I still have it but it's been sitting abandoned for a year now and given the general state of dilapidation it was in, I won't be surprised to come back to broken windows and pigeons roosting inside (I am only joking a little - the windows are from the 1970s and one had a cracked glass when I left - double-paned though, so keep your fingers crossed). The renovations didn't go far - I was out of my depth and it got to me, I got demoralized and gave up. I left to take my current job.guitarplayer wrote: ↑Tue Sep 13, 2022 1:44 amAnd you still have the place you have been renovating a while back?
Looking back, I was not ready to stop working. After purchasing the place, I had €180k in cash and I was stressed and insecure about that being too little. I would be too anxious about buying necessary tools and materials, for instance, and as a result I did nothing. Having some more cash to complete repairs would be good. I seem to be saving around 30k usd per calendar year. So far, I have decided on one more year at this job. Long-term plans are still up in the air. I feel like I only have enough money to retire in my country of origin but I'm not at all sure I actually want to live there. I am not ready for my means to limit me geographically - as opposed to others who have recently written about being done with an itinerant lifestyle, I am very much used to moving every year or two and before I left for this current job, I was feeling quite trapped where I was.
On the other hand, I don't want to sell the place. I loved the view over the city and the sense of space one got in that apartment. I have no idea how the decision to keep it will pan out geopolitically - as things stand, nothing guarantees that it won't be in the condition numerous apartment buildings are in now in ukraine. Things seem quite risky and precarious. I also have no idea how much money a proper structural repair would absorb. What really needs to happen is the whole place needs to be stripped down to concrete and redone from scratch. There are also a couple of faults that are structural - e.g. cracked 70s concrete. So far, I seem inclined to repair it, this seems to be an emotional decision rather than anything else.
In summary, I don't feel ready to quit having a steady source of income, I don't feel ready to quit on my international life and settle down in my tiny hometown where everyone knows my dirty socks since I was in first grade, and I am not ready to give up on the place I got and sell it. I have no idea how I'm going to square all of the above. Have been looking at various data analytics bootcamps but have made no decisions. Really, what I should do is get good at finance - currently busy being lazy, self-pitiful, and whiny about it and not making progress -- in other words, the usual. I know it's the rational direction to pursue but I don't have faith that I can make a good investor at all and so I am dragging my feet. I'll probably get over it eventually.