New Construction (Not our house, photo credit)
Greetings friends, I have big news! We’ve purchased a home! A real stick-built house with walls and everything!
I haven’t been this giddy since I was a school boy, so let me tell you all about it.
First let me say, I know what your thinking:
“You! You, Mr. Renter for Life, you bought a house?!”
Yeah, I deserve that. Sorry. I’m grown up enough to admit when I was wrong, although I’m a little embarrassed and have been procrastinating writing this because I know I’m going to get some flak.
A lot has changed in the 2 years since I wrote about our intention to be lifelong renters.
First, we became parents. I’ve never experienced something so profoundly life changing. We enjoy the nomadic lifestyle, but we have somebody else to think about now.
Second, the intention was for our portfolio to comfortably support our desired lifestyle in Seattle, where we lived prior to early retirement. In the past several years, the Seattle housing market has been on a tear… and we were beginning to worry that we would be priced out forever.
So yes, we bought a house. We actually placed the offer on a property under construction when we were in Seattle this summer. I’ve been remotely managing the project through our real estate agent, and we’ve had an interior decorator friend handle the furnishings. We plan to put the house on Airbnb until the time we are ready to settle down, so a professional photographer stopped by last weekend to showcase the property.
Home Sweet Home
I think the photos came out great, so let’s start with a walkthrough.
We’ve stayed in a lot of Airbnb housing now and were careful to keep everything neutral in color to appeal to a broader audience. Once we move in ourselves, I’m excited to add a little life by painting a few walls. I’ve had my eye on some beautiful eggshell colored paint for awhile now, and also a very stunning ivory.
Specs
This home is 5 bedrooms, 4 baths, and 2,880 sq. ft, with a 2-car garage. It has a solar system, radiant heating, and water and mountain views from the multiple decks and terraces.
The master bedroom has a great view terrace, GCCJr will get his own bedroom, Winnie and I will each have a home office (a killer tax deduction!), and we will have a permanent guest room / storage room.
The kitchen, dining room, and one of the living rooms flow together nicely, which will be great for entertaining. And Winnie will finally have that professional chef’s kitchen she has always wanted.
It isn’t in the city center like we are used to, so we plan to get a small car. But one of the best biking paths in the region runs right in front of the house, so Jr and I will be able to do some nice bike rides.
It’s also in a really great school district (super important!) and within biking distance of the nearest elementary school, grocery store, library, and a nice Main Street with coffee and pastry shops. (We used the same principles for finding our very walkable Seattle apartment.)
Financials
The price after all fees and closing costs was $1,632,729. That includes furnishings, interior design fee, landscaping, etc… everything.
We paid quite a bit up front and only have a $1,000,000 mortgage remaining. This is important, since only interest paid on the first $1 million is tax deductible. I worked closely with a mortgage broker in Seattle who is a good friend, and he was able to take into consideration our portfolio and self-employment income.
This gives us a mortgage payment of $4,826.19. Property taxes are expected to be about $8k/year, but that is subject to change. I guess new construction sometimes takes a while to get a real assessment. Insurance will be in the range of $250/month. Through mortgage interest, property taxes, and home office depreciation, we’ll get about $1k/month savings on income taxes though.
That is quite a bit more than we were hoping to pay, but Winnie’s book has been doing really well and I’ve made tens of thousands more than we ever expected. Worst case, I can get a job again for a year or two until we get the mortgage paid off. Hopefully the stock market continues to go up too, that will be a big help.
I’m not a big fan of home maintenance, but we figured since we bought new construction we shouldn’t have any expenses for quite a few years. I also don’t really like lawn care, but I could mow this space in about 15 minutes. If it gets too unruly, I’ll put in rock or turf.
I did a detailed review of the cost of ownership of my last house, and this is definitely a luxury purchase. But then again, property values are up 30% in Seattle in the last few years, so maybe we’ll come out ahead. Maybe we should have purchased back then.
Special Thanks
I want to give special thanks to our real estate agent for managing this for us. I don’t even begrudge the fact that she made 3% on the closing price. She has been great through everything, and even gave us a $50 gift certificate to Chili’s.
The thing I look for first and foremost with anybody I hire is passion, so when I was looking for a real estate agent I looked no further than the comments section of this blog.
Back when I wrote about how I made $100k+ when I sold my last house, I highlighted how I would have made even more money if I had stayed in an apartment and invested more in the stock market instead .
A lot of people told me I was an idiot, but one person in particular was more sincere than the others. So when I called her to ask if she would represent us in the purchase of this home (yes, she is a realtor), she was understandably reticent. But when I apologized and explained that she had the right of it, and that she could make $90k with only a few hours of work, she became quite agreeable.
Thank you!
Final Thoughts
We are excited to move in, and also to know how many people didn’t realize this was an April Fools joke until this very moment. All photos for this very stunning home are from a random listing I found on Zillow (free advertising!)
Lots of love,
Jeremy, Winnie, & Julian
Go Curry Cracker!
Addendum
I’ve added a clue in the title that this was a joke. It seems our lifestyle choices make some people “disappointed” :)
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Nice Try! Happy April Fools Day :-)
Not for a second!
Well played.
Good one. You had me!
You had me going until I read the “5 bedrooms”!
You need 5 bedrooms for good resale value
Happy April 1st. The title was enough for me to call *. The location and price confirmed it.
I’ve contemplated buying little home bases around the world (30-40k will get you a surprisingly nice condo in Athens) just for fun (I’d love to travel with no luggage, just have 2-3 sets of clothes at each place), but I haven’t been able to narrow down places; too many awesome cities in the world. For now, bringing everything we own with us in a backpack each is much easier.
This was well written to be convincing, I liked the 1MM mortgage touch.
I bet you could find some people to go halfsies on an Athens condo. Not me though, I’ll rent ;)
I think Tim Ferriss leaves suitcases at different hotels he frequents, so he doesn’t have to travel with luggage.
When I saw the price I was sure..April’s fools
Seriously, you had me all the way… I was stunned. Sure glad I read the comments. I was telling my wife none of your post makes any sense. How could you pay off a a $1 million mortgage in two years?? Thanks for the laugh.
It’s easy, you just pay $500k per year!
Saw the headline in my email and remembered the date. Didn’t need to read the article…
aaaah I so believed it!!! ? ? ?
Happy April Fool! ?
Had me till the price ?
It does look like it will make for a nice Airbnb rental :)
Hahaha! Good one GCC! I posted a similar one yesterday so I figured something was up here. Nice job!
Oh, also the $50 Chili’s gift card was a hilarious touch!!
Now if it had been a small flat in Singapore or something, with AirBnB upside….the maybe…
:)
Had me until I sae the first picture…
Listen, it’s been a busy morning over here so I’ll be honest. I didn’t have time to read the whole post. But I have to say congrats! I read the most important parts – that you’re celebrating adulthood by making the best decision of your life. Joining the landed gentry. So big congratulations on that, and welcome to the club.
I always thought the rent vs own question was dumb. Why throw money away renting when you can own, right? :) Ok, back to my liver pate meow.
Great AF gag! I did think it was ostentatious, started questioning at 5bed/4bath, and my eyes popped out at $1.6m! Like many others I can understand having a home base – maybe in Taipei/KL/Spain, especially as school age approaches, but this was out of character…
I totally fell for that… and I felt so disappointed.
Learned something new today: I might be overly invested in the lifestyle choices of the GCC crew.
The $50 gift certificate to chili’s… ???
So generous!
Very good joke! I was in shock!
I thought it might be an April fool’s joke from the title but there was one line early on that made me certain this was a joke:
“I’m grown up enough to admit when I was wrong”
:)
Rightfully so. I was worried that line might be too much ;)
This is so you
yes. yes it is
You had me fooled until the end, great post! Was hoping you’d show us how to afford something like this as frugally as possible….
Ha, good one. Happy April Fool’s day!
Fuck me! I thought the world was coming to an end!
Ha Ha you got me for a brief moment but then saw the first picture and I thought no way! Love April fools day!
Nice one Jeremy. I knew something was wrong immediately after seeing the posting date along with having read your past blog posts. Happy April Fools Day back at ya.
I knew this had to be a joke but I read the entire thing anyways. Haha.
Damn it, Jeremy, I was TOTALLY going to do this as a April Fools joke and you beat me to it! Well-played, sir. Well-played.
the realtor giving you a 50$ certificate for chili’s was a for sure give away …. hahaha
Nice try! Had me going until I saw the photos. Looks like a luxurious prison!
Ha! I was totally suckered and confused, I’m really happy it’s an April Fool’s joke, I was thinking “oh well, I guess I just don’t relate to their new direction.”
My eyebrows were all scrunched up until I saw the price tag. Got me!
I’m such a sucker sometimes. Just about fell for it!
I fell for it and I was trying to understand how a white area rug and couch was going to work with a baby that would be playing with toys and even food.
When I saw that house and realized it would be closer to 5 million now in Seattle, I knew it was an April Fools joke. Good one though.
Hi, great post! I also have a baby and seriously have a home base and am looking at school districts, very frightening in downtown Toronto. The amazing kitchen had me wishing Winnie could show us how to cook great meals, she is self taught? I am cooking some but find it challenging with small child and husband with leg cast (partially torn Achilles) and wish it was second nature. Any thoughts on education etc. for jr? I am also looking at giving up a fulfillment challenged job…..
My husband was trying to have a conversation about our plans for today, and in my head I kept saying, “WHAT the f@&$”! Nooooooo, please just no. Nice one Jeremy, but now I have to go clean out my pants.
Haha! Good one GCC! …. $50 gift certificate to Chili’s….ha!
I absolutely love April Fools jokes :) I knew you guys were full of crap when I got to the pictures. Awesome post!
You got me! My mouth dropped open when I first started reading.
I’m sitting here running numbers in my head, open to possibilities and new realities…
Was my projection of the GCC story that far off? Is there something I missed? They really dropped more than my entire net worth on a house? To lever a Chili’s token? They wanna dive into american healthcare now?
You completely got me until I read the comments. Didn’t even realize what day it was !
The funny part is that my property taxes are around the 8k/yr for a house that is a fraction of that value on the east coast.
that doesn’t seem funny to me :)
Why do I keep falling for all of the bloggers’ April Fool’s jokes?? Curse my naturally trusting nature!!!
The comments saved me…! I was about to book via AirBnB
It is a steal at $700/night. Tell your friends!
Thank god! That mortgage payment F me!
I think you are serious. In fact I don’t think it is a bad idea, for a variety of reasons.
I knew it was a joke when I saw the kitchen with the fridge next to the double wall ovens…that’s very bad feng shui.
I believed you until the 4th paragraph. Well played my friend!
Dang son!! ? 1.6 M ?
Don’t have time to read whole article, but glad you came to your senses. Real estate by far is the best investment.
If you need any tax advice, just email me.
You got me!
Damn, that woulda been a sweet house to come party in! Love the views! Sick!
So really no desire to settle down with the little one?!
Sam
might happen some day. In a rental.
2nd April here, first day of daylight savings time, first coffee thinking ‘hmmf, out of character, risking buying at the top and taking a nasty tumble’. In Bothell, WA last September, on daily walks saw 1970s houses demolished and 4 x $1.5 M houses erected on each block – ‘not good value’. I purchased my place, 4 x 2 200 m^2 on 1,000 m^2 with cash in 1990. Having lived in it since the total yield (capital gain + imputed rent – depreciation – rates) has been around 7% compound. With property rates gone up to $2,000 / y it is only fair value now due to extreme low global interest rates; an increase in which could see higher flying property prices decrease savagely; probably less so in my area.
Haha good one Jeremy.
It comes with a SOLAR SYSTEM?! :) I wasn’t fooled for a second. But I did enjoy how far you took it. Happy Saturday!
So relieved it was a joke!! Travel onward!!
Ha! ?
You got me. That was a good one!
Even though I was perplexed the whole time (thinking the house design is not timeless), this post definitely got me. What a great April Fool’s post.
Ha, ha. Not a chance I was fooled into thinking you would buy that beauty. But well played. I got some good laughs as it got more and more ridiculous. Fun stuff.
Haha. You had me until “and we’ve had an interior decorator friend handle the furnishings”.
Interior decorator? Furnishings? Oh wait… ;)
I was at work all day and just read the title of the blog post and skimmed the first half. I went around in a stupor, wondering if you had hit your head on a low arch in Europe. It never occurred to me you were joking. I just thought you had lost your mind.
Oh, that was cruel! Jeremy, I was going to write a nasty comment calling you a hypocrite until I read the last para. Even your lies are so convincing!
Hahaha… I was skeptical until I read Seattle!! It was no brainer after that. Good build up to the real estate agent story… I’d like to use the same one. Please send me the contact… all you need is passion!
Gotta love April Fools! Good one!!
Damn that IS a nice house though..
Only 1.6M? You need to up your game a little. You can’t be a baller on a budget. (kidding)
You had me 100%!
Damn! I started having some doubts with Street view and the Master Bedroom Terrace photos. The street view did not have any signs of water in the neighborhood.
Me and my wife just had our first kid. Now everyone around us is telling us to buy a house. I take your suggestions very seriously in my life. Need to re-read your Renter-For-life series before I finally make my mind.
Keep up the good work, keep inspiring us!
-Ali
I knew it was an April Fools joke within a few seconds.
“Once we move in ourselves, I’m excited to add a little life by painting a few walls. I’ve had my eye on some beautiful eggshell colored paint for awhile now, and also a very stunning ivory.”
LOL. congrats on using two oxymorons in one sentence about wall paint – “beautiful eggshell colored paint” and “a very stunning ivory”
So much nicer than the off white that is used in all of these Airbnb apartments
So.Well. Done. Thank you!
my pleasure
Had I read this on Saturday I probably wouldn’t have fallen for it … but since I was a couple days late you got me pretty good!
Come by and visit anytime. We have extra bedrooms! ;)
Reading this several days later, and as a relatively new reader of your blog, I fell for this hard. I couldn’t understand how all the articles on your site made so much sense and this called everything into question. Very well done!
This sounds like how I feel every time I hear a friend say they bought a house for real :p
Too funny mate! For a second there I thought you had hit your head really hard on something.
I wasn’t picking up what you were putting down for even one hot second. Haha. Nice try, though. That house is pretty amazing; however, if you did buy it, you might need to change your name to Home Curry Cracker. :)
Totally had me fooled! Very nice!!!!
You had me going, I’ll admit it. We are homeowners with a family and I was believing that part, but then….
Thanks for the laugh.
man you had me going..i was telling my wife you lost your mind..haha
I was also mad at your cheap realtor who gave you a $50.00 gift card..
All I was thinking about was how badly I wanted to eat some curry…in the house of Go Curry Cracker. Epic.
And yeah, you had me going pretty good too! :)
You totally had me fooled (and I almost convinced James!) HA!!! Hugs to you three! XOXO
It looks like someone actually bought it for $1.7 million! Congrats on your new home.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1766-Alki-Ave-SW-Seattle-WA-98116/48656211_zpid/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=morechart&utm_campaign=emo-homereport2-button
$120,000 principal & interest / yr + $6,000 taxes / yr.
Hahaha..I was thinking that was a turn up!! But things do change and so do we… Funny though.. lucky you told me at the end… because I never read the date at the top.. DOH!
Holy shit, I read the post on Apr 1st, but apparently didn’t get to the April Fools part… I was coming here just about a month later to bitch about how I sold my house based on your and JLCollins posts! Did you know you had that much influence over your readers? LOL, that was just part of it, I am buying a house now in Broomfield, CO… probably a big mistake given the current overinflated market, but compared to renting, buying is almost a steal. Also, I figure we can rent it out during our long vacations and make a pretty good amount during that time. Knowing this was a hoax has restored my faith in you!
Had me going . . .
I love it. That is awesome!
Will admit, you had me hook line and sinker.
Good one. It pays to read to the end!