I guess I'm one of the poor folk here in Cali - I just own the one I'm livin' in!

 

it's all in what you do with what you have. i work in real estate & home loans in addition to being a full time test engineer. earned me enough in it to put 10% down on a 2nd house, then I leveraged for the 3rd & 4th. the downside to it all is when they are empgy, life sucks... I had no summer this year, very few hikng trips & maybe 3 camping trips. usually do about 12~14 hiking & 6 or 7 camping.

 

Yeah - I'm in RV Storage in the Bay Area, so I can relate to what happens when you have too many vacancies at once - but luckily, the cities there are always hounding people about parking their boats and trailers on the street - when they do I get a run of people looking for space. And I didn't move to Central Cali until just last year - after the boom and after people realized all us folks from the Bay Area and So Cal would be willing to pay more than what the locals would for houses (but far less than what we paid in those other locations). Sounds like you on the other hand got in when the gettin' was good!

 

Damn unleaded is 2.04 here while diesel is up at 2.45-2.65.

 

$2.04 ??? That's pretty low for gas - where is "here", speakle?

 

I've seen unleaded around here for $1.96, but the cheapest diesel around here is $2.33. Truck stops around here are charging $2.49. Don't get me started on the difference in gas and diesel prices, makes me get ILL.

 

1.99 unleaded.....2.28 diesel..that was in Oklahome this week ..
soon as I got home to Texas ..diesel went to 2.45

 

when I bought the one in escrow (1/2 plex) prices were around 100k for a house (bought mine for $80k) and homes were far more affordable. with me being single & having gone thru a divorce a few years earlier, it was tough to get one but ulitmately the right move. the apartment I rented was $680/mo, the 1/2plex ran me $685/mo, a no brianer really but back then it was pretty stressful. If I can get #2 sold, I MAY consider getting into a multi-unit apt bldg... 12~16 units. If it can provide a good sized positive cash flow then it may be worth doing. I'm not there yet so its just in the thinking stages.

 

Gas here in north IA is $1.96 and has been for a week, but 35 miles north in Albert Lea, MN it's $2.13. I guess they have a higher gas tax then we do in IA as we all get our fuel out of the Twin Cities.

 

man that must be nice... we havent seen gas under $2.50 in a couple of years.