Corsica, Part 2

There is simply no denying that a big part of wealth generation and preservation is tax management.  Federal tax brackets, states with high taxes, income thresholds that trigger higher capital gain taxes, sale of primary home deduction, among the lowest hanging fruit.

As a small business person, there is a lot more tax flexibility than a W2 worker but income is income and like my first good book-keeper once said and I oft repeated it, pigs get fat but hogs get slaughtered - meaning careful legal planning is better than cheating.  

Estate planning and having your shit together financially is one of my passions and pet projects and the more I dig into mine, the more I understand how advanced and proactive my planning has been.  My son’s 529 tax advantaged savings plan is overfunded so I’m looking at ways to perhaps reroute money from that account to others, and just by ways of general house-keeping I checked to make sure not only the beneficiary was correct (that’s easy) but also the Successor, meaning who controls the account if I should pass, and even that was done correctly.  Untold numbers of people die with inaccurate or outdated beneficiaries - can you imagine your ex-wife from 25 years ago getting your life insurance proceeds not your new wife or kids?

As I’ve mentioned, I forget what I write from blog post to blog post since many times it’s stream of consciousness, but this year, we have a bunch of spec homes finished and a bunch more being built.  It’s important that they sell, not necessarily like the old days where unsold homes (which was extremely rare) would pac-man your free cash with interest and carrying costs, but because they are a gauge of your continued market knowledge, prowess and instincts.  It’s been such a wild ride of the last half decade with every year bringing something brand new - 2 years post the conclusion of Covid the illness is still bringing uncertainty and unclarity into the real estate market with the new definition of remote working, hybrid working and what that means to our little sub-market, but you also have the macro elements of interest rates, Trump, now war.  It’s always been a lingering thought that upstate resales of homes purchased during the last 5 years might flood the market depressing sales prices with too much supply.

There is definitely more supply and I’m sure that is keeping prices steady, but the demand is there, still, for good homes priced right.  Even for good homes priced high, as long as high in the $700k-$885k (Sullivan County range) as long as it has some real bang. We have two specs, heading into contract.

Another Catskill Farms resale shocker- a mid-sized farmhousem, new, on Maple Lane, priced agressively in Mid-$800’s got multiple offers and then a deal above asking it appears.  That’s on the heels of another two sales just down the road.  Our shit sells, and our buyers make a lot of money. Our homeowners have made so much money off of our homes over the years it’s hard to overstate.  And so have I - not by maximizing each sale, but hitting my doubles, stretching them into triples when I can, and just keep keeping at it, sale after sale, year after year and now decade after decade. Know your market, take educated risks, hire the right people, control expenses, and never take your eye of the ball. I’m not a big enough business to have a bad year - I just wouldn’t forgive myself for it. Also, you can't eat all the shit from everyone all the the time - you gotta push back both out of principal and from a business survival standpoint - eating shit typically has a line item expense to it.

Didn't Abraham Lincoln say that - you can eat some of the shit all of the time, and eat all of the shit some of the time, but you can't eat all the shit all the time - (trivia - "I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours, I said that" - singer and song name - answer at the end.

It’s been windy here in these Tyrrhenian Sea islands but today really takes the cake (and last night). It must be 40mph outside with higher gusts.  The ferry ride from Sardinia would be atrocious. I mean, I’m literally frightened to go outside.  I was unsure what to do with the last 4 days of my trip - Milan, Rome, somewhere Mainland - but I decided to stay in Bonifacio and I was going to play golf everyday, which is a hobby I hope to rekindle.  But with hurricane winds like this, ain’t no golf being played.

Said but true state of things above - lost my glasses case, so now using a sock to keep from lens scratching.

Martin Shell of The Shell Law Firm (website seems to still not exist) is threatening me with libel and slander claims if I don’t stop posting about him and his clients.  I actually hope they start a claim because the depositions would be so fun and I have such a big surprise waiting for them.  We have yet to get clarification if Shell and Covit/Rich set up undisclosed recording devices to catch my privileged conversations with my attorney at a site inspection a few weeks ago - if so, it’s a serious situation and possible disbarment, and it’s a criminal act by the homeowners.  I have evidence that seems to suggest they did exactly that.  Seriously, setting up a whole house listening system to listen in on privileged conversations? That's a good indicator of what I'm dealing with here.

I remember flying to the Alps last April and we are all excited to fly Swiss Air, business class, but were surprised to board a United plane when the time came. Turns out, airlines can 'codeshare' meaning marketing one airline but you ride on another. Now I'm always on the look out for 'operated by' since that's who you are really flying with. They almost got me again when I booked a Lufthansa cross Atlantic flight - but I noticed it this time that the stellar German airline was being 'operated by United' meaning you weren't flying Lufthansa, you were flying United. I got nothing against United, actually enjoy that airline, but it's nice to know who you are flying with as you research lie flat seats, menus, and wine lists, if you know what I mean.

I know, so much information and education in every post.

Trivia Answer -

Bob Dylan

Talking WWIII Blues

‍