Nick Martin should've bought several NY condos

What if instead he bought 20 Luxury Manhattan Condos in 1998. He'd still be rich, ahead of the game and with plenty of income. --------------------------------------------------------------------- It is a far cry from the life that Mr. Martin and his family enjoyed until recently at their Adirondacks waterfront camp at Tupper Lake, N.Y. Their garage held three stylish cars, including a yellow... [more]

What if instead he bought 20 Luxury Manhattan Condos in 1998. He'd still be rich, ahead of the game and with plenty of income. --------------------------------------------------------------------- It is a far cry from the life that Mr. Martin and his family enjoyed until recently at their Adirondacks waterfront camp at Tupper Lake, N.Y. Their garage held three stylish cars, including a yellow Aston Martin; they owned three horses, one that cost $173,000; and Mr. Martin treated his wife, Kate, to a birthday weekend at the Waldorf-Astoria, with dinner at the “21” Club and a $7,000 mink coat. That luxurious world was fueled by a check Mr. Martin received in 1998 for $14 million, his share of the $600 million sale of Martin Media, an outdoor advertising business begun by his father in California in the 1950s. After taxes, he kept about $10 million. --------------------------------------------------------------- First, the Martins bought a house in Somerset, England, near the home of Mrs. Martin’s parents, and he decided to write a novel. At about the same time, they spent $250,000 on the 3.5-acre camp with four structures on Tupper Lake, deep in the Adirondacks, as a summer home. They began extensive renovations at the lake, adding a stunning three-story boathouse and two other buildings. Then came the financial crisis. The markets plunged, as did the value of the Martins’ trust. By fall 2008, with much of the family’s net worth tied up in housing, Mr. Martin faced a series of margin calls. He needed more cash in his brokerage accounts because he had been tapping into a credit line with his investments as collateral. In January 2009, he cashed in a retirement account worth roughly $91,000. The houses could not be sold quickly. Though if they had been, some of the pressure would have lifted. “To maintain those things, you have to have a pretty good cash flow,” Mr. Martin said. The family ultimately put the Adirondacks property on the market for $4.9 million, then quickly slashed the price by half. Last month, the Martins got an offer for just half of the latest $2.5 million asking price. They have stopped making payments on their $1.1 million mortgage and their $53,000 in annual property taxes in the Adirondacks as well as the mortgage and taxes on their Vermont home. They cannot afford those obligations on Mr. Martin’s current salary of $51,000. Their household income is down from $250,000 four years ago. At the moment, they are working with a loan modification unit at their bank. The lender proposed a new payment of $3,550 a month, reduced from $7,400. Given his current status, Mr. Martin argued, that it does not make much sense. He predicts that the house will ultimately be sold or taken over by the bank. Meanwhile, for the Christmas holidays and some of next summer, the family has found renters for the main house to help cover some of the costs. [less]