Totally agree with all your points! But I truly wonder how much financial success the STBX had in the real estate business? It sounds like like he was bankrolled by JD family money and not supported by banks as is typically the case with real estate development. From the number of properties he looks to have developed over the past 5 years I'm not certain the lifestyle they enjoyed could have been supported by the real estate activities?! JMO. Even with being able to play the tax angles with cars and travel it seems to be a push to say he could support the family without JD family money and income.
The real estate market in CT regions where STBX operates has been soft at best for the past five years and the downturn hit the entire state hard. People still come into the area due to proximity and easy commute to NYC but property appreciation doesn't really exist and hasn't existed for a long time. GE and GE Credit were both large employers in the area and they left the state a few years ago and this hit lower Fairfield Country real estate hard. Diagio the large liquor and spirits company also employs many in the area and they are slated to leave or maybe have even left Norwalk.
Based on the number of properties he developed according to his corporate website I wonder if the real estate was something akin to a part time job versus a full time occupation? Just doing the rough math on the estimate profit from flipping 1-2 properties a year it wouldn't be sufficient to cover the private school, cars, trips etc. that seemed to be their lifestyle. So, unless he had family money on the level of JD family money I'm not seeing how the numbers add up? Obviously JD and her atty. had similar questions which is why there are so many documents related to financial disclosure on the court record. Any ideas?
