The Ramsey Show - App - DAVE RANT: Get Off My Lawn! (Why HOAs Suck) (Hour 2)

Episode Date: October 7, 2021

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Music Music Music Music Music Music Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host.

Thank you for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. His brand new book, From Paycheck to Purpose, comes out in early November. It is in pre-sale right now. From Paycheck to Purpose, the clear path to work you love. You can get the book and about a couple hundred dollars worth of extras added in. Paycheck to Purpose, The Clear Path to Work You Love. You can get the book and about a couple hundred dollars worth of extras added in if you go to ramseysolutions.com, all for $20,

because we give you lots of goodies to do it and to sell the books in pre-sale. It helps us with hitting the list, the bestseller list, and that helps Ken with the marketing and helps with the future of the book to launch it out hot and so we're very intentional about that and we bribe you into helping us yeah it's a good deal it's quite a bribe i must say a lot of good stuff there a lot of good stuff and you know what it's exciting because right now i mean we got 55 of americans are now actively looking to change and they're saying hey now's the time i can do it. And it is. We were talking earlier about how it's a seller's market in the housing.

Well, it's a buyer's market for jobs right now. There's so many great opportunities. And we talk about this all the time at Ramsey Solutions. We're blessed to be a blessing. And it is possible, Dave. The American dream is as live as it has ever been and let me tell you a huge mistake people are going to make though right now yeah they can jump from one job to another with the exact same skill set doing the exact same thing and make a

lot more money than they're making now yep and that's why a lot of people are moving right now because there's a serious labor crisis in America. And so companies are paying unbelievable money to bribe you to get you to leave. Now, here's where the mistake can happen. You do it only for the money, and you move from miserable to well-paid miserable. Yep. Yeah, and then you start worrying about, oh, am I a job hopper? And I get that call all the time.

I took the raise, and I took the influence. I got a bump in position. I'm not worried about that. I'm just telling you you're looking for happiness in the wrong place when you're looking at a paycheck. Yeah, I want you to make more money. There's no sin in making money. Go make some more money. That's a good thing.

But also, don't be miserable. If you're miserable now, and you get to do more of miserable, you're going to be more miserable. A hundred percent. The high of the promotion and the bigger paycheck wears off pretty quick. Yeah, like 35 seconds. Yeah. And so you're exactly right. That is the wrong way to look at it.

You've got to love the work and you've got to be connected to the results. That's passion and mission. It's not enough just to have a talent job. And so that's why we wrote the book we want people to have income that they want make it and then also the impact from paycheck to purpose yeah it's the second part of the title hello yeah find something where you love what you're doing not a hundred percent of the time where you love the people but not a hundred percent of the time if you'd love a hundred percent of the time you're just whacked you're a psychopath

okay there's some days it just sucks to go to work okay i don't time. If you love 100% of the time, you're just whacked. You're a psychopath. Okay? There's some days it just sucks to go to work. Okay? I don't care how much you love what you do. I love what I do. There's some times I don't want to come down here. Not much, but if it gets to be a lot, y'all are in trouble because I ain't coming anymore.

But, you know, so you want to find something where you love what you do, but that doesn't mean every day is unicorns and skittles and rainbows. That's not what it is. And for that matter, Dave, you know, we get this question a lot. Hey, how much of my day, Ken, should be in my sweet spot? You know, 75% is a good rule of thumb. But the bottom line is we all have to do stuff that we don't want to do. And to your point, there are some really sucky days.

Count on 5% being shoveling manure. Yeah, yeah. But it's passion for the work love of the work itself it's a missional connection to the results that brings you back and by the way we'll take care of all the promotions that you ever need i mean when you're on fire you got the juice people see that in your eyes and they look at you and they go this person was born for this you're never gonna have to worry about being promoted and you're not going to get to the end of your life more importantly look back with a bunch of regret you You're going to say, you know what? I lived well.

I'll never forget a buddy of mine that was a career coach in another generation that does what you do, Dan Miller. I remember him coaching a guy one-on-one who was a heart surgeon, and his dad was a heart surgeon, and he was making like $450,000 a year. And he was so miserable, he had become addicted to heroin. Wow. He was shooting it into his ankles, trying to find a vein that couldn't be detected as a doc, right? But he was just so, you know, because he became a doctor only because his dad was, and he hated every minute of it.

So it does not matter how much money you make. If you're miserable and you just make more money, you're well-financed miserable. That's all it is. And so don't do that. From paycheck to purpose. Again, we're going to be adults and say everything is not perfect anywhere, but at least find something, for God's sakes, that you care about, that is your why, it fits into who you are, what you're passionate about,

and that's what Ken's whole life is about, is about connecting you to that. From paycheck to purpose, the clear path to doing work you love. It's only $20, and you get over $100 worth of free bonus items at RamseySolutions.com right now. Shay is with us in Gilbert, Arizona. Hi, Shay. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hi, guys. Thank you for having me and taking my call sure um i so long story short i'm 22 years old married on baby step number two um with my debt of our trust that's 23 000 and we bought a home last july so my question is is to set us up kind of for future and to skip baby steps should we sell our house so we could move on to baby step five or six

and also my motive for this is to buy me a car i don't have a car to buy me a car. I don't have a car. To buy me a car in cash and to feel comfortable having kids. We want to have kids fairly soon. And I never want to go back into debt ever. That's my question. What's your household income? We make

around $65,000 after taxes. Okay. Wow. I usually tell folks not to sell a house unless they just hate their house because it's so expensive emotionally and financially to move i usually tell you to plow your way through the other stuff now how much debt have you got at not counting the house 23 23 000 yeah and you make 66 and you're working, or he is? Both of you are working, or what? Yeah, we're both working. 40 hours? I'm sorry, what was that?

Both of you are working 40 hours? Yes. What do you all do? He's an HVAC, just started an HVAC, so he's kind of going up the ranks. And I'm in real estate. I'm a repair coordinator. Okay. And what do you make?

I make $50,000. And he's making $14,000? You said $65,000. Yeah. So he's making around paychecks, like $1,300 every paycheck. How many paychecks does he get? Once every two weeks. That's $30,000, $40,000, $37,000.

Okay, so you really are making $90,000 between the two of you. You have $23,000 worth of debt. No, unless you hate your house, I would roll up your sleeves and keep your house and get on a really tight beans and rice, rice and beans budget, scorched earth. Quit going out to eat, girl. Get yourself on a budget. And both of you take all the OT you can get. Let's get that stupid student loan paid off,

and then let's save up for an emergency fund and talk about buying you a car and starting babies. Hey, I'm Christi Wright. Let's be honest. When it comes to our quiet time with God, sometimes we struggle to make the time and get into good habits. That's why I'm so excited to tell you about the Glorify app. For me, it has been an absolute game changer. Every morning, Glorify guides me through God's Word with a bite-sized Bible reading, a daily devotional,

and a guided reflection that simply helps me to connect with God. Give Glorify a try. Just search for Glorify in your app store. It's free to download. Ken Coleman Ramsey personality is my co-host today. Again, get that new book from Paycheck to Purpose, The Clear Path to Work You Love, comes out in about a month, and actual street date on it is November the 9th. November the 9th. November the 9th. I've got all these middle-of-the-month milestones happening in my life, and that's one of them. And then the middle of this month, which is next week

on the 13th i guess it is borrowed future comes out uh it's 14th see i told you i don't i've got them all confused can't remember any of my kids birthdays but um there you go so borrowed future our new documentary on the epic failure of the student loan world and how it has taken advantage of america uh and how it has to stop by the way uh you're gonna be so pissed off when you watch this documentary it's gonna blow your mind i thought these villains were evil but they are so delightfully evil that they make non-stop viewing possible you will just go oh gosh uh and the villain by the way is not the student i'll just i'll just go ahead and spoiler alert that so

borrowed future uh everywhere great spoiler alert that so borrowed future uh everywhere great documentaries are shown including borrowed future.com uh apple tv google play amazon prime just wherever you uh people that are untethered now is that what you call it i think that's right yeah is that what you call it james is it untethered when you're no that's not what it's called when you get rid of the cable what do you call it there's a thing you call you call that something you don't know either i thought that's what it was actually i was with you then you threw some self that sounds right i haven't i'm not for a long time except for now anything culturally relevant my self-doubt's very high because i'm just not nor do i give her nor do i give a rip. Yeah, he confirmed. It is.

Okay. I got it right. We're untethered except now we've got all the things. You've got all the different things individually. Well, yeah, I mean, you've got to go to 14 different places to get what. It's like a buffet. Well, I mean, hey, that's what happened when cable came in. Yeah.

Cutting the cord is another one. Cutting the cord. Cutting the cord. Thank you. That's much better. That is accurate. I knew it wasn't right. I could feel it in my bones.

All right. Anyway. So, yeah, when I was a kid, you had three good channels and one that you really had to spin the rabbit ears. Oh, yeah. And the kid had to stand on their head and all that. Oh, yeah. That was always the weak PBS station, right? And so they always had no wattage.

Did you ever have the tinfoil? Well, my dad would make us stand there and hold it because we were an extension to the antenna. Right. It's like... Yeah. And then we started putting antenna up on the house, and then we started putting them up on towers outside the house. Rednecks built huge towers to put our antennas on. And our CB radios were on there, too.

All right. Travis is with us in Louisville, Kentucky. Hey, Travis, welcome to the ramsey show travis how you guys doing good man what's up hey i just got a quick question um and i don't know how much you can give me insight on it but we are trying to decide when and if we should pull our kids out of public schools and send them to like a private christian school and i just kind of wanted to get your uh your view on that okay um the first thing is you cannot permanently damage your family financially for this and so this is an emotional subject and uh it can be bucketed for some people in the same bucket of adoption or infertility treatment or going to a private school that has a big name on it, like MIT or Harvard. And they go, it's worth any amount of money to live your life.

And you start spending like you're in Congress. Okay. Right. I understand that. Okay. So I got to keep away from those emotions. So, A, we're going to stipulate you can afford it, and then there's a discussion to be had.

My kids were public school kids. I was a public school kid. You were a public school kid. Your kids are in private school. I was private Christian school. Oh, you are? Yep. Oh, and now your kids are.

Okay. Yeah, so it is personal. So let's just talk about this, Travis. can you afford this school that you're looking at yes i believe we can that's another kind of a follow-up question that i'll go ahead and do is my wife is a teacher and uh she would be making the transition also but they currently don't have any uh permanent teaching positions available so she would have to take on what they're calling like a permanent substitute role. But they give all employees of the private school a discount on tuition. Once she would become a teacher, the tuition becomes 50% off. Yeah, but 50% off of too much is just a little too much. Right, right. I get it. I get it. I just wanted to make sure you were aware.

So you can afford it with the 50% off and with her cut in pay? Current, right, yes. with her cut in pay current okay yes with her cut in pay yes sir yes sir because if they're cutting her pay a hundred thousand which is not happening and uh you're gonna you know and you're gonna save ten thousand on tuition that math doesn't work right i know i get it she's gonna she's only going to cut the pay as of right now we know because of the substitute role. No, no, no, no. I'm talking about the school she's leaving to the school she's going to. How much is her pay dropping?

At the beginning, it'll go from about $40,000 to around $25,000, I think. Okay, so you lost $15,000. How much did you save in tuition? She'll save 50% of the tuition. Of how much? 50% of tuition is how much? $7,500, so say $3,200. Okay.

About $3,700. Okay. So you lost $15,000, but you gained $3,700. Right. It's still a pretty heavy loss. Nothing to brag about yeah i in this situation travis i'd have her stay there uh where she is or get another day job until the position opens up full-time position opens up at the private christian school because you're still going

backwards you don't need to the the pay cut on her is is a bigger deal than the than the tuition cost for you of $7,500. What is your income? Around $100,000. Okay. So you can afford to send a kid for $7,500. You got one kid going? No, it would be two. Okay.

So $15,000 out of $100,000. You can do that, okay? And she makes $40,000, and so you make $140,000 income. But I wouldn't take a $40,000 to a $25,000 pay cut to save $3,000 or even $7,000. That doesn't come out. Unless she's just miserable and it's part of her, you know, it's a move for other reasons and those kinds of things, but we can talk about that as a side issue.

Anyway, that's the math part of the thing, and that's kind of the foundational issue for me. Now, once you've said that, then why do you move a kid to Christian school? Now, what I will tell you is this. I made the mistake. Our kids were in a private Christian school for two years, when they were their very first two years of school, and we barely could afford it. I mean,

we believed, and we believed, and we believed. And the mistake I made was my fault. It was not the school's fault, and it was not the Christian education's fault. It was my fault, it was not the school's fault, and it was not the Christian education's fault, it was my fault, was that I was so stupid that I thought teachers and kids at Christian schools would all behave. Gotcha.

That's a dumb assumption. They don't. Some of the kids are actually better at being sneaky, like Ken Coleman was. Oh! You were that kid? That cannot be confirmed or denied. No, I was a good one. You were worse.

You were a Christian school kid and a pastor's kid. That's the definition of sneaky. Folks, this is what's called fake news. You just heard Dave say it. It's all fake news. Yeah, you know, I am curious. What is the driving force, if you're comfortable sharing with us, why this movement? I just, you know, I don't want to be too political sounding or anything like that.

We just have some strong beliefs that a Christian education would be really beneficial to our kids. Well, you think the culture has lost its dadgum mind, and you're probably right. Well, yeah, I definitely do that. Okay, I agree with you. But what i want to challenge you what i want to challenge you is is that it's you're not going to escape that you're still going to have to parent them in this toxic culture oh yes yes i agree and i was i that's the mistake i made i'm not saying you're making that mistake but i was like shocked that i my kid

comes home with cuss words and i'm'm like, where'd you get that? I sent you over there so you didn't get that. And that was dumb on my part. Truth, I was naive. Right, I understand that. Can I ask you one other question? Sure. Okay, so when she leaves there, this is her 10th year.

She's in her 10th year. And if she does leave and go to the Christian school, they don't have a pension plan there, obviously. It's just like a regular 403B, I believe. And so if she leaves the school, we're not quite clear, but if she left before the school year is over this year, she might lose her small benefit of a pension because once you have 10 years. I wouldn't make my decision based on that.

I'd make my decision based on what's the right path for my life. Don't let a little pension like that dictate this. There's more important things here to consider if I'm in your shoes. They're fed up with their district big time, aren't they? Yeah, they just feel like they need a haven. Yeah, they've got to get away. It sounds like something bad. It sounds like it's bad. They've got to get away. It sounds like a bad. It sounds like a bad.

This is The Ramsey Show. People always say, when I get this promotion, I'll be able to make a real impact. Wrong. When you make a solid plan on how you need to grow, you can become the leader you want to be. And that's why Ken Coleman, America's career coach and national best-selling author, wrote his new book, From Paycheck to Purpose, The Clear Path to Doing Work You Love.

And it's available for pre-order right now. If you want to grow or create a legacy in your career, you need this book. It's not just a concept. It's a proven, clear path that will walk anyone in any industry through a step-by-step plan to take their career to the next level. Plus, if you pre-order From Paycheck to Purpose today, you'll receive our Get Promoted bonus pack for free, which includes the audiobook, e-book, disc assessment, an exclusive talk from Ken, and access to our live event and more. Pre-order from Paycheck to Purpose at Ramsey Personality, number one bestselling author and author of the brand new book coming out November the 9th, From Paycheck to Purpose, The Clear Path to Work You Love.

He's my co-host today you can get that at ramsey solutions.com in the lobby of ramsey solutions on the debt free stage carlton and felicia are with us hey guys how are you hey dave welcome welcome where do you guys live houston texas all right welcome to nashville and all the way up here to do a debt-free scream. How much did you pay off? We paid off $263,127, roughly, $1,000. Wow. Cool. How long did that take? It took us...

Six years? Yeah, six years. All right. Good, good. And your range of income during that time? I think we started out about $148,000, and we expect to end this year around $210,000. Excellent. What do you guys do for a living? I'm an RN. And I work in what's called on-the-ground construction sales. Okay, good for you. Well done. So what kind of debt

was this $263,000? I could probably tell you what it wasn't a lot faster. It was everything. Everything. You were normal. Normal, very normal. Okay. Yeah. Does this include your house?

This does include the house. Oh, look at you, people! You talking to her? I'm talking about both of you, man. You got a paid-for house. I love it. That's weird. Yes, we do. I'm so proud of you. Very, very cool got a paid-for house. I love it. That's weird. Yes, we do.

So proud of you. Very, very cool. The grass does feel different, by the way. I bet it does. I bet it does. Good for you. That's fun. Excellent, excellent work.

Okay, so what put you guys on this whole Ramsey journey six years ago? Well, I'll try to make it short, but I used to hear your name, but it was always negativity kind of behind it. That still happens, by the way. A good friend of mine, Miguel Morales, best friend, mentioned you once on a phone call. Actually mentioned you, a girl he was dating, their parents had gone through your system, and he was thinking about doing it. I've known him since high school and because he was thinking about i said hey i'm gonna do it because i was looking for a way to kind of get us right we've been married 26 26 it'll be 27 years next month yeah and we hadn't

really gotten financially right and uh we started there i listened to your podcast for like a month, driving in and back from work, and just hearing the folks come on here and doing the Deaf Feet Scream. And I just said, you know, we could do that. I love it. Yeah. So that's kind of what got us started. Very cool. So, Felicia, he comes home and says, I've been listening to this podcast,

and this Morales guy said, and you said, y'all are all crazy. Did you or not? Or did you just say, let's do it? No, no. It took me a long time. Okay. It took me a long time for him to kind of get me on board. He kept mentioning it, and I'm just like, yeah, yeah, whatever. We're doing fine. And over time, he just kept explaining what it was, trying to explain where we could be if we followed your plan.

He kind of started it, and then I was kind of in the background. I can say that, you know, he was persistent and over time kind of wore me down. And I was like, all right, fine. What is this? Tell me about it. And then here you are with a house paid for. Yeah. It doesn't take long being around Carlton to know he's kind of goal driven.

Yes. And kind of gets her done. Yes. And so you're like, oh, here we go. Yes. So I want to ask you, so we all get that. You gave in. You're like, all right.

At what point did you say giddy up and go, okay, now I get this. I'm in. I think once I started seeing our smaller debt being paid off and just seeing, okay, maybe this will work. We paid, we got to the point where we paid off our one major credit card that we had. And I still made him hold on to it probably for a good year before I let him cut it up. I had to pry it from her hands. I was just so scared.

I just, you know, had that what if thinking. And, you know, it got close to a year and I was like, all right, we're good. We don't need it. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Good for you guys. And along that way, Dave, our daughter, she actually went to college all four years, debt

free, cash flow 100%. That's not possible. You can't do that. It's against the law isn't it I think A lot of people think it is Yeah How did you do that

Well we put a plan together Shocking What is this plan you speak of What is this plan thing It starts with a little piece of paper And a pen And it says No you're not going to that school

Yes you're going to that school Exactly how we did it was She did her first two years of community college. Actually, even before that, before getting out of high school, she had college credit. She took dual credit in high school. Then she did community college for the first two years. We cash flowed everything else. She actually paid the last two years tuition 100%. She paid that. She worked. She saved up tuition 100%. She paid that.

She worked. She saved up her money. What is she doing when she was working? What kind of job? She worked at a H-E-B grocery store and was a T.J. Maxx or something like that. Okay. So no big money job. No.

Just worked a lot and watched what she was doing. Yeah. So what's her degree in? She has a marketing degree, right? Woo! Wow. There it is. That's fantastic.

There it is. I love it. And, you know, what is this plan you speak of? There it is right there. I like it. That's the opposite of what you're going to see on Borrowed Future. That's well done, you guys. And Dave, actually, when she graduated college, the school sent her a check.

Oh, yes. She got money. She got a check from the school. her a check. Oh, yes. She got money. She got a check from the school, paid her. That did not happen to me. Yeah, I'm unaware of this policy. Hold on. I'll be right back. I've got to make a phone call.

I think I missed something here. I must have changed my address too quick. I don't know. Way to go, y'all. You've got to be proud of her. I'm proud of her. She's a hero. And when your kids do smart and kids do well, that's about as good as it gets as a parent.

Yes. Very well done. And you guys, with a paid-for household, are you guys? Well, I'm 48, and she's not. Okay. Great answer. This guy's smart. Not only disciplined, he's smart.

He's quick. That's that military. I was in the military. There it is. And so, bottom line is, though, you have paid for a house. And that's a pretty cool thing. And, you know, make a couple hundred a year, and your daughter's gone through school debt-free. Your lives are in good shape.

You guys have done a great job. You're just heroes. Very well done. Very well done. Wow. I love it. What do you tell people the secret to getting out of debt is, Felicia? I would say just persistence, believing in the plan, writing things down,

and allowing yourself to see that it is possible and there is light at the end of the tunnel. And just being connected. We hear a lot of stories you know like ours where one spouse is into it the other one's not um but once you guys get connected and start working it together um anything is possible yeah it does speed up it does it does speed up when you do that so well done guys what's this house worth uh i think somewhere around $280, $300, depending on what day of the week it is. I love it. Yeah, really, these days. That's for sure.

Well, way to go, you guys. Way to go. And you brought the kiddos with you to cheer with you. What, two of the three? Two of the three. Okay. Two of the three. And their names and ages?

This is Little Carlton. That's taller than you. Yeah. That's Little Carlton. 14's taller than you. Yeah. That's Little Carlton. 14. He's 14. Good gosh. And Sierra.

Sierra. 23. With a marketing degree. If you want to move to Nashville, we'll talk to you. I love it. Very well done. All right. Carlton, Felicia, Sierra, and Little Carlton.

That's bigger. Okay. I love it. And $263,000 paid off in six years. House and everything, $148,000 to $210,000. A whole family decided to change their lives, and they did it. So proud of y'all. We got a copy of The Legacy Journey for you.

That's the next chapter in your story. Baby Steps Millionaires. You're going to be before you know it. And, of course, another copy of Total Money Makeover for you to give away and interrupt someone else's life with all that negative Dave Ramsey talk. So count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one.

We're debt-free! Yeah! Oh, I love them. So good. What a great family. Woo-hoo! Yeah! That is how you do it, ladies and gentlemen.

Boom! This is the Ramsey personality, joins me this hour. Ken, what's really important with that last segment was not only have they paid off their home, but not only have they increased their income, $50,000, $60,000 during that period of time, and not only have they changed their family tree, but the proof is there when their daughter's whole trajectory for her education was changed yeah yeah they they applied common sense in a plan the kid worked she got credits ap credits that applied she went to community college

she's got a degree in marketing and zero debt she She is so set up, it's unbelievable. And if you look at where she is on the outset, which is so beautifully bright, nobody cares that she went to community college for two years. Nobody cares. It won't come up. It won't come up. She's bright. They're going to hire her for what she can do. She's going to do great things. And I think, again, this is another successful family that just decided to not do it the way everybody else does it they

said that doesn't make sense this is what makes sense you know one of the things seth godin says in the new documentary that's coming out next week borrowed future is that people pay for schools not based on the fact that they're better but because they're famous he calls them famous colleges he said don't pay for a famous college because here's the thing even when you're dealing with uh something is an academically oriented career field let's say you're an architect that's an academically oriented you're a medical doctor an md that's academically oriented you're an attorney academically oriented you're a veterinarian which some would say is more difficult to become than an md because an md only has to learn one species and so um uh but either way these are not these are all very very bright people very

intellectual people in order to become those things i have never gone into a doctor's office in my life and asked where they went to school all i want to know is can you make it stop hurting yes that's right that's right i have never called an attorney and said you know based on where you went to school we're going to win this lawsuit all i want to know is can you whip their butt are you mean and nasty and will you absolutely intellectually dominate the other side? That's really all I care about. Can you do your job is all that an employer cares about, a customer cares about.

That's exactly right. Same thing with us with a doctor, a dentist. It's all about competence. And we have made it about the brand. We've made it about the experience. And all those things are great if you can afford them and pay cash. If you can't, they are absolutely worthless. They're not even that great then.

Yeah, I agree with that. I agree with that. The value is just not there. Yeah. I mean, when you take Vanderbilt University, $70,000 a year. University of Tennessee is $10,000 a year right now. Wow. Okay.

Is it academically superior? Probably. Is it 7X superior? Not a chance. I know this because I graduated from the University of Tennessee. People that graduated from Vanderbilt work for me. You know, I know that that's true. So it's like they're on my payroll.

Yeah. And that's not being arrogant or mean. It's just the point is that's not what put me here. No. It was where I went to school. And it didn't hold me back where I went to school. It wasn't a stumbling block where I went. The question was, did I learn anything while I was consuming all that beer?

That was the only question. It's the only thing that came up. Open phones this hour. I love that family. They were so inspiring. Yes, great family. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Eric is with us in Tampa, Florida.

Hi, Eric. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Thanks, Dave. Thanks, Ken. Thanks for having me. Sure. What's up? My question is a pretty simple one.

I'm considering, well, I'm going to move home back to Michigan and be closer to family, but I am curious. I want to get a condo, and I don't know if there's a good ratio or rule of thumb when it comes to how much I should spend or how much is too much when I consider HOA fees. If they are disproportionate to what the payment would be on the normal condo, I mean, if you've got a condo that the normal payment is $1,500 on and the HOA fees are $1,000 a month, then that's disproportionate. I'm going to want to know that there's something screwed up, right?

So other than that, what I would be most concerned about is I probably, since you asked, I probably would look at, if I'm worried about it at all, I'd probably look at the annual budget on the HOA. I'll give you an example. I had a condo that I owned. We bought a condo in Knoxville because our kids were in school down there, and we were going back and forth to football games to see kids in school. And they were not setting money aback to replace the parking lot and the roofs.

And so when it came up, we got hammered with special assessments. But the HOA fees were strangely low. Okay. You see? So you kind of have to be concerned the other way, too. Right. Is that something that I can request from the HOA before making a purchase? Oh, absolutely.

You can have the agent pull the budget for you. What's the annual budget look like? If you're going into a condo, make sure they're setting aside for capital improvements, whatever the condo is responsible for, which is usually the exterior pieces. It'll be some landscaping. It'll be roof, siding, parking lots, those kinds of things, and make sure they're setting money back for replacement. Because if things got a 10-year life, you ought to be setting aside a tenth of it every year, right?

So sinking fund is what it's called. And if they're not doing that, that's a concern. The other side of it is are they just going cray-cray because they're spending too much because they're trying to be something they're not. They're trying to build the Taj Mahal, this dinky butt little condo or something like that. And so you've got to check it on the other side. Are they overspending on something? And then that will tell you how well it's being managed. I would worry about one that

didn't have professional management assisting the homeowner operated board if the homeowner operated board does it by themselves that's where you get into the most uh bizarre stories that i've gotten into anyway on hoas and properties we've owned i hate them i hate them uh most of them are just a total pain in the butt. It's like local politics, those that you're talking about. You know, Larry the control freak's in charge. It's like student body government in junior high school. It's just yuck. Yeah, the guy who really shouldn't, should not, he hasn't got anything else to do.

He gets put in charge. That's exactly, he's the czar. And it just never turns around. And then he's running around checking everybody's bushes for the correct diameter. And it just makes me want to shoot. You're in my yard again, Harry. Get out of my yard. You know? Oh, God.

And it's just that guy. But that's the stuff I can't stand in those things. And I don't even want to talk about it. But anyway, yeah that that's the stuff you got to be careful of is how's the politics of the thing running uh how's it operated as a professionally managed are they saving too much for something are they spending too much on some things are they not setting anything back on the other because you'll get a special assessment later or you'll get a reputation of the roofs are all leaking and they don't have the money to fix them

and they didn't do a special assessment so now the condo project gets a bad reputation or the home the subdivision gets a bad reputation because the pond is always full of scum or whatever and uh then you can't sell the house because the hoa becomes the the detriment to the the value of the property and um yeah you got to watch it um you know by and large it's just um a bunch of little most of it's not a problem but except just the the emotion around it and being told what to do in a house i paid for and stuff like that that just i'm just i guess i'm a libertarian or something or whatever you call that i don't know what you call it like like i own this so leave me alone kind of i'm that guy whatever it is i know i'm an old guy get off my lawn that's what i am yeah that's exactly what i

am get off my lawn harry quit measuring my bushes yeah that's it that's exactly who i am i'm that guy except i'm the clint eastwood version oh for sure for sure he packing. I feel like I hear that. Yeah. You're in the rocking chair. Yeah. Man. I just, it's, I still don't understand. We cut a tree down on one of our properties, and I found out that apparently that was illegal. Yeah. You didn't read the fine print.

It wasn't tacked to the tree. And I was all confused. I thought I owned the tree. That's a good point. But the tree Nazi lady came out, and God almighty. Oh, man. There you go. And that's, whoo.

Old to be a fly on the wall. I think I could have shot her dog, and I probably got in less trouble. I don't know. That one's pretty dicey. Probably neither one's a good idea. But what do I know? That definitely puts this hour in the books. Ken Coleman, James Johnson, Kelly Daniels.

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