I've returned from my cruise and am trying to get caught up on everything. Unfortunately, my mother-in-law is critically ill and probably will be passing any day, so I expect to be taking off again sometime soon for her funeral.
The cruise was fantastic! We went to several cities in Italy, Barcelona, Monaco, and Tunisia. This was my first cruise and now that is the only way I want to vacation! It's awesome! Fantastic food, relaxing accommodations. I couldn't ask for anything else.
Of course, being interested in real estate, I quizzed some of our tour guides about local real estate prices in the various countries we visited. In Monaco and Monte Carlo, housing prices start at 30,000 Euro per square meter. At exchange rates as of this writing, that works out to about $500,000 per square foot. But the good news is, if you make Monaco your residence, you won't have to pay income tax or inheritance tax, so if you have a high income (and if you are looking to live in Monaco, you do have a high income), you'll recoup your investment pretty quickly. We were in Monte Carlo a week after the Formula One Grand Prix, so we got to see the grandstands and pit garages, which were still set up, and drove on part of the course. In Rome, prices for buying an apartment in the city run around 1.5 to 2 million Euro. On the Isle of Capri, prices are even higher. (On a side note, we saw the Capri residence of Italian designer Versace. The house itself is modest, but the location makes it worth a fortune. It's the white house directly above the orange cactus flower in the picture. Click to enlarge.)
We also visited the Coliseum, the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, Sorrento, Carthage, Florence, the Blue Grotto, saw Michelangelo's David, went to the Uffizi Gallery (where we saw works of art by all of the Ninja Turtles), Barcelona, and so much more. I took over 800 pictures! (Thank goodness for digital cameras!) There is so much more to talk about from the cruise, but this is a real estate blog, so I will try to refrain.
Back here at home, things are moving along. Rental #1 has had the repairs completed and is now listed for sale. It's listed at $58,000, which is much less than I paid for it, but this is what my agent thinks it can sell for.
Multi #1 finally closed escrow at the end of May. The previous owner had started the process of raising rents and we will continue that process as lease come up for renewal. The capital improvements we planned are now starting to be implemented. The initial focus will be on touching up the paint, changing the sign (we had to change the name of the complex as a term of the sale), and installing a water feature. I look forward to seeing the first financial statement at the end of the month.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
I'm Back ... But Only For A Short Time
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6 comments:
I think maybe you're off a decimal point
3000 euros / m^2 * (.03048 m/foot)^2 * .15527 dollars / euro
= $4327 / square foot.
Which of course is still expensive - 1000 sq ft is 4.3 million
Nope. First, it was 30,000 euro, not 3,000. Second, your euro conversion is off. 1 Euro = 1.5551 US dollars (or, to put it in your terms, 0.6430 dollars / euro). 1 square meter = 10.7639104 square feet (which is just another way of stating your conversion factor). 30000 euro / sq m * 10.7639104 sq ft / sq m * 0.6430 dollar / euro = 502,168 dollars / sq ft.
Bah shows what I know :-D
Shaun your math on the money is correct, but you math on the area is wrong. See in both parts you sq m is on the bottom, but to cancel out it needs to be on the top, so you need to use sq m/sq ft NOT sq ft per sq m. .0929 NOT 10.76.
Use this and redo the math.
Now you get $1,792 per square foot. The REAL answer.
Jason Dragon
http://blog.capitalactive.com/
Oops.. You're right.
Ah yes.. You gotta love the snarky comment left by the cowardly poster hiding behind the veil of anonymity. As if you even knew the whole situation based on a few sentences from a blog. My mother in law was diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer several months ago. She had been undergoing chemotherapy since she was diagnosed and seemed to be handling it fairly well. Did you know we talked with her about the cruise when she was diagnosed and she was very adamant that we still go on it? Of course not. It was while we were on the cruise that she took a turn for the worse and went into liver failure. Did you know we called her from the ship and she was still insistent that we continue the cruise instead of leaving the ship and flying back to her? Of course not. Do you have any idea how emotionally upsetting it is to be told by your own mother not to come see her when three other daughters all got to go? Of course not. When we got back in to the states, we went directly to her home instead of back to ours and my wife stayed with her and her father for a week. She just passed away today. So before you post another comment, why don't you pull your holier-than-thou head out of your ass and stop to think that maybe you don't have even the slightest inkling of the whole picture. Thanks for your concern, asshole.
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