I always though my neighbor next door was a lot like my family.   I was wrong!

The Secret Life of the Joneses, Across The Street

Apparently, our neighbor across the street had a secret life that I was unaware of!  Over the years, I should have realized that they were wealthier than I thought from the clues that they revealed. 

Here are some of the clues:

• Once at a party, the neighbor that I thought was like the Joneses , revealed to me that he refinanced his mortgage down to a 10 years loan!  I was impressed because I was paying extra on my mortgage too, and only had 5 years left.  But the way they spend their money, I assumed the were like the typical Joneses, meaning that they were buying things largely on credit.  But when I heard that my neighbor bought a 10 year mortgage, that should have set off some flags.
• Their son (7 years old at the time) once told my son that he wants his dad to buy our house too (because of my son’s toys).  I always wondered what he meant by that, but I just dismissed it as kid talk
• Three years ago, they both bought 2 new cars at the same time.
• I’ve seen both the neighbor and his wife out on the port scanning the newspaper ads section like it was made of candy.  I guessed that they were looking for houses to buy for rental property.
• Once at another party, the neighbor mentioned that he created and sold wine on the side.  He claimed that it was mostly a hobby, but he did have a real label and sold the wine at stores.
• I noticed that the my old neighbor also was very handy around the house!  He even replaced his entire front door insert by himself.  Somehow he must have learned how to do construction work!  Most likely from houses that he owned as rental property?

So I learned that sometimes those who spend like the Joneses next door, are really just wealthier than you realize because of side jobs and real estate!

Have you ever had a rich neighbor, that you didn’t know were rich until much later, or after they moved like mine? 

-MR