I have had an interest in Real Estate for some time now and am finally going to start pursuing it as a career. I watched these real estate shows where the agents are selling high end property and wondered to myself how did they transition from regular residential homes to high end property and commercial units?

I currently live with my mother, brother and stepfather. My mother has been married to this man for about two years now. when they first met they where both not working full time.. my stepfather moved into our home with out anything, no money , no car, and no job, my mother is the bread winner. she owns her own private practice and works full time else where. while he works at walgreens as a cashier. my mother wants the new chrysler 300 but can not afford because my stepfather does not make enough money as a man. when money may be short one month we can not look at him for more money, my mother has to see more clients and become more and more tire everyday. This is not fair my family likes luxury things but with my step father not bringing in at least 30,000 dollars a year it is very difficult to respect him as a man. So should i respect him or not?

I have a problem that needs to be solved, and I don’t know how to go about it.
Basically, my parents argue quite a lot, and there is a potential problems arising.
My dad has planned a holiday to Crete for this Summer. I’m a lot closer to my dad, and we both know all too well my mum won’t want to come, as she hates holidays and flying, so although there are five tickets, we are planning on it being me, dad, my two little sisters and a friend. I’ve never been on a holiday abroad, apart from school trips, and all the family holidays we’ve had, have ended badly. If we went to Crete, mum would be left all alone at home for a week. I know it’s selfish of us to want to do that, but is it not also selfish that my sisters and I miss out on family holidays, because she dosn’t want to go? I’m only 17, and by this age, all of my friends are talking about amazing villa and beach holidays they’ve been on, and look down on me thinking I can’t afford such a luxury. How could I go about solving this issue? We’re not particularly rich, so this really would be a luxury for us… and as much as I would love to go, I hate the idea of leaving my mum alone in the house.

I work in an office where we have a little bathroom that is shared by maybe 3 or 4 people. There are also washrooms down the hall, but it’s nice to have the luxury of one right here. So I have a co-worker who goes in there at least once a day and has a bowel movement, thus stinking it up. She is an older lady (67) and is planning to retire in November, so I just keep holding my breath (literally) and keeping quiet about it. Today she did it twice and when she came out, I got a whif of it. I am so fed up with it!! I know she doesn’t have stomach issues because I have been working with her for years and once (a few years back) when I jokingly said “P-U” when I went in after her, she replied “Sorry, I love my fiber and I am regular and hey, everybody poops!”. If I ever had to poop at work, I would be determined to do it someplace where it wouldn’t draw attention to me. I would go down the hall to a quieter, more private bathroom. I would be mortified if someone went in right after me and almost passed out and knew that I had stunk it up. I have spoken to a few people about this (family and friends) and the general consensus is that most people “train” themselves to do that at home, except on rare occasions. Am I being unreasonable about this? It’s just so gross! And to deal with it day in and day out, and sometimes I hold my own bladder for ages because I am waiting for that bathroom to air out.
To Gary: Of course we ALL drop bombs in the toilet, but I have enough control over my bowels that I don’t need to take a massive crap at work. Some of us have a little bit of class and common sense, and don’t take pride in befouling our workplace with our bodily functions.

i work for a small city in salt lake county, utah. i am one of two animal control officers for this city. part of my job description is to respond to after hour emergency calls. the city has provided a vehicle for me to take home.
the other officer and i alternate every two weeks. so, i am on call for two weeks, she is on call for two weeks. we just learned we are being taxed on 3.00 for each day we take the vehicle home. i guess that averages 12cents a day.
i used to work for another, larger, agency where we had 15 officers. we were not taxed, the other agencies within the same county are not taxed for their take home vehicles, either.
i was told this is a “luxury” and the IRS told my employer (the city i work for) they have to start taxing us when we take home our vehicle. we do not take home a vehicle when we are not on call.
this “luxury tax” has been in effect for a few months now (it was nice of them to let us know). they charge the same for the streets, parks, and anyone else who takes vehicles home who are on call.

i tried searching the IRS website for anything on this “luxury tax” but didn’t find much and, i need it explained in layman’s terms, please.

i’ve never heard of this, can someone please explain how this works (i have tried contacting HR but no answer yet)

Everyone, or at least it seems that way- seems to have an active social life. They have pictures of them hanging out with their friends, their girlfriends, parties etc… They sometimes mention where they work, what kind of car they own (Although not too often cause people my age (20) typically don’t have high paying jobs or fancy cars just yet)

All I can tell you about myself is that I’m a guy, I’m 20- I attend college full-time here at the local college near my home. I don’t have much; my family is poor - I rarely eat luxury foods or eat out- I generally often eat cheap foods that are filling like Oatmeal and Eggs which are a cornerstone of my diet.

I don’t have a job. Don’t have a car. Never did. I just take the public transit bus everyday to college and I pay for it via leftover money from my pell grant that I receive from my college.

I’m a pretty dedicated student. I spend hours on campus when I don’t even need too. I might only have 1 class on Monday that’s 1 hour long at 9am but i typically get to my college at 8am to study for an hour prior to class then spend the remaining time after class to brief over the new day’s notes and just sit in the cafeteria bored out of my mind…

Sometimes i wait hours just for someone to strike a conversation with me (and it happens once in a blue moon) Usually i make my way home back on the 1:13 or 2:13 pm bus after boring myself to death in the cafeteria for hours and after i finish my lunch.

I walk home off the bus stop, im fornate to only live a 1/2 hour walk from my bus stop. In my past home it used to take me a little over an hour walk home and hey it was rough - when your in florida and the weather outside is over 90 degrees outside plus humidity - it really takes a beating on ya.

Sometimes when I look at other people’s facebooks and I see their parent’s home (fancy furniture painting, big, and so on and so forth) then i just look at my own predicament (my kitchen has particle wood cabinets, popcorn ceiling, its only 1 bedroom actually)

i mean they have so much more than me… sometimes i ask myself “Why me?” - other kids in my situation might handle life in my shoes differently; they might move out, hang out with the wrong crowd and get into drugs etc… but that’s not me at all.

There’s nothing more in the world I desire than a good education and to make myself get somewhere in the world. There’s no doubt in my mind that I want to be a success story and live a life beyond anyone’s imagination. I have a 3.6 GPA in college- I have a natural knack for writing and consistently get A’s on my essays.

I just wish I had some… LIFE in my life if that makes sense to ya. A group of people I could call my own. Not just having to spend so much of my life alone drowning in my own thoughts and dreams…

i am so upset right now and idc what to do.
My parents own two luxury cars. One is an old jaguar and the other is a brand new hybrid. I am 19, live at home, and have a piece of crap car, which broke down last week.
My mother REFUSES to let me use one of the nicer cars. She never has let me use it, although i am responsible, in school full time, and far from a reckless teenager.
My dad always says behind her back “i honestly dont care if you use it or not” or say things like ” you could take the car, but then youd have to take it up with ur mother”

However, tonight, as i was discussing it with my mom, trying to convince her to let me use the car- my dad came in, screaming :YOU CAN NEVER USE THOSE CARS GET OVER IT! I DONT CARE IF YOU LIKE IT OR NOT- EVEN IF UR MOM SAYS U CAN USE IT I SAY NO:

he was basically trying to impress my mom and show her hes on her side. But whenever shes not around he never acts like that. i just walked away and cried bc to me that is so fake and two faced

would this upset any of you?

Several years ago I embraced the philosophy of voluntary simplicity. I also try to make every possible effort to practice a lifestyle that is environmentally sustainable and socially conscious. I am currently pursuing an aggressive plan to pay off all of my debts, mostly student loans and home loans, to live debt free - even to be virtually self reliant if I had to or wanted to. While I don’t need a whole lot of money since I don’t spend much on luxuries, I do want to earn near the peak compensation levels for my occupation and location - more money now pays debt of faster!
My current position straddles the fence between engineering and sales. My problem is that I am being paid much less than the market average (based on salary surveys and certain salary oriented websites), and I think it might be tied to the fact that my peers wear expensive clothes, drive expensive cars, and talk about their expensive lifestyles at the water cooler. I have an “interesting” life, but definitely not “conventional” - as I am a single father (mother haabandoneded our kids), and I spend my weekends on “Green” projects, such as building rainwater harvesting systems for my home and growing my own organic vegetables - so sometimes I do “miss the game” since I’m in my yard with my kids and not in front of my TV. I don’t have any “bing” to flash and don’t want to. I don’t expend any effort on stamp collecting, breeding Pomeranians, or any other pompous, impractical BS - though I usually don’t express my disdain for such nonsense outside of my home, since I know most people don’t share my views.
My clothing is business appropriate, but I think I may have confessed too often in public that I buy my shirts at Goodwill for $3 each (they fit well with no wrinkles, holes, or stains). Until now I never thought I should be ashamed of my simple lifestyle or try to conceal it, but there are many books about career success and getting promoted that indicate that one should wear more expensive suits, keep a gold plated pen in one’s pocket, and brandish a Rolex to make it clear to managers, colleagues, and clients how “successful” one is so one will be remembered at decision time. Is my simple lifestyle such a threat to today’s “Management Class” to keep me pinned down in my current position at relatively low pay? Do you think my lifestyle could come across as a rebuke of their own “hedonism” (though I would never describe them as such)? I don’t drink alcohol, use tobacco, use drugs, fornicate, or even drink coffee, so could this be a part of the problem as well? I’ve always been able to hold my own in any conversation, whether business oriented, intellectual, or just small talk. I tend to make people feel good and people of all backgrounds seem to like to be around me and come to my office for a quick chat, so I don’t think I’m coming across as too pretentious or any kind of “better-than-thou” sort of person. Any suggestions?

she lets money control her life. she cleans houses for a living now since she got laid off a good 6 years ago. we make it but we’re not living in luxury like we use too. i mean i was a 14 year old spoiled brat and i’ve dealt with it. i’m 19 now.. but she cleans and then she comes home and lays in bed, plays games on her laptop and sometimes she gets up and goes to BINGO.. yes… bingo….. she never cleans house, i do most of it.. i do homeschooling online so i’m home allll the time. i clean and do my schoolwork. but she always lays around and complains about how tired she is.. she eats SO unhealthy… shes just SO negative and slobby… and its rubbing off on me! shes always fussing at me, at not even legit things? like she fed our dog earlier and she put the bowl in the middle of the floor and she went back in there and she yelled “AND YOU LEFT THIS BOWL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FLOOR FOR ME TO STEP IN!!” ……she did it? lol just alot of stuff like that!
we live in a 3 bedroom, 1 bath brick house. its nice, but she doesnt decorate, i clean.. i think she thinks that since we dont have that much money we have to live like it???? idk how to explain it but we have boxes galore in our garage from our old house that isnt even unpacked…. how can i deal with this?!
she also complains how i never do anything? but i’m doing schoolwork 6-7 hours of the day PLUS cleaning our house… then she comes home and lays in bed..

where does it start 300,000?