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- Dec 31, 2021
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Worst: Saving 10% of your income in today's money will worth much less in 20 years.
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Free registration at the forum removes this block.Do you think if you had done afluent neighborhoods but gotten less rent as a ratio of purchase price (often I see on zillow it doesn't scale after average apartment rental price in the area) you would have had less repairs/vacancies? In your city would you have made it up on equity?I've increased my carpet cleaning pricing by 50% over a span of 3 years. There was initially some resistance, but clients now seem to just accept that obscenely higher prices are the way of life. I don't know how the common paycheck to paycheck American is surviving in today's world.
I'm currently in the process of exiting real estate and transferring all of the funds to high end watches. My watches have always outperformed everything else I've ever invested in.
My rental property portfolio has taken an absolute beating in the past 3 years because I didn't diversify enough. My fault for only investing in blue collar neighborhoods. Lots of money lost due to vacancies and repairs, but big lessons learned.
I've seen some people who do huge volume in Pokemon cards. My question is always this - do you just not care about counterfeits? Its not like it would be hard to 1:1 copy these things I'd imagine.This is goofy af. But collectibles.
When covid initially hit, I unloaded my MTG collection for about 60k. Never thought I'd get back into it.
Now, here I am, with 7 figures in cardboard because I can't stop finding collections at rock bottom prices.
I get the vibe people are panic selling, but the prices are only going up, and people are picking up items at said prices. Shits wild.
If it keeps going at this rate, I'll be selling agency number 2, and hiring a few people to help me flip collectibles full time.
Cheers.
Probably, but I'll never know. The major mistake was I didn't vet the property management company well enough. They have been around 20 years and had a good reputation, but secretly sold their biz while still keeping the brand name. The new owners will rent your property to anyone with a pulse. I've had multiple occurrences where a new renter moved in and within a month they stopped paying rent.Do you think if you had done afluent neighborhoods but gotten less rent as a ratio of purchase price (often I see on zillow it doesn't scale after average apartment rental price in the area) you would have had less repairs/vacancies?
This is just my perspective, but I wouldn't go back into real estate because watches are:Now I am considering getting back in and being more long term focused and not necessarily worrying about cash flow from rent so I'd appreciate your perspective.
Do you tend to focus on newly-released watches or vintage? And what brands do you see performing best (I've heard Rolex Daytona's skyrocketed over the past few years and same with Patek Nautilus)I'm currently in the process of exiting real estate and transferring all of the funds to high end watches. My watches have always outperformed everything else I've ever invested in.
Wouldn't it still be impacted by supply/demand? Or is it less "efficient" than say Real Estate because prices can vary widely depending on condition, release year, etc.?
- You have more control over the value of the asset as opposed to being reliant on market forces
You wouldn't believe how difficult creating GOOD fakes is, especially for a game such as Pokémon that has cards with different types of layered "foiling."I've seen some people who do huge volume in Pokemon cards. My question is always this - do you just not care about counterfeits? Its not like it would be hard to 1:1 copy these things I'd imagine.
I prefer newly-released because vintage requires a lot of experience to determine value. Rolex, Patek, and Audemars Piguet are the best IMO, but you have to be careful which models you buy because some are valued purely on hype similar to Beanie Babies from the 1990's.Do you tend to focus on newly-released watches or vintage? And what brands do you see performing best (I've heard Rolex Daytona's skyrocketed over the past few years and same with Patek Nautilus)
Supply/demand still matters, but you can influence the value similar to how car dealerships do:Wouldn't it still be impacted by supply/demand? Or is it less "efficient" than say Real Estate because prices can vary widely depending on condition, release year, etc.?
Unfortunately there's a limit to that. Basically, if you have a B2C business you are more or less F*cked after some point, because wages are way behind inflation.
A business Raising prices.
Hard disagree with "none". The increases in RE prices have been absolutely crazy. I'd say the defense is built-in. I'm doubtful that there will ever be a housing market crash again. They will just keep it propped up.
Real estate None, but creates a long-term preservation of buying power
I raised prices 100% over the last 3 years and saw the same resistance but there simply was no alternative. I think it has been too much and I need to lower them again, because sales volumes are starting to suffer. Actually feel bad charging so much.I've increased my carpet cleaning pricing by 50% over a span of 3 years. There was initially some resistance, but clients now seem to just accept that obscenely higher prices are the way of life. I don't know how the common paycheck to paycheck American is surviving in today's world.
I think my being based in Germany is what's contributing to this doom and gloom attitude, with the weak Euro and structural weaknesses here. So I'm working on a move to the U.S. to at least swim with the inflation current. Living in Europe feels not just like swimming against the current, but doing it in a different river that's slowly running dry.
Unfortunately there's a limit to that. Basically, if you have a B2C business you are more or less F*cked after some point, because wages are way behind inflation.
Much easier with B2B. Price increases just go down the supply chain until they hit some B2C sucker at the end of the line, who will then slowly go bankrupt.
Hard disagree with "none". The increases in RE prices have been absolutely crazy. I'd say the defense is built-in. I'm doubtful that there will ever be a housing market crash again. They will just keep it propped up.
If you don't own RE right now, you probably never will (exception: massively outsized business success).
On the other side, to people that own RE, everything in life just seems like a game / monopoly-money to them. I often can't believe how casually those huge numbers are thrown around here.
I feel exactly the same as you, but I live in California. Inflation + corrupt politicians are ruining the state and I am now at a point where I'm considering leaving. My house is worth $1.3M and I don't feel safe walking around outside. The homeless zombies are multiplying here because fentanyl is cheaper than heroin and 50x stronger.I think my being based in Germany is what's contributing to this doom and gloom attitude, with the weak Euro and structural weaknesses here. So I'm working on a move to the U.S. to at least swim with the inflation current. Living in Europe feels not just like swimming against the current, but doing it in a different river that's slowly running dry.
It took me multiple failures to learn not to sell to normal people in B2C. The margins are thin and they spend so much time/energy trying to negotiate every penny down. These people will scream and create chaos over a tiny amount of money. Not worth it.Basically, if you have a B2C business you are more or less F*cked after some point, because wages are way behind inflation.
Much easier with B2B. Price increases just go down the supply chain until they hit some B2C sucker at the end of the line, who will then slowly go bankrupt.
You're not starting from zero at all. You left the starting block and achieved a lot already.I feel like I'm starting from zero again, or rather, never left the starting block
I feel exactly the same as you, but I live in California. Inflation + corrupt politicians are ruining the state and I am now at a point where I'm considering leaving. My house is worth $1.3M and I don't feel safe walking around outside. The homeless zombies are multiplying here because fentanyl is cheaper than heroin and 50x stronger.
My main problem is being way behind the market. My business isn't worthless, but it's currently simply not good enough for this new world with 10-20% yearly inflation. As long as that's the case I won't be able to afford even a simple middle class lifestyle. And middle class lifestyle isn't exactly the goal of the fastlane.You're not starting from zero at all. You left the starting block and achieved a lot already.
What needs to happen for you to be happy with your direction?
My main problem is being way behind the market. My business isn't worthless, but it's currently simply not good enough for this new world with 10-20% yearly inflation. As long as that's the case I won't be able to afford even a simple middle class lifestyle. And middle class lifestyle isn't exactly the goal of the fastlane.
I'm working on improving the business (going international and focussing more on digital services vs physical products), which should help with general scale and margins. Next step will be rolling the profits from the current business into a new one with much higher potential, either by selling it or just using the cashflow to fund the new one.
No, unfortunately it will still be B2C. Basically I'm trying to get the most out of this business before I either sell it or use it for more or less passive cashflow.Is the digital service a B2B service?
No, unfortunately it will still be B2C. Basically I'm trying to get the most out of this business before I either sell it or use it for more or less passive cashflow.
Just learned that at my salaried job, the entire department is going away. All Stealth Delivery positions will be eliminated in 2 years or less. I got lucky when they laid me off. Blessing in disguise.Here are my best defenses, and worse defenses for inflation, in order of strength.
This, of course, is purely my opinion based on 50+ years of experience on this planet Earth.
Feel free to comment, add your thoughts, or add your rankings.
And then, adjust your strategy now and in the future.
Notice how these strategies all fall-in line with a Fastlane strategy.
BEST DEFENSE (IN ORDER OF POWER) ACTIONABLE DEFENSE A business Raising prices. Rental property Raising rents. A specialized skill Raising your return on labor rental Real estate None, but creates a long-term preservation of buying power Personal influence Increase that rates at which you exert influence (A YouTube channel with 1 million subscribers can help you beat inflation!) A sales job Sell more at higher prices through indirect association of the patriarch business Hard assets and commodities Buy gold, silver, gas, hard assets. Commodity investments Buy commodity assets on an exchange, like DBC, futures, etc. Stockpiling supplies Buy life's necessities and store for later user A money system Increase return on cash via raising interest rates. A part time job Increase return on your time through higher labor costs WORST DEFENSE ACTIONABLE DEFENSE A government paycheck Nothing. A pension, social security Nothing. A salaried job Nothing.
Feel free to add in anything I might have forgotten!
Or add your thoughts or opinion.
For my next business I will most likely not do B2C again yea. But that is probably a few years down the road. Who knows what will happen until then.So the next step is to escape B2C completely or get into B2C for rich people?
It's a niche in a huge market, so in theory a nice business. Decent barrier to entry due to manufacturing complexity and other streamlined business processes.And why is your business not good enough? Product quality? Or the targeted audience who can't keep up with inflation?
It would be nice to get a much nicer house for the same dollar, but I'd be leaving a ton of family behind. My family ties are strong here and it would make me sad to leave them behind.If you were to sell the house and move to, say, Tennessee, where prices (I guess) are at least 2x lower, how does that make you feel?
I don't think most of them ever pause to truly reflect on this. Since the cost of living here is extremely high everyone sorta just puts their heads down and grinds through their daily work.How does an average person in California these days looks at what they get there vs what they can get somewhere else, even though they would no longer live in a "cool" state?
Do you mind sharing more on your expertise and lessons in watch investing as well as rental real estate investing?I've increased my carpet cleaning pricing by 50% over a span of 3 years. There was initially some resistance, but clients now seem to just accept that obscenely higher prices are the way of life. I don't know how the common paycheck to paycheck American is surviving in today's world.
I'm currently in the process of exiting real estate and transferring all of the funds to high end watches. My watches have always outperformed everything else I've ever invested in.
My rental property portfolio has taken an absolute beating in the past 3 years because I didn't diversify enough. My fault for only investing in blue collar neighborhoods. Lots of money lost due to vacancies and repairs, but big lessons learned.
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