I need a million dollars. Any ideas?

[Aisling]

I'm a born and raised NYC girl, and even though I love it here, I think I want to move to California when my kids are on their own. DH has no preference as to where to retire to, and hopefully my DSs will end up there close to us. Retirement age for us is 20 years away, but I've already been looking at houses.

What I need help with is having the 1 million dollars I'd need to put down on the kind of house I want. Does anyone have any unconventional ideas that could help me get the house of my dreams??

 

[Melwood23]

When you get the solution... Pass it on!

I also want to move...to either Florida or Calif...or both

 

[kejoda]

I guess robbing a bank is unconventional.

My advice is to start investing in something that would be risky but have a high return. Before doing that I would find someone that you can trust to help you make that decision.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Clark Howard
http://clarkhoward.com/
Suzy Orman
http://www.suzeorman.com/index.cfm
Oprah's Debt Diet & Financial Guru's
David Bach, Jean Chatzky, Glinda Bridgforth
http://www2.oprah.com/money/debtdiet/experts/debtdiet_experts_main.jhtml

 

[kdibattista]

I always get emails from foreign lotteries that I have won... I will pass them along when I get the next one

 

[barkley]

contrary to popular belief-depending on what your dream house is, and where in california you want to live-not everything is a million dollars.

i live in northern california in what most people would consider an ideal location. we are about 2 hours from snow (sierras) and an hour or so from both san francisco and the north coast, we have one of the lowest crime rates in the region, and despite (in recent years) being a largely 'commuter community'-have an unreal 'mayberry' community. because we don't have allot of 'high tech'/high paying jobs in our area our home prices are much lower than the bay area. since we are not in a recreational/retirement area (beach/wine country/sierras) we are again lower than those areas. couple this with the fact that our housing market has crashed big time in the last 8 months, and foreclosures (bank and 'short sales') are up as much as 100% in some areas-you can get some killer deals on awsome houses (and it's going to get much worse before it gets any better).

i owned a 2400+ square foot home (all one floor), 3 bedroom (4th turned into an office) on a quarter acre incredibly landscaped lot (national award winning landscaper) with fruit trees, raised planters, high end japanese maples....new berber carpeting, upgrades galore-sold for $619,000 in 5/06-one of my neighbors with the identical home, bigger upgrades (new interior paint, crown molding, 1/3 acre lot, remodled stainless steel/granite appliance kitchen) put their house on the market in 9/06 (4 months later) and listed it at $595,000-it has since been lowered to $540,000-and identical houses (including a model with stunning upgrades) have sat on the market since 2 weeks after ours was listed and an offer accepted. this is in no way unusual for whats happening real estate wise right now-there is a glut of houses that have been sitting on the market for months and are now facing foreclosure because the rental market is such that rent for a home is generaly at best (unless the owner has owned it for a LONG TIME) running at about 50% of the mortgage/property tax payments.

honestly, if you realy want to move to california-check out the different counties/cities and compare prices/environment (they differ greatly)-but take a clue from us native borns-a whole lot of us move out of state to escape insane taxation and living expenses to adjacent states like oregon and nevada.

if that does'nt appeal to you and you have some ready cash-buy a house like my mil's which is in napa-underpriced because of the market by a least 100K-hold on to it (use it as an overpriced napa rental to cover your costs) and in 20 years when you are ready to buy your dream home-sell it off at a major profit (i sold mine for 410,000 more than i bought it for 7 years earlier ).

 

[monkeyboy]

there is always the worlds oldest profession
































baker...you make lots of dough

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

Learn to build it yourself.

 

[Aisling]

there is always the worlds oldest profession

Hey Monkeyboy, I'm a good girl!!!


Building it myself...hmmm...DH isn't handy, so I'd really be building it ALL BY myself.

Investments. At the moment, I don't have the money for that. I do own a home appraised at 518, so I guess that could be considered an investment.

Thank you for the links, and for the info about NoCa. I've really only been looking in SoCa, but I'm going to look right now at some NoCa real estate websites.

I want to put an ad in the paper if anyone wants to leave me their fortune. I'm serious! Once in a while, you read about people who have left large amounts of money to strangers. Maybe I can be one??

 

[Eeyore in Texas]

I always get emails from foreign lotteries that I have won... I will pass them along when I get the next one

ME TOO !!

 

[Aisling]

(i sold mine for 410,000 more than i bought it for 7 years earlier ).

barkley, that's a fantastic profit!

listed it at $595,000-it has since been lowered to $540,000-

Wow, I knew the market has hit a ceiling, but I didn't think California was affected. I think I read this is an east coast thing happening. So now would be a good time for buyers, but not sellers.

I think my only realistic hope is to use my current home to pay for my future home. And to look beyond Santa Monica, my dream location. I've visited Orange County a few years ago, but haven't made it up north yet. Thanks so much for the info.