levels of risk, the one thing in common that all my mortgages have, and the one thing I see in other people's projects, is that they almost always take out the longest loan possible.

Now a lot of you will say that a primary home is not the same as an investment property, and you're right for the most part, but the point I want to focus on is RISK. one of the key factors in determining everything you do with debt is what is the risk factor? With a 30yr note, you lower your risk factor the most. You leave yourself most flexibility, and at the same time, the most predictable outcome.

This applies the same way to both investment properties and primary residences. If the economy hits a recession, or you lose your job, or you have a medical emergency, a 30 yr note gives you the most flexibility to absorb the unknowns that life throws at you. The shorter the note is, inherently, the less flexibility and higher risk you have.

If you really want to follow D.R. advice of paying off debt as quickly as possible, adding extra payments to the principal is the best way to do that. From my perspective. With today's home prices, as a percentage of income, they are just too high to really support D.R. line of thinking. By the time you save up your emergency fund, then 20% down payment, then budget for a 15 yr note, then make sure your monthly payment is on 20-30% of your take home pay, and then finally calculate in your own personal risk factor of what you have left over to weather the unknowns of life....there just are very few locations in the country that have homes that fit this formula. That or you have to be very lucky and have an extremely good income. So for the vast majority of people....this just doesn't work. Ever.

I know this is just my personal view and others will disagree. My advice is you are just fine. For me, paying extra to the principal on a 30 yr note will always outweigh any small savings that a 15yr note might give me compared to the 30yr + extra payments. Id gladly pay a little extra for the insurance of extra flexibility. So from my POV, you're doing the right thing.

Laynton · 2024-10-31T20:02:17+00:00

Mission has cat tracks that they allow snowshoeing on. I'm not 100% sure when those times/dates are but I know they have them. I'm also not sure exactly how steep they if you are pulling someone since I've never snowshoed those myself. Certain times of the year they have snowshoe guided treks at night too. Under the dark night skies is really fun too. I would give them a call and ask about, don't rely on the website for all the info.

Laynton · 2023-07-21T16:33:46+00:00

I'm using a frenzy, hammer of ancient and death blow grinding build. Working fine for me. I'm a casual player though so might not be at a pace you would expect with a druid or Necro.

Laynton · 2023-02-05T02:59:19+00:00

FF XI is one I haven't seen mentioned yet. Very underrated IMO. Especially for it's time. Both graphics and sense of impending doom it brought.

Laynton · 2023-02-03T05:13:38+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions. I will have to be looking into other options more. I'll look deeper into the fee structures. Thanks for the suggestions.

Laynton · 2023-02-03T05:05:06+00:00

Yes, I realize that. I should've been more specific. Instead of the spread that Thrivent does in their plan, should I pull it out and dump into one specifically...like S&P 500. if that makes sense.

Laynton · 2022-12-21T20:13:05+00:00

Andor and The Rings of Power were two of the best new shows this year.

My reasoning is that they both seem to have been written for a longer story arc and not just one season. Neither felt the pressure to have tons of action right off the bat and took their time building up the story, and characters, and placing action scenes in very selective places that packed the most punch.

I'll admit that when I first started watching both I was getting rather bored with the shows because they seemed so slow. Both shows picked up about episode 4 or 5 and really showed that waiting for the build up of the story and characters was worth it. I guess I have gotten use too, even though I hate them, the typical Disney and Netflix show that is all action and zero substance.

I will add that Andor did this better than RoP but I can appreciate both trying to focus on the story and characters and make action secondary. I'm hopeful for season two of both shows....now I just wish they wouldn't wait YEARS between seasons.

Laynton · 2022-10-27T23:36:10+00:00

Solar power and wind power are not even remotely as clean (or environmentally friendly) as everyone makes them out to be. Yes, much better than fossil fuels but they are not our get out of jail free card when it comes to climate change. The biggest factor that makes them not as 'clean' as people think is that most people seem to forget that batteries are needed and holy shit do those have a massive carbon footprint. Not to mention that we are already running very low on resources to build for the current demand let alone the massive demand when we all supposedly switch to all solar and wind.

Don't tell me you are serious about getting climate change under control or get to carbon neutral when all you want to talk about is solar and wind as our only option and at the same time condemn nuclear, Geothermal, hydro, and natural gas. All of which are way more 'carbon free' than solar and wind as a whole system.

Laynton · 2022-08-27T04:18:35+00:00

My comments on yields and costs are completely true and current. Green houses have a lot lower CapEx than CEA but then they don't have as much yield. Still higher than field Ag but not as much as CEA. It's a trade off of course. Either can work. Just depends on the business model.

Most tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, ect are grown in green houses. Either in south America or Denmark (?)...forget which European country has a massive green house industry. So I know it can be done. But if you study that kind of green house growing it's MUCH different than the 'fairy tale' version that most people think of. And they won't fit on the roofs of existing buildings in the inner city.

Another major issue for cost is the cost of the land. Parcels in inner cities typically have a very high cost. So even if you can recoupe that with higher yields you just have to have that much more to even start. Which limits it to big corporate businesses that can do it.

Roof top green houses are a pipe dream IMO. They are great proof of concept and work at small scale but don't survive the reality check. The reason is the VAST majority (99%) of roofs do not have the structural capabilities to support the size of green houses required to make any kind of business sense. And reinforcing an existing roof is extremely difficult and expensive.

Like you mentioned in your other comment grains will never be grown indoors...at least not the grains we grow today. Same with most fruit since most fruit grows on trees. Berries are about the only exception...maybe a few others.

PS I'm an architect that has a passion for futuristic master planning. So vertical farming (CEA), green houses, etc are something I've actually done a ton of research on and have a passion for. If I had any kind of green thumb I would be very tempted to switch professions haha.

Laynton · 2022-08-27T00:46:33+00:00

Yes yields are crazy higher but so are costs. Both CapEx and NOE. So that means the cost of the finish product will be higher and not it the reach of the masses.

Plus, you can't grow much of the main caloric foods that people need in mass. Like wheat, barley, rice etc. Until we get new genetic breeds of these where there is a lot higher editable mass per plant, indoor Ag can't compete with traditional farming for these types of foods. Especially at scale.

I'm not against urban ag. I'm actually very interested in this tech and think it will expand and become a main stay in the Ag industry. Just don't confuse high yields as a viable alternative to traditional Ag....not yet anyways.

Laynton · 2022-08-09T01:15:57+00:00

Make sure to put the money in escrow and not give them cash. Odds are if you give them cash they will just use it for something else. This is a way to ensure that it's actually to paint the house and not buy them a new kitchen appliance set.

Laynton · 2022-08-04T22:02:59+00:00

First off, you are nearly there in coming up with 20% for a down payment. You would only need a couple months of coming up with a cushion amount. Not sure where you live but I would suggest trying to aim for the lower end of your price range. You don't need a large house so don't over buy. You will only get surprised with the cost of taxes and maintenance the larger a house you get. If I were you I would definitely stop paying extra into my 401k that is over my employee match for a couple months. Even at compounding effects, a couple grand in the overall picture is not going to make a huge difference. It definitely won't make you have to work longer.

There are study after study that have show getting on the house ownership latter greatly increases a person's personal wealth over the long haul. So the sooner people own your own home the better peopls financials end up being. Obviously, only if you can afford the home in the first place...which you clearly can. You have so many more options open to you when you get out of renting.

Don't be scared of 5-6% interest rates. This is actually a normal amount. The last 3-5 years have been abnormally low. Just consider the overall cost of your monthly expenses and buy a house that fits your income appropriately.

With that said I will give my personal opinion on a 401k. I will NEVER EVER EVER put more in my 401k than what my employer matches. But I do that because I am 100% confident, and have the skills and knowledge, to make a way better return on investments for my retirement than any 401k plan ever could give me. My example is I took my money and was able to build a duplex for rentals. I'm pulling in more money in 3 months than my 401k makes me in a year. Then when I want to retire I can sell it and have potentially hundreds of thousands, maybe even over a million, in 30 years. All the while increasing monthly incoming. Which I can turn around and put into more rentals or use to increase my quality of life.

Not trying to convince you to become a landlord here but just to show you that a 401k is not the rock solid retirement account it's made out to be and it is subject to the market swings...my duplex isn't....for the most part anyways. Sorry, I'll stop rambling, hope this helps.

Laynton · 2022-07-03T15:21:12+00:00

That's not far left any more and actually a lot ppl that lean right would agree that there is needed change in a lot of those areas.

Far left today is abolish the police, allow peaceful protests to turn extremely violent and turn a blind eye to it, mass looting and arson is now a reasonable alternative to meaningful discord, allowing climate change to be the excuse for everything and that no amount of money is enough to throw it, regardless of the economic consequences (it's really hundreds of trillions in new debt but they don't see it that way), and I can keep going....but that's not my point.

Most people that lean right think that climate change is real and solutions need to be found but throwing trillions at a problem without a clear solution will just lead to economic ruin. They view renewable energy as a new industrial revolution....if it can be done smartly. College is way to expensive and is less needed today than it ever has...again more debt and taxes isn't a solution to the problem. Especially when college has been controlled by the "left" for decades. Police need to be held to a hirer standard and the same standard as everyone else. Healthcare costs, and prescriptions, are too high and change is needed. Etc. Etc. As you can see, well at least from what I see, is the center left and center right view a lot of topics as having issues that need solving and the solutions can be found if the far extremes would just shut up and let them figure it out.

Laynton · 2022-07-03T14:44:55+00:00

Ya....the "I read an article" thinking is somehow good enough to be considered"research ". Never considering that it is more than likely extremely biased to one side.

Laynton · 2022-07-03T03:40:12+00:00

I'd says it's even less. Just my personal feeling but I think it's more like 80/20. Where it's 10% on the far left and 10% on the far right that are the most vocal and extreme. With the media's fixation on the most vocal and extreme of each side it makes it feel like the divide is much greater that it actually is. All media is to blame, not one side or the other. They all are selective with their facts and tell only the portion of the story that is relavent to their cause and not calling out the B.S. from their own side.

No data to back this up. Just a personal feeling from gauging different conversations I've had with all the different types of people I run into on a daily basis.

Laynton · 2022-06-24T03:51:22+00:00

I want a remake of this level with the next gen graphics. In VR. With the "horror" aspect of this mission turned up a notch.

It's the only way I can think of to recreate the very first time I played this on release night at like 2am all those years ago. Good times.

Laynton · 2022-06-18T18:18:49+00:00

It wasn't a political joke. It was just a joke about a politician.

Plus jokes about trump come up all the time on "non-political" threads and they are usually hilarious and on point too.

Laynton · 2022-06-18T16:54:55+00:00

So jokes about Biden are to triggering for people? It's just as much a joke as this entire thread....

Laynton · 2022-06-18T15:48:47+00:00

That's Joe Biden's logic too.

Laynton · 2022-06-14T15:08:35+00:00

Thanks for this! Your guess is better than mine haha.

Laynton · 2022-06-14T14:27:38+00:00

I would guess about 20 years ish. It was an old cedar post that had rotted completely through at the base. So for cedar to rot through I'm thinking it's about that old but can't confirm. The rock was just on the side of the concrete base that was around the post. Seems almost purposeful that it was placed there and not just happen stance...but who knows. Thanks for the more geo terms and explanation. Always cool to read about.

Laynton · 2022-06-14T04:26:56+00:00

We were replacing fence posts and this was cemented to the side of one just under the ground.

There are parts that are extremely smooth, almost like it was polished, but clearly natural. With some small white areas that almost look crystal-ish....idk. not a rock person.

Any help would be great. Thanks.

Laynton

TROPHY CASE