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A rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for $1,100 In NYC? broker's fee is $15K

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Re: A rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for $1,100 In NYC? broker's fee is $15K

#331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know that I would take that stance but certainly a bidet and a nice car do not fall under that category, nor does being able to walk to a restaurant. You may try and argue some of the grey areas, but most of the things you listed are _clearly_ not essential, they're desirable by specific people, as you said.

What makes a toilet essential but not a bidet? Plenty of people manage to survive without toilets. Some of them even in downtown San Francisco (you can tell by the state of the sidewalks). They don't tend to thrive with dignity though. Is it not the dignity and thriving aspect that's ultimately important? What things make you thrive? What things make you feel dignified? Are they essential for your wellbeing? (persona…

I'm interpreting that as you have eczema on your genitals or anus, I don't know much about eczema so can't speak to the condition so I'll speak in general.

My mother has heart issues and she has a pump that's connected to her 24/7. She has a medical condition and so has special needs. I would not call that pump an essential but it certainly is essential for her.

The context of this conversation has been _in general_, my responses were never meant to apply to those with medical conditions.

to answer your question, a bidet is a nice to have, a toilet would be an essential otherwise you're shitting in the street, as you implied about downtown SF. Because toilet here does not mean literally toilet, but someplace reserved for using the restroom. When I go to the river to fish they have an outhouse there and I absolutely use it, as do construction workers with the mobile outhouses they employ.

defecating and urinating are absolutely essential activities, how you clean yourself afterwards needs to happen but any specific way of doing it is not essential.

Re: A rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for $1,100 In NYC? broker's fee is $15K

#332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in Texas, a state with pretty high property tax. We've also seen a ton of appreciation in recent years. Booming economy, transplants from other states, then the COVID factor. We also have a near free market on rent; I've been a landlord and not aware of any limitations. There are a couple limits on property taxes (namely a cap of 10% increase per year on "homesteads", and an Agriculture exemption for rural proper…

Property tax on owner-occupied residential property everywhere should have a "replace it with a lien against the property" option - some states have it. The exact situation you're referring to caused Prop 13 in CA, and something has to be done before something like that gets enacted.

I can only find information on property tax liens as it relates to delinquency and non payment, not as an alternative model for deferring property taxes (I imagine until death of the owner or sale of said property)

Do you have any more information? At first blush I can see how inheritance schemes would create massive loopholes in this for example.

Re: A rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for $1,100 In NYC? broker's fee is $15K

#334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

here? if you don't want a 2 car garage then fine, move downtown. You can get _anywhere_ in this town in 20 minutes or less. We flat don't have the traffic that places like NYC does. rush hour might be a bit slower depending on where you go, but not appreciably slow. I feel like people who don't live in these areas have a lot of misconceptions.

This might be an exceptional town, not sure what kind of place you're talking about, but most places don't have public transit or much in the way of walkability in the USA. He's talking of not using a car and doesn't want to drive at all.

considering how infamously bad traffic is in NYC I find it difficult to believe that you can actually just not own a vehicle in NYC.

who knows, maybe it's not really that bad and I'm ignorant here, it's possible.

But my point is that if you don't own a car there's automatically a limited range of movement that you have. It might be better in NYC (it probably is), but we have areas like that too. We also have public transportation in the form of buses rather than subways and they stop a lot so it can take longer but you can get anywhere in this city via bus, including the suburbs.

You can absolutely pick an area for its walkability and use the bus transport to move around the rest of the city. But to leave the city will require a vehicle or a greyhound.

Re: A rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for $1,100 In NYC? broker's fee is $15K

#335
post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Income tax is inherently progressive and doesn't hit Grandma who lives on modest retirement and social security. Having one reducing reliance on property taxes

Do want California's housing situation? Because that's how you get California's housing situation.

California's housing situation is because they are a highly desirable location and didn't build enough housing to meet demand not because they have an income tax.

Re: A rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for $1,100 In NYC? broker's fee is $15K

#336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This might be an exceptional town, not sure what kind of place you're talking about, but most places don't have public transit or much in the way of walkability in the USA. He's talking of not using a car and doesn't want to drive at all.

considering how infamously bad traffic is in NYC I find it difficult to believe that you can actually just not own a vehicle in NYC. who knows, maybe it's not really that bad and I'm ignorant here, it's possible. But my point is that if you don't own a car there's automatically a limited range of movement that you have. It might be better in NYC (it probably is), but we have areas like that too. We also have public t…

> considering how infamously bad traffic is in NYC I find it difficult to believe that you can actually just not own a vehicle in NYC.

> who knows, maybe it's not really that bad and I'm ignorant here, it's possible.

You answered your own question.

Re: A rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for $1,100 In NYC? broker's fee is $15K

#337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a reason why low cost of living areas are low cost of living, and it's not because they're self-sustaining futuristic arcologies. It's because people who can afford otherwise generally don't want to live there. I want to walk, not drive, out my front door, and be within 15 minutes, on foot, from entertainment and dining and friends and shopping and groceries and pharmacies and salons and cafes. And I want tho…

> I want to walk, not drive, out my front door, and be within 15 minutes, on foot, from entertainment and dining and friends and shopping and groceries and pharmacies and salons and cafes. I live in a city, you can have all of those things here. In fact, we have an entire stretch down the side of a river that has restaurants and other things down the side of it. The housing in that area is some of the most expensive…

> I live in a city, you can have all of those things here. ... but still doesn't touch NYC

One way of thinking about this is that everyone in NYC is wrong. Another way of thinking about this is that NYC might have more of those things and then some. Does your city have a dozen museums, dozens of museums, or hundreds of museums? Does your city have a 24/365 public transit system? Bodega cats? Offices of all of the top companies worldwide? Something equivalent to the high line? Broadway? If not, why not? Some places have some of these things. How many places have all of them?

Re: A rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for $1,100 In NYC? broker's fee is $15K

#338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nyc is the worst I love NYC. I don't mind going into Boston or such for the day, but there's nothing like NYC on east coast. It's fantastic.

Yes. In the US, sure. Compared to cities outside the US it is horrible. Less walkable than most, food is ok if you know where to go but nothing special and also super expensive like everything else, aggressive drug addicts wandering the streets, high crime including random acts of violence for literally no reason at all, incessant aggressive honking at all hours of the night, even when you are paying $5k a month for…

i live in NYC and have traveled to plenty of other international cities.

none of the things that you're saying are true compared to my experiences (or those of my friends) in any way that i can think of as meaningful.

the only city i've been to that feels like it's captured the same "vibe" as NYC, for me, has been Paris.

Tokyo was more impressive in its sprawl and history (and obviously cleanliness), but there is a sense of Japanese monoculture that saturates everything in a way that is almost tactile. not in a bad way, but definitely such that i felt like something was "missing" during my visit.

Singapore gets really close to the same feeling, but for all of its heterogeneity there's an undercurrent of authoritarian sterility that made it very difficult to feel comfortable (Disneyland with the Death Penalty, indeed).

anyway this is already pretty long winded so i should probably stop talking, but NYC has a lot "going for it" besides the rest of the US just sort of being a suburban hellscape. at some point i'll move out, but living here has been a really comforting reminder that international views such as yours of American cities are incorrect.

Re: A rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for $1,100 In NYC? broker's fee is $15K

#339
post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm guessing they had to move due to life circumstances, but due to taxes, transaction costs, sunk cost fallacy, hassle, etc, decided not to sell the unit. Every reluctant landlord capitulates and sells... eventually.

How is that different than a non-reluctant landlord or a capitalist? It's the same intention: Increase the short term return on capital

Increased return in monetary terms but maybe not quality of life.

Re: A rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for $1,100 In NYC? broker's fee is $15K

#340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personal loans are like 7% right now. Or at least that's what Amex quotes me every time I log in.

Because everyone's rich enough to have an Amex account, and no one ever turns over their car title or uses a payday lender to make rent. Everyone is exactly like me, a rich white guy living a casually luxurious lifestyle, so how could they not have access to easy and cheap capital.

I mean, the 12% figure quoted isn't what you get at a payday loan place.
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