Unique Situation -- Need Help

why not rent for a while and let your money grow so you'll have more money to invest in an apartment. It seems that prices are dropping and you might find a better deal next year.

Rent.

I think I know the buidling you're talking about. Keep in mind that 10 years ago, the tiny Noho studio probably sold for $125K. 2 bedrooms used to be $400K then too.

I wouldn't plunk down ALL of your money into the purchase, definitely save a nest egg. Offer $300K and if they say no, wait until January.

Out of curiosity, what was the "magnum opum" that sold for 750,000 smackers?

Thanks, Julia. To be honest, even I rented an apt. in the Bronx, as opposed to couch surfing, homeless shelters, et al, I would feel like paying 12K over the next year would be devastating. Sure, I have 12K to spend, but I am so terrified of this money evaporating over time, and being left with nothing again.

I should have clarified that -- I don't intend to buy now, or even in six months, but this thing is obviously going to play itself out. Everyone talks about 4Q 2009, 1Q 2010, but I don't think any of us have any idea of what's about to happen. A lot of companies are holding out on their layoffs as long as possible, preferring to wait until after the New Year obviously, and it seems that there's going to be a bit of a domino effect. We haven't yet seen massive layoffs in advertising, sales, so many related professions. And as people tighten their purse strings, it seems that publishing, specifically, will get worse. I can't imagine that a few hundred layoffs are going to make newspapers and magazines profitable all of a sudden, when they're a dying medium to begin with.

Sticky -- It's a big enough deal where I don't want to offer any details, as I prefer not to be a StreetEasy whipping boy. Not that anyone gives a sh*t; believe me, I know.

You are in the perfect position. I don't know enough about your position, but I think that one thing to look into, going forward, is an income-producing building. If you could buy one, all cash, any money you make from rent will help you pay taxes and maintenance, and would be your retirement fund.

what is a magnum opus?

wtf, julia? you're smarter than me. it's not an artsy-fartsy term:

Magnum opus (sometimes Opus magnum, plural magna opera), from the Latin meaning great work,[1] refers to the largest, and perhaps the best, greatest, most popular, or most renowned achievement of an author, artist, or composer.

NYC -- everytime i see a blg. in bed-stuy or wherever in queens, for 500Kish, I fantasize about what it would be like to buy one, seeing that it will lead to generational wealth. (In theory.) That said, I am the last person who should be involved in something like that, in that I can't tie my shoelaces without assistance from a friend. Also, two other factors -- one, any time, even if it were an hour a day, spent dealing with the bldg., would mean i wouldn't focus on working on something further to get me more money, acclaim, etc.

You don't think you could collect rent from roommates? Just curious.

If it were just about collecting rents, sure, but it would entail dealing with broken toilets, exploding pipes, any number of things. Plus, I don't want to have to spend time taking the train to wherever, dealing with phone calls, etc. If I were capable of any of that, even the simple stuff, I probably would have been a low-level Wall Street guy, or a doctor, or something normal. In fact, the only reason I think I've put myself on the map as a name talent is because I never got on the track of "good school, good job, pay your dues." I failed out of school early, and then just put myself in a position where life experience translated into artistic expression. A 20-something working for NY magazine spends 10 hrs. a day on puff pieces or this or that, but has no time left to work on their own projects, and even if they do, they have nothing to draw upon. It's why you have these young kids writing memoirs about a life not worth examining.

Wherever you buy is going to have maintenance - for taxes and other costs. With bad credit, and unsteady income, it is unlikely you will get approved in a coop as you will not have enough cushion. That said, the market has taken a beating. You could roll the dice and invest hoping that the market recovers while real estate comes down in line with rents -- renting in the interim. it may work out well for you. You should also figure out if you need to be in an expensive city without building future security. It is a bad long term trade if you do not feel that it will really pan out for you in terms of future wealth. good luck to you. I hope that things go your way.

Man.Fox -- That's why I specifically mentioned the condo aspect. It doesn't seem like co-op's are approving 55 y.o. physicians with 750 (FICA? FICO?) scores. One quick Google search on me reveals a history of character flaws that wouldn't get me a 400K co-op if I had 5MM in the bank. I figured that a lot of these low-end condos here on SE feature 600 bucks a month in maint./taxes/CCs. I can find a way to swing that with a crap job. Beyond that, there figure to be opportunities for me assuming I don't hook that big fish again. And to be honest, I'm hoping my new standing in life will help me date/marry a regular girl with a regular job who doesn't mind that her b/f wakes up at 2 p.m. and does nothing all day. The tradeoff being the proximity to the beautiful people, not that I'm one of them, or will be.

Look, I'd love to move to Ohio and buy a foreclosed house for 30K, but my family is from the area, and I've never lived anywhere else. I'm used to living in little boxes and having no savings, so I figure that if I owned a place, I'd be exactly where I started. Except that if it ever came to a place where I couldn't put art out there, or had to leave in general, I'd have a solid place to sell for 500K or more, and then I can move on from there.

ROFL. I insist on knowing at least what kind of artist you are & the general nature of the magnum opus.

what about HDFC buildings. There are several in the East Village. Full of artists actually and some have great apartments. They are up in harlem and the UWS too but it doesn't sound like you want to be there. I don't think they base your acceptance on your savings so much as your yearly income & tax bracket. have a few artist friends who live in them & have great spaces.

sticky -- email me from your work email tomorrow, and i'll send you a link. i want to at least know that you if you give up the goods on this board (again, not that anyone cares), i have some insurance.

usw96 -- i know there were some listings in the east village and elsewhere that talked about income restrictions. thing is, i don't even know how to investigate this stuff (not that i'm asking you to do it for me.) and what about if i want to sell it? are there all sorts of restrictions regarding that sort of thing? i know i had to form a loan-out company of some sort (not an LLC) so you don't pay the full amount of taxes. i don't know the details of that, because i'm incompetent, etc. but i think i'm supposed to be drawing a salary from my corporation; it's a little confusing. if so, i would definitely fall under hte requirements or what have you.

i would live on the UWS, but i'm still young, and all the action is going on down here. i'm not ready to put myself out to pasture just yet.

I understood what magnum opus means but what can you sell for $750k? Maybe it's been a long weekend but I don't understand.

email me tomorrow & I can help you with the HDFC stuff.

I sold a screenplay. A good one, which is why only got 750K. (800, really, but I was trying to be all covert about it.)

Thanks, usw96.

also curious about this MO of yours

what about artists in residence buildings like West Beth which is in the W. Village?

Something smells fishy

Never even heard of it. The problem is, I have 400K coming to me this year, 400K coming to me next year, which f*cks me tax-bracket wise. After that, I would think there would be scripts for me to re-write/punch up, and that pays exceptionally well, but it's not something I'm counting on. Clearly, I need to talk to an attorney about all of these considerations.

Here's an odd question. Do some bldg's with garages and doormen feature a way for me to enter the apt. without having to see the doorman? Via the garage, I mean? Because my aversion to doormen isn't just the extra money you to have to shell out via the fees, it's that I don't want to deal with someone when I go back and forth to the deli 3x in an hour at 4 a.m. or what have you. And I'm a really friendly guy, I just don't want to say hi to someone all the time, or have them hold the door for me, talk baseball and girls, etc., etc. It's annoying at times. But if you can use a garage entrance 24/7, it makes the doorman thing much more palatable.

Sounds like your thing would be a loft on the Bowery

You know what JuiceMan? Everyone else was fine with this thread, maybe they had their suspicions, but get over yourself. I went through all the proper steps in my initial post, stating that I was probably going to invite scorn/snark (thereby ensuring that I wouldn't, actually), I said that I'm not some hipster, I'm just a guy who likes football and beer and blue skies like everyone else, and I conducted myself in a decent manner. I also tried to thank people for their input/time, and if you notice, I told people that if they email me privately, I would be more than happy to send a link to my sh*t. Now I'm having second thoughts, because I don't want it plastered all over here. It's a tough world out there, and no one wants to hear about some as*hole who did nothing his whole life, then hit the lottery. I tried to do this with tact, and there's really no benefit to being honest about all this, as it's not like I'm going to get laid from all this. The only reason I went into the specifics about my situation is because I can't just be like, "Hey, I have 450K to spend, what should I do?" Because people assume that you have a job, have income coming in, etc. It's a unique situation, hence the thread.

They only allow artists to live there. http://www.westbeth.org/ Just saw that they are not currently accepting new applications. Sorry

nyc10023 -- i see those places on 90 Bowery, I believe. They are appealing. Also, the things that most people with actual standards look for in a place, I'm not in a position to be picky about. The poor construction I keep reading about with a lot of these new developments scares me a bit, but again, beggars can't be choosers. If I'm looking for a 450K condo downtown, I'm going to have to wait for these 1 BRs to come down as it is. If I had 650K cash, I'd be able to have the higher-end 1 BRs fall.

The 425K NoHo studio (and small one at that) is appealing to me because the maint./CC come to 325 total, I believe. And if I want to spend 3 months watching t.v. in a crap motel in North Dakota, I can sublet it out for 1500 and still make 1200 or so profit. But I would only really buy that if they would sell it for 250-275K cash. Which is doubtful, I'm guessing.

treetnewbie
2 minutes ago
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You know what JuiceMan? Everyone else was fine with this thread, maybe they had their suspicions, but get over yourself. I went through all the proper steps in my initial post, stating that I was probably going to invite scorn/snark (thereby ensuring that I wouldn't, actually), I said that I'm not some hipster, I'm just a guy who likes football and beer and blue skies like everyone else, and I conducted myself in a decent manner. I also tried to thank people for their input/time, and if you notice, I told people that if they email me privately, I would be more than happy to send a link to my sh*t.

ah, yes, masterful plan, especially starting out with those proper steps like saying you'd be ridiculed to avoid ridicule

Ok, so really, who are you? petrfitz trying out his actual artist personality?

Ootin, relax? I'm not Matt Damon, that's all that's important. I just said, I wrote a screenplay. Douche*ags write screenplays every day. I'm just another one in a long line of many, it's just that most NYers are into the journalism/novel scene, so it's a novelty.

It was a masterful plan, because no one jumped on me for 20 messages. And I've been reading this board for about a month, okay? I don't know anything about anything re: interest rates and price points and whatever else, but I do know that I saw your name in one of the other threads, and you were probably one of the pricks going back and forth with one of the other pricks. Here's a thought -- if I were screwing around, wasting people's time, why wouldn't I just say, I sold some sort of this or that for 8 million dollars. I'm looking for this or that apt. Can you help me?

No. I'm here, looking for help on the most low-end places in Manhattan. I'm surprised no one has said, "Why don't you look for a 1BR on the UES or the finacian district, etc." But people respected my wants and needs, except for you two. Move on.

streetnewbie, it sounds like you're trying hard to channel the tone of a 1930s-40s crime novel, probably set in LA. Dashiell Hammett or James M. Cain or somebody of that . . . ilk.

Alan, I don't even know what that means.

streetnewbie
1 minute ago
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but I do know that I saw your name in one of the other threads, and you were probably one of the pricks going back and forth with one of the other pricks.

oh, ok, your reverse anonymous psychology worked. I believe you now. How can I help you?

Ootin, you're one of those guys who's lonely and pissed off so you lash out on the Internet against anyone and everyone, right?

ok done deal, that is exactly what petrfitz would say.

You know, we all have creative minds but ultimately, the true personality comes out with just a little prodding and testing.

look forward to seeing you on another one of your creative personalities ... just as you'll see me too.

ootin -- i just went to another thread, and there you were, asking if someone else is someone else.

it's exactly what "peterfitz" would say, because it's common sense. you have issues -- take it from someone who knows.

yes, good one, pretending to do peterfitz instead of petrfitz.

I even used that one myself once.

I bet you could've gotten a cool million if you weren't so verbose.

Wow, you really are a sad, little man, aren't you?

Maybe you missed that part where I was totally cool about giving the full details about my situation to anyone who wants to know. I think that's sort of proof enough, at least for your purposes. If you don't think I'm incredibly proud about my accomplishment, even if a great deal with it is rooted in luck, you're insance. I am proud, and the more strangers know about it, the better. The first weekend box office is going to determine how the rest of my career plays out, and the rest of my life.

Kill yourself.

"Everyone else was fine with this thread, maybe they had their suspicions, but get over yourself."

Why should I get over myself? I'm not the one that started a thread about selling my "magnum opus" and using my "lifetime windfall" to buy a 1 bed apartment. Give me a break.

streetnewbie
5 minutes ago
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Wow, you really are a sad, little man, aren't you?
Maybe you missed that part where I was totally cool about giving the full details about my situation to anyone who wants to know. I think that's sort of proof enough, at least for your purposes. If you don't think I'm incredibly proud about my accomplishment, even if a great deal with it is rooted in luck, you're insance.

yup, proof positive. Everything from attitude to falsities to odd misspellings (from your iphone?).

By the way, exactly of what are you proud? And how does __strangers__ knowing about your (you still being anonymous ... after all, you say you are giving full details but you really haven't given any) accomplishments support your cause?

We "know" you sold your work. And we know that you consider yourself otherwise unacceptable to society - no doorman, no google search on you.

Anyway, I'm arguing with your latest fictional character. Thanks for the entertainment. And you are welcome too.

listen, don't get me wrong petrtifz/streetnewbie - you add entertainment. Much better than we can say for the too tired stevejhx. I'm sure both you and I agree on that after all these months (oh, wait, I forgot, you are new!)

streetnewbie Hi and congratulations on the Magnum Opus success. It must be an amazing script and you are quite obviously very talented. It sounds like this is the only thing that you would consider pursuing seriously. You are also very intelligent.
Looking at these factors I can't imagine that an individual who is both intelligent and talented would go after something that he feels he could not repeat and only look forward to a waiter's job. Not that there's anything wrong with waiting tables if that is what one is satisfied with.
I sense that you are giving up too easily and assume that an artist cannot sit down on a regular basis to condition yourself to produce something meaningful, even if its just a paragraph, every day.
I am not an artist and I may be wrong.
I have gone from one profession to another. There were times when I had to discipline myself to be spending a substantial amount of time doing whatever I needed to do to ensure the continued success I desired. At times when other projects pulled me away I would get used to spending less or no time with my original project. It took a lot of self discipline to arrange my day so that I would have to spend enough time working and that is when I saw it flourish.
I agree with some of the respondents' advice about owning an income producing property. You do not necessarily have to be doing the repairs yourself. It is possible to contract a management service where I believe one pays approximately 20% of the income and they in turn take care of the day today maintenance.
It would be great to live in the neighborhoods that you mentioned. They are pricey though. It may be a good idea to expand your horizons a bit and perhaps consider the other boroughs, Brooklyn perhaps? There the prices might be more reasonable and with the income that's coming in you may be able to build some equity in a few years. When the prices go up, you may decide to either sell, refinance and take out some cash thus have a down payment to buy another property in the neighborhood of your choice in Manhattan.
As far as your credit is concerned: you would benefit perhaps from having a trusted family member to help out with the mortgage. Probably it would be necessary to have an attorney draw up a solid contract to state the specifics of the present and future ownership of the investment property.This way you would continue to enjoy the continued good relationship with the family member avoiding any misunderstandings.
Good luck.

Another fishy thing: streetnewbie says that he's an artist, but then later says that he wrote a screenplay -- the EXACT OPPOSITE of art!!!

""why not rent for a while and let your money grow so you'll have more money to invest in an apartment. It seems that prices are dropping and you might find a better deal next year.""

Ok, I can't believe I'm actually doing it, but... I gotta agree with with Julia on this one.
Rent for now. Keep an eye on the market, especially those areas in which you're interested. Watch and wait. Do NOT let that money burn a hole in your pocket, a common mistake made by many who find themselves recipients of a sudden windfall.

But oh, for the love of god, Julia - why did you have to go ruin it by asking what a magnum opus is? Sheesh.

I know what magnum opus is...i didn't know what he was paid $800k for...he explained it was for a screenplay..now that wasn't so hard squid for you to understand...go back under the ocean your ears are clogged

"I know what a magnum opus is..."

of course. hence the question "what is a magnum opus?"

mind-numbing stupidity

mind numbing stupidity...for asking a question?

really big bottle of wine?

"The problem is, I have 400K coming to me this year, 400K coming to me next year, which f*cks me tax-bracket wise"

As opposed to... getting it in one lump sum?

Having the big income split over years is pretty much always better for tax bracket. You'll have a very small amount in the highest bracket each year, as opposed to having HALF of it in the highest bracket in one year. That is how marginal rates work.

If your accountant is telling you something else, time for a new one?

Congratulations on your big payday !!! I suggest finding an inexpensive living situation (roommate?) while you do your research & contact westbeth.org & maybe an agency downtown that works with artists for affordable housing. Also you need to work on your self-image & self-esteen; the way you describe yourself, you're living out of a dumpster at the Port Authority. Stop that! A bum doesn't make 800k for their writing. Frame that check so you can look at it often. I also suggest Louise Hay's 'You Can Heal Your Life'; work with her affirmations while you wait for the RE prices to soften. Now get to work on that NEXT opus, dude!

""I know what magnum opus is...i didn't know what he was paid $800k for...he explained it was for a screenplay..now that wasn't so hard squid for you to understand...go back under the ocean your ears are clogged""

I don't need my ears to read. And what I read was a very direct question from someone who surprisingly didn't seem to know what a magnum opus is. It is indeed difficult to "understand" when one asks a specific question, then claims to actually have meant something different.

Simmah it down now, LOL!

Maybe she meant to ask "What is the magnum opus?" instead of "What is a magnum opus?" Curiosity killed the cat though. :)

I hear ya, Clean. Julia just seems to bring out the worst in some of us...

You should speak with a Financial Advisor.

streetnewbie -- I completely understand why you would want to buy in your situation rather than rent. I also understand wanting to stay in a familiar neighborhood. But as your cash flow could vary drastically in the coming years (and even corporate folks can relate given the current environment), I would recommend that you bite the bullet and *at least* go look at some other neighborhoods. Take the train out to brooklyn, visit some friends in queens, etc. I'm a fan of living below your means, and as an artist I would think that would be especially prudent. There are some really nice neighborhoods that look like Murray Hill in Brooklyn, but could comfortably get you a good size place in your bracket. If this turns out to be the first of many screenplays you sell, then you can trade up for apts later. And finally, since you are not constrained by commuting time to the office, or good schools for your kids, why put yourself in competition with those who are? HTHs

squid everything and everyone brings out the worst in you not anyone else.

Why don't you buy in Williamsburg and save the rest of the money. I have a studio in a new construction building and will be renting it out. Take a look at the area. You could put the rest in the bank to pay your maintenance with the interest.

this story sounds made up.

wait, i got it.... wall street will save us... uh, i mean irish carpenters will save us... uh, i mean doctors will save us... uh, i mean.... screenwriters will save us.

Maybe those retirees from California with mountain of cash while California itself needs a bailout.

Julia has been threatening to cancel her streeteasy membership since the summer...no such luck so far!

NY prices are not going down no matter how much the bitter posters here pray or wish.

Riv_Drive....the slings and arrows they keep coming. Why am I attacked for asking a quesiton???..Riv_I always learned from your comments and questions.

1818, very good. Enjoyed it.

I guess petrfitz decided he got bored of this story he made up under the name of streetnewbie.