What should I do?

I also hear that in Manhattan there are 3 bedroom apt's in fashionable areas with gorgeous skyline views that the landlords are paying people to live in because they can't rent them out. I'm talking about prime Midtown Manhattan. Should I accept their offer or should I hold out for a deal where the landlord pays me to stay in his apt. What would you do?

Houser:

Question 1: Buy. Pay the $3.5MM. It will look cheap in a year or two. You'll thank me.

Question 2: You should insist that the landlord accept $20K per month in rent, whether you can afford it or not. If you take his offer of free lodging, you're a parasite.

XXOO,
W81

thanks west81st that great advice. Boy, are these blog sites ever so helpful. Is it true that all the banks and brokerages will be filing for bankruptcy. If so should I think about applying for mortgage now or should I wait till it happens.

Houser:

Apply now, definitely, and be sure to borrow through a Wall Street conduit (if you can still find one where the phones haven't been cut off). That way, once all the I-Banks go out of business and the servicers have to let most of their staff go to cut expenses, you'll be able to go years without making a payment, since there won't be anyone left to foreclose on you. Hope this helps.

If you need more advice on financing, e-mail shong@countrywide.com. He's really good, and super-honest, just like his firm. Don't talk to any of those nasty portfolio lenders who just want to loan you money at a competitive rate without any hidden fees or floors. Who wants that?

Don't rent! You're just throwing money away!

houser, there will be mass exodus from Manhattan and you should move out of the city with everyone else. dco, julia, and cartman have said everyone is leaving Manhattan and that there will no longer be any interns to rent out apartments. Unless you want to be part of the "I am Legend" sequel, I would move and settle in Miami, Detroit or maybe Staten Island where you can probably get an apartment for 8x yearly rent.

JuiceMan - you are wrong here. No exodus. People can camp in Central Park.

Interesting point 93rd, I have (seriously) seen an increase in people sleeping in Central Park. Are those the interns?

93rd: Central Park is so 2006. Once the banks fold, LICComment and I are gonna stake out the top three floors of Metrotech as a squat. By day, we'll cross the bridge and loot. By night, we'll watch Manhattan burn. Who's with me?!

Don't throw your money away on a high rent. Negotiate the rent down to 1600.00, now is the best time to do that when the city is crumbling.

What was the name of that Billy Joel song, The Night the Lights Went Out on Broadway?

West81st, I can't believe you exposed us. We tenement dwellers have been planning this for years, except that it's only a rumor that Manhattan will burn. When everyone flees for their lives and we've got the decoy fires going on the West Side Highway and FDR, I'm gonna snag malraux's place in 15 CPW. Oh shit, I've just revealed more of the plan. Better delete that before I hit repl