Posted on 12/29/2007 5:48:14 AM PST by Oshkalaboomboom
There is the legitimate and moral way to work your way up and use thrift to do it...and then there is this dirtbag.
If he is touted as the “New American Success Story”, then we might as well pack it in as a country. It seems to me he is nothing but a parasite.
He flew to New York and rented a 30th-floor apartment in a federally subsidized housing project in Spanish Harlem, where he could see uptown to the lights of Yankee Stadium.
How to get rich in America...sponge off the taxpayers (funny, he sure did hate it when his sister sponged off him)...
"My only house I have now can be sold for $1,175,000, and I owe $380,000 on it," Corey says. "Equity is $795,000."
Not for long weird boy. Most if your "wealth" is paper wealth tied to a house. Expect to take a 50% haircut to your net worth in the next few years...
I dunno—he’s got the right idea, though he carries it to an extreme. I know a fair amount of people who make very good money, but piss it away on things like eating out 3X a week, Starbucks every day, new cars every 2 years, and the latest crap gadgets. A lot of people also have no tracking system for their income or savings, which is a huge mistake as well.
That being said, a $40K computer job in NYC is the equivalent of making minimum wage.
I remember a story about a secretary in New York. She had the same job all her life, never lived extravagantly, saved and invested, and left behind several million dollars when she died.
My husband was just like this guy, but by the time he died at age 41, he had so many investments and a huge house without a mortgage, that I am still living comfortably all these years later. I never noticed he was cheap. We lived in the best part of town, drove Lincolns (used) and were aiming to join the local country club when he died. And our children went to private school, and any college they chose.
He scams the scammers, works a regular job, saves his cash, invests in real estate and has a blast. If that's parasitism, we need more of it.
I think he worked pretty hard for his money. He started at what age 6 with a lemonaid stand. He got meals by working. The Jerry Springer thing was stupid, but the rest of the story is inspirational to those who have doubts about making it in America.
Sorry to hear about your husband’s death at such an early age.
Most of his status is based on the possibility of selling one house at a huge profit. A lot of people have been financially ruined by such speculation.
Now that's funny.
Wow, there are a lot of envious people on this thread. Hey, the kid's got a house worth over a million and only owes $300K. He's living frugally -- not spending the equity -- and you say he could be financially ruined?
Sounds like a hard-working and pretty interesting guy. Wish I'd been more like him.
This story’s probably about as real as the one he told to get on Springer.
LBT
......
A friend of mine recently told me the horror story of a co-worker of hers, who was determined to marry a rich lawyer.
Well, she succeeded, landing a young partner in the law firm where she worked. But the guy is so stingy he makes the creep in the article look like Santa Claus. He makes $400K a year, and yet is constantly trying to con his $30K secretary into buying him lunch. Even though his new wife is pregnant, he is FORCING her to keep working to pay for “her share” of the house he recently bought on sheriff’s sale. Plus no new clothes, no gifts of jewelry, no trips.
There’s no purpose in having money, as you say, unless you can enjoy at least some of it. People like this usually never get to the point at which they can relax and spend a little—to them, they’ve never made or saved enough.
Don't balance your checkbook. You'll err on the conservative side and periodically move the excess to savings. It's real estate that's key, though, in making real money.
As to Federal housing ripoffs, lawyers have analogous ways to do the same thing. This kid's got gumption, and I wish him luck.
He is no different than the character Trina in Frank Norris’ McTeague, a novel about the crippling effect of greed. This guy certainly does sound like he parasites of his friends, which sounds like greed to me, and no, we don’t need more greed.
He sounds a lot happier in his weird lifestyle than most people I know. Oh, and he's a millionaire too........
I'm certainly in no position to judge this guy.
You missed my point. He has a million dollars IF he sells that house for a million dollars. If he tries to sell it and only gets 300,001 dollar, he has a REAL worth of $1 profit on that house, or whatever the actuals are. Such speculation led to the housing crash of the 1920’s.
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