Those cities are way too saturated currently. Outside of another housing crisis/major correction, an average investor would be hard pressed to find cash flowing properties there.

When was the last time you lived in Nashville? I moved here in 2012 and my 800 sq ft apartment was 950$ prices for everything around here have skyrocketed

It's not really enough when medical bills come into play. If you have ANY extraneous costs, your savings go out the window.

40K gets you a frugal life with modest savings as a single bloke, maybe it'd get you a family in an Amish settlement.

You hit the nail on the head. Something I read many years ago said that the major cause of people filing for bankruptcy was an unexpected medial bill. That's something all of us are collectively paying for, the bills for people that declared bankruptcy.

Somewhat true - I can speak for my area, San Francisco / San Jose, basically the most expensive in the country, it's possible to still pick up single family homes (not condos) for 600-700k, obviously they will be in pretty ghetto Mexican or lower end Vietnamese areas, but that's fine from an investment standpoint, middle-class Mexicans are great tenants. So if you just need to give it some cosmetic updates, maybe a couple bathroom remodels, some paint, flooring, lets call it $25k. The average 3 bedroom house rents out for $3500, and rents are going UP, San Jose saw rents up 8% last year, and they will continue to go up due to red-hot job market, and immigration (illegal and legal). So depending on your down payment, your monthly mortgage (including taxes) will be around $4k - BUT you can't forget you're going to build a ton of equity, you get huge tax advantages for investment properties, and if you don't sell that house, not only will it be worth $1million in 5 years, but you've got an absolute cash cow perpetually paying off $3500/month at CURRENT rent prices - and rent is going to continue to increase faster than even the property values.
So you'll be cash negative a measly $500/month for 2-3 years, after that you'll be cash flow neutral, and already have decent equity + appreciation. And then it accelerates from there.


As the saying goes - as goes California, so goes the rest of the nation. Well, California is a 2-teir society now - the rich tech people / CEO's / Business owners - and the working poor, but the "working poor" are making household incomes of ~150k+ due to having multi-generational households / renting out spare rooms, but they can't afford to buy...even though they make a much better living than they can anywhere else in the country. So they ownership class is slowly buying all the real estate (along with private corporations like Blackstone Group) and renting to the working class who can't afford to buy.

This will take place in the rest of the nation as the people with the STEM degrees / knowledge economy develop wealth, and the low skilled / service workers continually struggle more and more due to 40 years of globalism, outsourcing, and mass immigration - all which put lower wage pressure on lower skilled jobs.

Mid 40's /year checking in.

Only way I've been able to get ahead in life was moved back in with my parents after college, kept expenses to a minimum, and invested everything I made in the stock market at that time (2010-2013).
I got super lucky in that I invested when the market was still super low so I made amazing returns, was able to save/make about 90k 3 in half ish years which I used to buy my first house which I fixed up over time. Just sold that for 260k. A lot of that was just luck investing at a
Good time and buying real estate at a good time.

When I had the house I saved quite a bit because I wasn't having to pay rent and didn't have a mortgage, but now that
I'm out of it it's hard to budget anything for savings on my take home after all of the essential expenses. And I don't even jave a car payment (drive a 17 year old car)....Can't even imagine having a family and kids to raise, feelsbadman ������

When will it be my turn for actual middle class...

You all keep bringing this up. What about Health Insurance, 401k, and emergency savings?

That's what I'm saying lol. Where all gonna have to move to bumfuk Coffeyville, KS to make it

Originally Posted by MuzzieChik786
For a single person, you can definitely survive on that income. Just gotta cut out all the useless stuff and make smart financial decisions.

Couple of years ago I saw a guy sitting in one of my rental houses that I didn't recognize. It's a 3 story house with 8 beds and 4 baths. Asked him if he was staying there with the other 8 guys. He said No. Asked him where he was staying. He said he was at the city campground at a park, $8 a night for a place to pitch a tent from Wal Mart. Not bad, $56 a week.

A year later I met another guy that was doing the same kind of work. Asked him where was the cheapest place he stayed. He said in Waco Texas, him and another guy rented a storage unit for $50/month. They each had a cot to sleep in, they kept a milk jug to piss in at night, and there was a gym a few blocks away where they lifted and took a shower. They were refinery contractors, like most of my tenants are.

I sometimes think about sleeping in a Van to save on money

if you are not part of the STEM crew in 2019, i got some bad nuws srs

Are you going to park it by the river, and give motivational speeches?

does finance count as stem

Absolutely true. Investors are buying up all the housing.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...es-in-20-yearsNah, that is FIRE.

There is a lot of truth to this IMO. Covering up a lackluster social life with weak interpersonal relationships with material possessions.

It’s obvious at that income level you’re working well into your 60’s if not much longer. You’ll more than likely be in debt for most of your life and you’ll be lucky( in this day and age) to fully pay off a house and have something positive to pass along to the next generation.

I'm actually considering moving there, from New York. I currently pay $1,250 for just a room.

More like $500K.

I'd be happy to make $40k right now lol. Thankfully my next project pays up to $50k.

In what world do paramedics make 60k. Those guys make like 12-15 dollars....