In the dog-eat-dog world of San Francisco, it’s not about finding an apartment (if you can afford the rent), but whether you can convince the landlord to pick you out of a stack of rental applications that read like Silicon…
Retirement: Slow and Steady Wins the Race
Today I want to talk about my parents. They are currently in Taipei, traveling all over Asia, enjoying the retired life. My mom and I can spend hours talking about finances, budgets, retirement…all things related to money and wealth. I’ve…
Tips for Securing Apartments in Popular Cities
I live in San Francisco where a million dollars will buy you a 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1200 sq. ft. condo in a nice neighborhood. Not only are home prices and rents sky-rocketing, the path to securing a home or apartment has…
Do You Have Enough to Retire?
I had an ex-boyfriend who was a computer science major and I remember asking him if he could build me a computer. When he said he wasn’t able to do that, I gave him a lot of flak. “How is…
The Buck Stops Here: When Your Children Steal from You
I was reading an article in Money magazine that posed the question, ‘How much should you help your adult kids?’ I was appalled at the real-world situations that were featured. Most of the parents were delaying retirement as they continued to…
Money Monday: Flying High on Financial Security
This week has been tough. Moving is stressful. I wish I could go on vacation–that’s a picture of me paragliding in Turkey. Add to the mix that my stolen Honda coupe still has not been recovered and I’m a visually-impaired…
Dude, Where’s My Car?
This past weekend, we went from renting a 1-bedroom apartment in Lower Nob Hill to homeowners of a duplex in Glen Park. Yes, Glen Park is still in the city of San Francisco! How people can live in the Bay…
Closing on a Home
Has anyone taken out a mortgage or closed on a home recently? Holy shit! There isn’t a single day that’s gone by where I haven’t had to email or fax statements, transactions, and responses to questions from the real estate…
Real Estate Update: We’re Moving to…
We’re going nowhere. Neither of our offers were successful and we can’t compete with irrational buyers/investors who are submitting bids that remove all contingencies. That means if your offer is chosen and you find out, through an inspection, that your…
Real Estate Update: 2 Offers, 2 Days
Heads up that I’ll be out of commission for a while. Starting yesterday, I’ll be working 12 days straight. That means, while you’re all watching the NFL playoffs and the Golden Globes this coming weekend, I’ll be going blind staring…