LOL @ Checking Out IM "Gurus" Houses On Google Earth!

We've been down this road before and I'm sick of it.

I live in a $130,000 home and quite content with it.

Why do I need more just because I can afford it? For what? For 2 people? How
many rooms could we possibly need?

Plus, I hate moving. I'd rather live in a ditch than have to pack up all this
sh*t and move.

Plus, most of the money I make goes towards things that have nothing to do
with the size of my home, such as my home recording studio that I have
spent 10s of thousands of dollars on or on my Magic The Gathering collection
which is now about 35,000 cards and features Black Lotus and the whole
power 9 collection.

Please, don't judge the "gurus" by the size of their homes.

It would be the same as judging a man by the size of his penis.

Just because it's big doesn't mean he knows how to use it.

Do you like my "house"?

Don't need a book, just look at the housing market.

Ok, sure

I've got two friends that are millionaires.
You couldn't tell by looking at them or their properties that they had a quarter let alone a million bucks.

I swear to God I'm going to do a free WSO called

How to Banish the Junk Mail to No Man's Land in One Easy Click"

Inside the PDF will be one screenshot showing an UNSUBSCRIBE link.

Sheeesh.

You really should cover up faster getting out of the shower there.... John

I may be blind for life.

If they're in the IM niche that's an easy (though not terribly original or creative) approach to take that lends itself to that niche.

That's what I like about self-help niches (or one of the things): I'm not selling prosperity. I keep it authentic and real, and stick to subjects I know that are also of high commercial intent, so no faking it is needed. There is also something distasteful about that ethically and from the POV of karma.

I agree with the many others who've stated their modest homes are meaningless in terms of any kind of reflection on their income. If anything it tells me they're people of high self-esteem who don't feel the need to prove anything to anyone through superficial money flashing.

And I take the opposite POV toward those who "proof" their pitch with pictures of sports cars, yachts, or luxury mansions that used only for promoting their pitch. Comparisons to ad copy for big business could me made but doesn't resonate with me and I don't believe the comparison valid.

IMHO someone who resorts to using fake possessions to proof their pitch about their millions of income they make and as proof of the glamorous lifestyle that they are not in fact leading, they are one or more of the following:

1) pathological narcissists;
2) of very low self-esteem/self-worth
3) pitifully desperate in a way that earns no pity from me;
4) morally and/or intellectually bankrupt

Harsh? Maybe. Its behaviour I would associate with fleecing a widow out of her social security on a BS promise without a second thought, so if its harsh I pretty much don't care. Its behaviour that gives IM a bad name and reflects on everyone else who isn't resorting to these tactics.

-Spyder

Google has become a vast and powerful entity that permeates society, with great power and influence, setting its arbitrary rules, accountable to no one. It invades privacy collecting photos of your home or workplace for anyone to see (including stalkers, serial killers, perverts), scoffs at copyright such as harvesting copyright images. It can make or break most internet marketers.

I use WHOIS GUARD on the domains I buy from Name Cheap. I'm in the process of moving and my address is changing to a P.O. Box because there's no other mail delivery there (small town). Its not a permanent move, but the P.O. Box mail delivery system will follow me for exactly that reason.

No celebrity factor here, its just the fact that there are too many freaks with issues online (and offline) to provide them a map and instructions to where I live. In addictions I saw enough psychopathic personalty types (not because addicts are psychopaths, but because psychopaths are more likely to develop substance abuse issues and wind up in treatment facilities... or prison... and usually back and forth from one to the other) to know the risks involved.

Maybe they are slight, but we took them serious enough there at we had a no last name policy, and no schedule or contact information disclosure policy. Management was the exception, because they did just that - manage.

The OP's intent was harmless enough, but read the news and you'll see how readily some develop these obsessions over things that make absolutely no sense to anyone but them - and which they take deadly serious (and sometimes to that degree, while other times short of it while still playing enough havoc to make it worthwhile to pre-emptively nip it in the bud).

-Spyder

Derek, the only truth in this is in the extreme examples. No, you won't find Bill Gates living in a slum, nor will you find someone getting by on 15k a year living in a McMansion. But generalizing beyond that is really not a good idea.

Fact: many extremely rich people are extremely thrifty. None of their money is on display because its invested in portfolio you can't see from the car they drive or the house they build.

Fact: many people in Western nations (I'm not going to say many people in the USA because its not unique to the US by any stretch) use flashy displays of wealth to prop up their own ego. Or because they're poor with money management, or don't realize the difference between wealth building and superficial displays of wealth to impress friends, neighbours, people they're seeking to attract, or for a whole other variety of reasons. What do you think sparked the S&L crisis? It wasn't just relaxed lending rules, it was the many people willing to borrow far beyond their means to lead (display) a lifestyle they truly couldn't afford.

Its a flawed line of reasoning to assume, outside the extremes, that there is "a strong correlation" between income and flashy displays of wealth.

And one final point: correlation is a statistical term that has use in different types of research as a tool to apply an inference from research to test a hypothesis. The very first thing you learn about correlation is that correlation != causation. You are using stereotypes and empty statments wrapped around a statistical term which only demonstrates you shouldn't be using words whose meaning you have no grasp on as a basis to stereotype.

Note that when you put your statement in bold like that then you really catch attention - it may not be what you had in mind, but there it is.

-Spyder

It is evidence in a certain direction, yes, but foreclosures on expensive homes has been on the rise. A friend of mine used to be a bodyguard for wealthy and powerful people. More than once, he saw apparently wealthy people lose everything in one fell swoop, just by getting fired. They were living pay check to pay check to maintain their exorbitant lifestyles.

It can mean something, but it often doesn't.

At my last house the neighbor across my backyard fence was a multi-millionaire, but you'd never know it to talk to him or see his house. He was (he passed on about a year ago) one of the biggest farmers in the state. Farmers don't flaunt their wealth. He lived in an average house in an average neighborhood.

I wouldn't be surprised if one of my current neighbors is a millionaire. He was born and raised in the house he lives in, inherited it from his parents so he's never had to make house payments. He's in his eighties and owns a funeral home and has for decades. He's got money, but his house is worth about 80k, far less than mine. A half a block away is a 4-story multi-million dollar mansion. Next door to it is a run-down apartment house I'd guess is worth about 40k.

Again, we can't judge a book by it's cover. That applies to people, the homes they own, and the neighborhoods they live in. There are just too many unknown factors. Rich neighborhoods are often populated with many home owners in debt up to their eyeballs because they wanted a lifestyle they can't afford.

But perhaps that's not a good analogy. Buffet lives in the same stucco house he's lived in for 40+ years.

Because I wanted to...??? Here, I posted in Verdana if that makes you happy