Welcome to Tuesday, Apexians. Yesterday, Kim and I officially toured our first home. After selling our house a few weeks ago, we’ve been browsing Zillow and Redfin to find places we might like to live. We liked the idea of the house we toured today but the reality was something else. Lousy town. Lousy neighborhood. Lousy everything overall.
But hey! You can’t find a prince without kissing a few frogs, right?
Okay, let’s dive into today’s money stories, shall we? And let’s start with housing.
Has there ever been a worse time to be a homebuyer? [A Wealth of Common Sense] — “I think you could make the argument the current market is the worst ever when it comes to being a homebuyer. There has never been a better seller’s market but buyers are in a world of hurt right now…Let’s count the ways.”
The value of work. [Surviving and Thriving] — “No, you won’t get the same props (or paycheck) for vacuuming an apartment building as you would for performing open-heart surgery. But that doesn’t mean a janitorial job is demeaning. It just means we don’t have the sense to appreciate it.”
Financial metrics to help you design your life today. [The Fioneers] — “Knowing your FI number doesn’t mean that you need to try to reach it as soon as possible. It simply allows you to know what your baseline needs are. With this baseline, you can run calculations and scenarios to understand your options.”
How I became the Honest Broker. [The Honest Broker] — “Honest Brokers play a hidden but vital role in communities without a history of legal protections and stable institutions. Their influence and power is built solely on a reputation for straight talk and trustworthy dealings.”
To close out today, here’s a video that combines a lot of things that fascinate me. It’s Paolo from Tokyo in an eight-minute video asking (and answering) the question, “Are Japanese really honest?”
Maybe Kim and I should be looking for places to live in Japan?!? 😉
Okay, that’s it for today. Back tomorrow with more. See you then.