Keep renting? Ouch!

$2,700 still sounds reasonable for a 1BR in Chelsea.

Money invested in fixed income or equities would have outperformed, been more liquid, etc...

That is true USQ but how many people actually did that? How many people in March of 2009 actually took their saved down payment of x tens or x hundreds of thousands of dollars and dumped it into the mkt? Maybe several took a small percentage of those funds but how much in actual dollars did they really make? I personally wouldn't have had the balls for it.

"Money invested in fixed income or equities would have outperformed, been more liquid, etc... "

Doesn't mean shit if your rent goes up 30%. Then another 30%. Then another 30%. And on and on and on.

love it!

more more more!

I did.

Every penny on my new place as down payment and what's left went into equity. You should go search some of this site dating back to Spring of 2009. :)

"I was really upset. I was in shock because I have been here for five years," said Nainan. "I'm a great tenant. I don't have loud parties or make noise. I'm a model tenant and I'm gone a lot. I don't have any pets."

The landlord doesn't care Nanian. You are numbers on a balance sheet.

"With his landlord politely taking a take it or leave it approach, Nainan says he is actively looking for a new apartment of the double digit percentage hike.
"I don't think the market can support that. I'm resolved not to pay it just on principle," said Nainan."

This is a very stupid decision Nainan.

I'm referencing the debates i used to have around Spring/Summer of 2009. All those debates of HOW GREAT renting is in that environment. I have said it over and over again. The best time to buy assets of any kind is during time of distress. Seems to have worked pretty good.

Where's STEVE?

More *High Fives*
More *High Fives*
More *High Fives*
More *High Fives*

I wonder where w67 and inodogshit have been? probably apartment hunting. they probably won't pay the increases based on principal too!

If God is good he will let me encounter idododogshit at a showing!

Jim, all those iditos are scrambling to renew their rent for 29% higher....

lmao

HERE HERE! Agree on the 2009 discussions. '09 renters were and probably always will be obvlious to the small windows of real estate opporunity in this city. Supply and Demand are back in control....and unlike any other market in the world, the demand-side sitters (e.g. sellers) ALWAYS win.....

@uwsbeagle More Manhattanites invested in the stock/bond markets than "invested" in the real estate market. (It's pretty clear if you look at the Manhattan property volume traded, which was and continues to be below 1,000 per month.) Even the SE Condo Index is flattish on a real basis... hardly a good leveraged investment.

@ericho75 You're obviously a troll, but I'll point out that the fifth root of 29% is about 5%. Hardly something to get worked up about.

meanwhile rents keep going up up up up!

"I'll point out that the fifth root of 29% is about 5%."

That might have gone over peoples' heads.

@USQ - I plead ignorance; what does "the fifth root of 29% is about 5%" refer to? It doesn't seem to make sense; 0.29^(1/5) is 0.78, not 0.05. (The fifth root of your new rent is about 5% higher than your old rent, though: 1.29^(1/5) is about 1.05.) What does the fifth root of an average rent increase mean? Is it part of a formula to measure volatility?

they forgot to mention that his rent went down 20% in 2009.

just deadbeat, it take couple months at least for landlords to evict

"That is true USQ but how many people actually did that?"

I did that. I don't separate my money into bins, though. I have no such thing as "downpayment" money. Just "dry powder" and "invested" money. Ran through all "dry powder" I had at the time by Q2-Q3 of 2009.

@Triple_Zero A 29% price increase means the price is now 129%, or 1.29 times, of the previous price. ($2,700 is 1.29 times $2,100 in our example.) We take the fifth root of 1.29.

We do this because the price increase is comparing to a price from five years ago. The root just gives you what an equivalent annual change would have been, and we use the fifth root because it was a five-year increase. This tells us that the 29% rent change after five years is roughly equivalent to each year having a 5% increase. If it had been a 29% increase after *6* years, we'd get a lower annual value -- about 1.04 or 4%.

Noteworthy to also mention that he didn't pay the extra 5% along the way, so he's had a pretty sweet deal.

Its the CAGR. See http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator/discount_rate_calculator.htm or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compound_annual_growth_rate

Its the "geometric average" also.

So Inonada et al are correct - if his rent WOULD have gone up 5% a year every year for five years he would be where he is now. This is not so much. And the fact that he got all that money in his pocket for five years instead is an even better deal. So TOP is incorrect, it was a FANTASTIC deal.

"We do this because the price increase is comparing to a price from five years ago."

All is explained. I hadn't noticed how long ago he began renting the place, and thought that the 29% was a year-on-year increase.

(If you had phrased it as "the fifth root of 1.29 is about 1.05" it would have been less confusing, though.)

"(If you had phrased it as "the fifth root of 1.29 is about 1.05" it would have been less confusing, though.)"

@Triple_Zero My apologies. Math in words is not my strong suit. :) It's an intentionally misleading anecdote, though they do briefly note the NYC average annual rent increase was 1.7%.

@jason10006 Correct.

Mr. Hones.

I think w67th is off counting his profits from the publicly-declared few hundred thousand he put into Sprint a few months ago, up 36% now.

I'm still around, not apartment-hunting. My rent will go up 3.3% at the end of the year, as written into my lease unless I decide to terminate. May or may not do it, who knows. But not much to write about in my end of the market. There was a unit in my building that was attempting to rent for about 8 months without much success. They pulled it off the market and put it up for sale. The monthly asking rent works out to $1800 per million of asking price. The rent on my place works out to $2150 per million of asking price of a same-line, similar-floor currently on the market. So not much to get worked up about in my market.

How about you, how are you holding up? Sounds like your LL been turning the screws on you. If you can swing a big upgrade, you might be able to find better values.

i am about as secure as anyone i know in my rental dodo. no 3.3 percent increase for me.

I see, everyone else is supposedly getting hikes:

"love it!"
"more more more!"
"The landlord doesn't care Nanian. You are numbers on a balance sheet."

But when it comes to Hones, it ain't so.

Is it that the landlord cares about Hones, that Hones is not just a number on a "balance sheet" unlike all those other dirty renters? Or is it that Hones lives in such an undesirable place that the LL cannot increase the rent one iota even though they are being jacked everywhere else?

inonada
1 minute ago
Posts: 4169
Member since: Oct 2008
stop ignoring this person
report abuse

I see, everyone else is supposedly getting hikes:

"love it!"
"more more more!"
"The landlord doesn't care Nanian. You are numbers on a balance sheet."

But when it comes to Hones, it ain't so.

Is it that the landlord cares about Hones, that Hones is not just a number on a "balance sheet" unlike all those other dirty renters? Or is it that Hones lives in such an undesirable place that the LL cannot increase the rent one iota even though they are being jacked everywhere else?

fuckface, this is when being a "rental borker" pays off. i live in a property that i have represented for a few years. i realize you don't understand how the real world works, but this is part of it.

I have made a heck of a lot more in the equity market over the last three years than I've paid in rent increases. Meanwhile, prices are going sideways, and my guess is, will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. I for one am feeling pretty happy with my choices. Not sure why OP feels the need to be so obnoxious.

*HIGH FIVE*

I see, your annual bonus consists of not having the rent raised by $100. Nice.

How come you haven't bought anything yet? You've been in this place going on for 3 years now, right?

>The landlord doesn't care Nanian. You are numbers on a balance sheet.

Just like to your wife, you are a several year inconvenience on the path towards her citizenship.

>"I'll point out that the fifth root of 29% is about 5%."
That might have gone over peoples' heads.

No, most regulars around here are smart. You aren't the only one.

>Not sure why OP feels the need to be so obnoxious.

Using Brita filters for his long island city apartment tap water.
Heavy metal poisoning affects different people in different ways.

>I see, your annual bonus consists of not having the rent raised by $100. Nice.

Jim, are you going to take that?

>How come you haven't bought anything yet? You've been in this place going on for 3 years now, right?

He owns a property, he just won't tell us where.

>I think w67th is off counting his profits from the publicly-declared few hundred thousand he put into Sprint a few months ago, up 36% now.

What about you? Wasn't Sprint an excellent path toward early retirement for the general population?

inonada
41 minutes ago
Posts: 4170
Member since: Oct 2008
stop ignoring this person
report abuse

I see, your annual bonus consists of not having the rent raised by $100. Nice.

How come you haven't bought anything yet? You've been in this place going on for 3 years now, right?

I don't work for them, so I don't get a bonus. But my rent is incredibly low for a terrific apartment, that would be renting for about 60% more than I am currently paying. And unlike living in a condo, for example, I can decide who gets to live in my building.

"i am about as secure as anyone i know" - we are all aware of this as most anonymous internet trolls tend to demonstrate significant maturity and are highly unlikely to be insecure

"And unlike living in a condo, for example, I can decide who gets to live in my building."

Amen to that, you wouldn't believe half the stories about what goes on at 15 CPW.

oh? is that were you currently live?

Hey mr. LIC Donald trump and rental sherpa to the stars! Whazzup beeeytches!

Oh no rents r up!?!?!?! Euro is down! Oil is sideways! Gold is uP! Gold is down!

The only thing that matters to me since we last spoke, I'm up $212k on my $480k buy in on Sprint.

Come on nyc re bullz, take the other side of my trade. I'm a buyer till it hits $9/share. I'm accumulating till i hit 400k shares.

Meaning I'll be up $2.2mm! Who wants to be my key Sherpa?

Hey, are they letting animals back onto streeteasy?

2700 in prime chelsea? It should be at least 3500. Have him bow and kiss the landlord's ring. It s a bargain. With the low vacancy rates, mommy leases, foreigners cramming into new York, the new Internet elite and new York lifestyle, this rent is a good deal. Maybe he can move to kew gardens and save some money unless the subway fare is also a problem

Hey w67 welcome back

Ino, J, jones lives in in the top floor of a 5 story rent controlled walk up in ME. And brags about his deal. BFD another scumbag scaming the system so take what he says with a grain of salt

hey w 67. i owe you a nod of thanks. S was a position that I was considering and researching and when you got bullish on this board, I ended up taking a bigger position than I normally would have taken -- I am a far more conservative investor than you but I do love to see a winner win. Congrats on your bountiful ROI.

It's nice to see apt23 admitting something positive. She was consistent in her call on following w67 on the S buy. Too bad things didn't work out as well for her husband.

Separately, Brooks, Jim isn't living in a rent controlled apartment, why completely make up crap like that or like your story about finding a great apartment at a great price without a broker?
First of all, Jim isn't even old enough to live in his apartment long enough to have been RC (vs. RS). Second of all, his housekeeper would have chosen someone else for the citizenship scam than someone who lives in a walkup.

Actually, I did. And it wasn't ME.

O' yea. I am very happy I chose to rent while I watch the RE in manhattan continue to weaken.

Apt23 I have to admit that I took a position in S as well after some research based on posts from a few months ago. Good to know that this site can enrich more than just real estate buyers and renters.

"oh? is that were you currently live?"

They do have nice price-to-rents.

Well huntersburg was right to call you an ape, w67th. You are a bottom-picker, nice job on Sprint. I ended up going in on AT&T and Verizon around then, only up 15-20%. I suck, can I give you a few bucks to run?

You should have listened to him. Maybe he can help you pick another bottom.

>W67 - you've bought all those toys for yourself, how about something for your wife? You've said she really would like a pink diamond.

You still can't do this http://www.bluenile.com/fancy-pink-emerald-cut-diamond_c-LD02193366

but you could swing this one http://www.bluenile.com/fancy-pink-marquise-cut-diamond_c-LD02068366
(Oh, but that IS a small one, wouldn't impress people the way you would like)

it wouldn't match his IWC watch or the color of the yacht or Porsche.

A pink diamond? How lame.

W67th, let me know if you want me to point out some apts to blow the money on.

Here we go,

"Doesn't mean shit if your rent goes up 30%. Then another 30%. Then another 30%. And on and on and on."

The perpetual "buy now or forever be left out." I only need to know one thing and one thing only, that credit is not expanding and we're in a deleveraging cycle. Unless someone tells me at least 90% of all NYC RE transaction are done with cash, NYC RE will also deleverage!

NYC is a unique animal in that it's the fittest of all the US cities so like a strong wildebeest, it will take several blows from several cheetahs before it keels over. 08-09 was the 1st blow. The next round of lay-offs from WS and the EU crisis will be the next blow. A US recession, see all the global ISM #s lately ?, will be the 3rd blow.

> Jim, all those iditos are scrambling to renew their rent for 29% higher....

ericho, let's see how NYC withstand the next US recession. You really think, in this economic environment, that rent can continue in this projection ? Really ? In this economic environment ? Have you seen the 3rd revision of the GDP ? The recent NFP ? The latest weekly claims and its revisions ? The global ISM #s ? Really ?

Drop that axe of yours and stop grinding at it so hard :)

> they forgot to mention that his rent went down 20% in 2009.

Hahahaha, and that whoever thinks rent can continue in this projection have been living under a rock.

Murray888, as in an apartment in Murray hill, as in a penthouse, with terrace?

> I'm still around, not apartment-hunting. My rent will go up 3.3% at the end of the year, as written into my lease unless I decide to terminate. May or may not do it, who knows. But not much to write about in my end of the market. There was a unit in my building that was attempting to rent for about 8 months without much success. They pulled it off the market and put it up for sale. The monthly asking rent works out to $1800 per million of asking price. The rent on my place works out to $2150 per million of asking price of a same-line, similar-floor currently on the market. So not much to get worked up about in my market.

I am told by friends that many apartments, if bought for "investment", would be producing negative cash flows after taking into account the mortgage, common charges, RE taxes, upkeeps, etc. Why would anyone want to "invest" in a losing proposition ?

> I have made a heck of a lot more in the equity market over the last three years than I've paid in rent increases. Meanwhile, prices are going sideways, and my guess is, will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. I for one am feeling pretty happy with my choices. Not sure why OP feels the need to be so obnoxious.

Similar boat. the amount i save from RE tax increase, common charge increase, assessments, etc, compare to my rent increase of roughly between 3-5% every year .. common charges only will take a bite of more than 5% from you, hahaha and we know 1500-2000 is almost the "norm" in common charges in the city ... WINNING!!!!

So for those perma-bull ax grinders, i'm still ahead of the game and will be as long as RE prices are still sky-high and well above any meaningful affordability metric.

truth,

>Using Brita filters for his long island city apartment tap water.
> Heavy metal poisoning affects different people in different ways.

Home made water filter :) b/c his common charges increase, RE tax increase and assessments are eating into his overall expenses .. can't even afford Brita.

Kool. Alanhart is back, as is aboutready.

Murray6969, wifey is a purist at heart. Make em big, make em clear and make em DEF.

Now if the $1.5mm pink one was able to be financed with 5% with Libor plus 100bps for 5yr fxed, 45 yr amort with the interest was deductible on my taxes, and if I ever got upside down on pink diamonds, if the banks via the taxpayers gave me a 5yr free float and then wrote down my mortgage to whatever pink diamond 'mkt' was at that time!!!!!! Then yes murray6969, let's go shopping for that diamond. I'll even spring for a matching .5 carat labia stud. Oh let's make it symmetrical 2x .5 carat labia studs....

oh come on W67th - here's one ( big enough though it's only F color)

http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-search?track=head#diamonds_pid=LD00100058

You've treated yourself to all those toys, however you've leveraged. Doesn't your wife deserve something really nice, even if you can't leverage it?

Apt23, I hope it moved your net worth o meter. My wife keeps asking me to sell... I keep telling her $212k gain in 4 month doesn't move my 'net worth o meter'.

Hey Murray6969, enuff talk of pink diamonds. Just open your mouth and let me use your tonsils as a fulcrum..... And seriously stfu and buy more NYC re. Interest rates are at all time LOWS. Best time to lock in bubble prices!

Surprised that inododo didn't follow your Sprint advice? What kind of king of the jungle can you be if your pack doesn't follow?

No, w67, not enough to move net worth o meter much. I am much too conservative. So I am diversified but even with the huge gains in T. VZ, DIS, AAPL, KO , V, EOG, etc and all the interest from the MLP's, I gotta say, my conservative portfolio is doing much better that RE returns. So couldn't be happier that I didn't buy in this pricey market

apt23 followed w67th's advice on buying Sprint, but inododo ... nope.

Oh fuck, who cares? Another example of your OCD-like preoccupation with a single data point.

Ugh, give it a rest. The only number that matters (actually numbers, and one can obviously offset the other) is whether or not one is losing ground to inflation in terms of total costs, and whether or not one is able to save a healthy amount with a reasonable amount of return for retirement. I have no idea what some people are bitching about. Our retirement plans have decent options. Last year was only ok but the prior three years were very good, and I'm running at 6.4% for the year, which for very low-risk options isn't bad. No, I didn't follow "someone's" advice, but I couldn't because we aren't allowed to buy stocks from an individual company, only mutual funds. Yet we are still hugely beating inflation.

There is no better return than owning a home! After renting in Manhattan for 12 years, I bought a 2 bedroom/2 bath in one of the new developments on the Williamsburg waterfront and have lived here for 1.5 years now. Before costs for a sales transaction, I'm up 42% in value. In addition, I got a great tax refund last year with my mortgage deduction. Since I did so well here and feel very confident about the future in this neighborhood, I even decided to pay down my mortgage to 25% LTV so I have tremendous equity and sleep very well at night. I now live in a 1300 sq ft. apartment in a full service luxury building with city views, pool,gym, and a 25 year tax abatement for less than $2500 a month which includes mortgage and maintenance. No matter what happens, my costs are fixed.

At the end of the day, I would rather make a meager return owning real estate than making double digit returns in equities or anything else that I DO NOT CONTROL or CANNOT FULLY UNDERSTAND. Look around, it's the real estate owners that are still doing well while all the traders and investment bankers are sucking wind. Real Estate is the true path to wealth. Equities is for the birds...

AR: Yes, the markets are beating inflation and it has been a pretty good year considering all the headwinds. But I wonder if all bets are off at the end of July when Merkel might come up against a call for a vote of confidence. The US papers are not really reporting on Hans Werner Sinn who is giving Merkel some trouble. Several weeks ago, he came out with a report that said that the Bundesbanke would be on the hook for something like 700 billion euros if the ECB went belly up. The economists went wild and dismissed his view entirely -- but slowly, week after week, one economist after another said that upon review it seems he had a point and the outlandish number could be construed as accurate under certain parameters.

Now, he is saying that because Merkel caved and the bailout money will go directly to the spanish banks -- it is an even bigger catastrophe for Germany. He wrote a letter and had 170 economists sign it asking Merkel to rescind the agreement at the last EU meeting. A poll this weekend showed that for the first time, a majority of the German people don't want any more bailouts.

I will be scaling back and taking some profits -- including some S profits-- as Merkel faces some heat at the end of July.

>Another example of your OCD-like preoccupation with a single data point.

Multiple data points regarding my single data point focus?

>I will be scaling back and taking some profits -- including some S profits-- as Merkel faces some heat at the end of July.

Well that makes sense. Sprint does a lot of business in Europe.

Lance: Real Estate is the true path to wealth

I think there are quite a few former owners who took a bath in RE recently who would argue with your viewpoint. And may I point out that you are not up 42% until you cash out -- the same is true with equities though it is much easier to cash out with equities.

That said, if there is a global recession or even worse, a collapse of the euro which would engender even greater world wide financial stress, then owning assets -- like an apartment-- is very wise. However, since all assets in an economic collapse go down together, the value of your apartment could conceivably wipe out your profits before you can sell it. If a holder of equities sold their positions in time, they might retain enough profit to buy an apartment at a very low value. But if you are happy in your apartment and are willing to live there for a long time and you can swing the payments even in a severe economic downturn, then you are set for life.

btw, your building sounds like north side pier which i think is truly a good investment if you got in early

apt23 didn't get along with her neighbor
she called the NYPD and said her husband had an illegal gun and was about to commit a violent crime
then she told the police that the report she filed with 911 was a lie

She said all this on streeteasy. I couldn't make this up.

I know of someone who's buying a property in a sand state, and this is its history:
2006, sold for $340K
200x, up 42%
2011, sold REO for $60K

True story!

Nice

Germany is just plain silly if they don't pull out of the Eurozone. That'll help stave off the next big European war, which is overdue anyway.

Agree, and w67 can go over and teach them the "Zeit Heil".

Alan, I think the collapse in Euro is coming sooner than the general consensus of 3 -5 years. The reporting in the EZ papers is getting dire. The secret reports of consequences -- including report by german finance minster as well as several banks- are being made public and the they are all apocalyptic. Why would they be releasing these reports unless Germany is setting the stage to leave the euro. Maybe Merkel caved in an effort to look like she was on board to save the euro so Germany can sidestep blame when the collapse comes. Did you read the Der Spiegel cover story a couple of weeks ago? It was a horror show of bad news.

Idiotic. No one has more incentive to stay in the Euro than the Germans.

i worry about the war too but they can't have one without an arms build up and there hasn't been one as far as i know. they'll just keep bitching and tossing vaguely racist insults at eachother.

>i worry about the war too but they can't have one without an arms build up and there hasn't been one as far as i know. they'll just keep bitching and tossing vaguely racist insults at eachother.

The French just need to reinstate the Concorde program, then they can kill Germans at a faster pace.

[At the end of the day, I would rather make a meager return owning real estate than making double digit returns in equities or anything else that I DO NOT CONTROL or CANNOT FULLY UNDERSTAND. Look around, it's the real estate owners that are still doing well while all the traders and investment bankers are sucking wind. Real Estate is the true path to wealth. Equities is for the birds...]

I hate to break it to you my friend. Will'burg will be a "fun" place when things get interesting. But I doubt you will be on this board when that happens as giving your opinion will be the last thing on your mind at that time.

[the bailout money will go directly to the spanish banks]

It is so hilarious when I see journalists, most don't have a clue, write about this. The crux of the problem they were trying to solve is to prevent any new bailout funds from counting against the bailed out coutrny's debt-to-GDP ratio. This "direct" bailout injection to the Spanish bank will, in essence, not be guaranteed by the ECB or the ESM but the sovereign itself. In other words, it will "count" toward the debt-to-GDP because indirectly the sovereigns are guaranteeing the bailout money.

Regarding the collapse of the Euro,

* [Debt crisis: Finland warns of euro exit rather than pay debts of others

FINLAND would consider leaving the eurozone rather than paying the debts of other countries in the currency bloc, Finnish Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen has said.]

http://www.independent.ie/business/european/debt-crisis-finland-warns-of-euro-exit-rather-than-pay-debts-of-others-3160735.html

I looked up the sale history of the property I described and (I apologize) I was off on the 2006 price. The correct numbers:

2006, sold for $359K
200x, up 42%
2011, sold REO for $60K

[Lance: Real Estate is the true path to wealth

I think there are quite a few former owners who took a bath in RE recently who would argue with your viewpoint. And may I point out that you are not up 42% until you cash out -- the same is true with equities though it is much easier to cash out with equities.]

Don't prick his bubble. All you "traders" out there have been in this situation before, I guaranttee 1000%. You bought a "hot stock" on Monday, it continues higher on Tuesday and Wednesday and you were thinking, "Gesshush, I'm a genius, this is so damn easy. You are up 42%. Then it stalls on Thursday and Fri. Come Monday, it's down 50% and Tuesday another 40%, etc, etc" Retail is always the last to catch on to a trend. Good luck Lance!

Str33easier: On any personal financial statement, one's net worth is determined by current asset value minus liabilities. Just because assets are not liquidated does not mean one is not up a certain percentage amount. Do you think when Forbes ranks the richest people in the world, they don't count current asset values? Bill Gates is worth $61B. Do you think he actually has $61B in the bank? lol

And although it is easier to cash out in equities, the swings are much more erratic whereas real estate is sticky.

Str33easier: 'I hate to break it to you my friend. Will'burg will be a "fun" place when things get interesting. But I doubt you will be on this board when that happens as giving your opinion will be the last thing on your mind at that time."

This is what the boards were saying in 2009 and 2010. Guess what? Me along with everybody else who bought in Williamsburg are laughing right now.

how did you figure you made 42%? comps? appraisal?

bank appraisal from Citi...

Bump

[This is what the boards were saying in 2009 and 2010. Guess what? Me along with everybody else who bought in Williamsburg are laughing right now. ]

If you think NYC RE has gone through its cleansing after 08, you are sorely, sorely mistaken my friend.

Let me break it down to you in real, easy, simple terms.

1) Wall Street salary has been stagnant for at least 5 years
2) Wall Street bonuses, if anyone is lucky enough to get one recently, is down and down BIG
3) Wall Street 401K is turning into Wall Street 201K ...

Workers at the five largest Wall Street banks saw the value of company stock in their 401(k) accounts, sometimes the biggest holding of those plans, decline more than $2 billion last year, according to annual filings. Those losses don't include shares received as bonuses. ]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wall-streeters-lose-2-billion-040018772.html

So, if Wall Streeters are feeling the pinch, I bet folks out in Will'burg are doing darn gone terrific ... as I said Lance, good luck

>3) Wall Street 401K is turning into Wall Street 201K ...

ooh, a funny

st33teasier, while I seriously doubt Lance's supposed "gain" (appraisals don't exactly mean very much in my book), I also think it's a bit too facile to say Wall St's feeling the pinch, so everyone else must be totally in dog sh!t.

puts a smile on my face, this thread does - tumbleweeds gone...

[st33teasier, while I seriously doubt Lance's supposed "gain" (appraisals don't exactly mean very much in my book), I also think it's a bit too facile to say Wall St's feeling the pinch, so everyone else must be totally in dog sh!t.]

Agree with the appraisal vs actual transaction 100%. However, bjw2103, you are more sanguine than me re: the Wall Street effect on the 5 boroughs. If WS sneezes, we all catch a cold. WS is sneezing. WS has allergies, it can't stop sneezing.

str33t, I can be overly sanguine sometimes, no doubt. I've just never totally subscribed to the notion that Wall Street dictates everything in this city. As I told stevejhx last week, this ain't a one-horse town. Though I can safely tell Lance that most people who can do math and bought that recently aren't laughing as hard as he thinks they are.

i guess wburg has been immunized--after all, there's nowhere left to build over there, if current stale supply ever gets bought up

Interesting news item yesterday about Bloomberg's plan for 300sq ft apartments to accommodate the growing NYC population in coming years. Adhering to the adage "they're not making more land" would indicate long-term bullish signal. Yes, WS is on its heels a bit but agree with bjw that this is not, and never will be, a one-horse town. And WS will recover in some form.

problem is affordability, ie. demand for the price (remmeber econ 101 supply demand?) Yes population will increase, and yes land is finite but how many will be able to pay the prices currently asked? We have to have a strong economy for that and given WS and debt issue US is facing I am not sure that is going to happen. One way to 'solve' this is to keep interest rates low but that is made up by the fed, not a long term fix. So I think we can see that demand but at 75% of current prices.

Hey, whatever happened to Wbottoms? He claimed to be so happy being grey...

No neighborhoods were "immunized" btw. Not sure where that idea sprung from. But silly to imagine some didn't fare better (ok, less poorly) than others. Curious though what some define as "stale supply"...

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sales/williamsburg-brooklyn/status:open

>Hey, whatever happened to Wbottoms?

Just look for the bitter, negative but arrogant guy who frequently talks in baby talk.