Please break it down for a NYC RE newbie...I need the ABC's

hey noDiggity - glad you are pleased with your rental. The reason renting is the wisest (perhaps not the most elating) choice for us is that we don't quite know if we will be in manhattan long-term (next 5+ years). The 2nd reason is that currently we can't afford to buy the same space that we can rent (uws 3br). not the most thrilling answer, i'm sure, but true nonetheless.

"A" is for the A**f*cking you get when you sign a developer's non-negotiable "purchase agreement" instead of a reasonable negotiated Contract of Sale.

"B" is for the B*llsh*t the on-site agent tells you about how many units have sold and how much they have gone up in value and how you need to buy right now before the next price increase.

"C" is for Cost of how much more it's going to take to carry the unit as a purchase than if you rented the same unit

"D" .................... etc.

Hey uwsmom... Makes sense.... Thanks.
An UWS 3 bedroom is luxe IMHO. (how was the parade?)
Damn the city is expensive, even with the rental in my favor.
But same for me. Even if I bought my studio outright... The maintenance alone is too close to my rental fee.

30 yrs you make me laugh. Always a great post/info from you.

I hear from the economist hubby non-stop... gold, currencies, rates, banks, stocks, employment, income, credit...
But the economist brain is not the psychotherapist brain.
I'm trying to figure out the psychology behind it all.
Some of us just need

The ABC's...

' "C" is for Cost of how much more it's going to take to carry the unit as a purchase than if you rented the same unit'

- I would have saved the c-word for most realtors I've known, who make me think of the entire real estate profession in strictly gynecological terms...

Hugh, I thought I was close to my limit on expletives. But you remind me of a Monty Python routine which ends with the line "What a silly bunt".

But you remind me of a Monty Python routine which ends with the line "What a silly bunt".

LOL. That was a cunning stunt...

Hotdiggity - glad you're happy with where you wound up.

As I remember from your very first posts, you might be a prime example of "if I can't have it all" - making the choice of price,location, apartment.

It seems as if price,apartment, won you over vs. your initial preferred location , and now, seems as if the locations is working for really well.

Except for the lucky few, it would seem that real estate in NY is almost always a series of trade-offs

funny, I feel like hotdiggity lately...no doubt.

I am enjoying this studio so much that I am freaking myself out because I want to own it forever...
which is the reason for my post...I'm scaring myself.
I pay 2k/month, and to own it, after a 100k down payment, it would cost 2600 per month.

And you are absolutely correct ph41, I am nowhere close to where I thought I wanted to be, and those very "concessions" I made have brought me to a place that feels so right. The streeteasy-going crowd comments of "renting" and "studio" were instantaneously edited out in my reading before I really learned to "listen"...

Maybe the same holds true now, I think I want to own this forever, but maybe one day I can get in the elevator and hit "PH".

diggity - this is a weekend place for you?

oui. I was just reading your "IF YOU CAN"T HAVE IT ALL" thread...don't know how I missed that one, it's great reading. And I was thinking that I really don't get a vote since I'm only a part-timer. It has to be completely different living here full-time. Ironically, I teach downtown in the village a couple of nights a week, but my business is on Long Island, so even though I am here during the week, I go "home" to Long Island. And the city is for Fri-Mon. I am sure I couldn't do this studio is I lived here full-time.

how much for a 15 minute teaching "job" downtown around 1a.m.?

I am thankful for streeteasy talk. Especially posters with a sense of humor. I am thankful for this thread... so far, it's a comparatively "nice" one.

I am thankful that the rent-to-own agreement and subsequent contract of sale I negotiated seem to have served me well (no regrets yet, anyhow); that my first experience hiring a lawyer was educational and productive; that the developer's agent seems to have given me minimal bullshit (no more than you'd expect from anyone with imperfect knowledge and a personal stake in seeing a deal done); and very thankful that I can afford the extra ~$800/mo it costs me to own.

Most of all, I'm thankful that "the economy" hasn't collapsed, knock on wood. Not saying things like greed, negligence and leverage haven't been overdue for big adjustments. But with any luck we can avoid anarchy and keep moving forward.

diggity - actually, being in a studio pied a terre is a great way to transition from a house.

Almost any apartment, even a large one, usually doesn't feel as big as a house, so, by being in the studio now, when, and if, you're ready to move full time into New York, you'll be more able to downsize to an apartment (one or two bedroom, etc.) - the main shock is over.

ok, now I'm going to sound REALLY crazy, just in case you haven't picked up on that yet. I'm downsized. I have always lived in a big one bedroom apartment...we bought the LI apartment when we were kids basically, and thought we were going in a different direction. Fast forward 15 years and we don't really have the suburban life nor the expenses of said life. I thought my chances to live in the city were over...no, actually I never thought I had a chance. and then the stars aligned. my only "private outdoor space" is in the city...the terrace IS the apartment.
I can't live without driving my car, and Fire Island in the summer, but otherwise, it's not a life for us out there right now.

djradon...great post.

w67thstreet...you know what they say in Manhattan real estate..
"If you have to ask..." ;)

(and yes, I winked...so sue me. Oh, and look, I'll smile too :)