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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

#351

Post by FireBeyond »

rawgabbit wrote: post #238
conductr wrote: post #97

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…

In Texas, although homes are valuable it is or was easy to lose your home to an HOA without a court proceeding. There is a famous incident in 2010 where a soldier lost his home and neither him or his wife knew anything about it. Supposedly the HOAs have been reined in but the whole concept of HOA in a state that prizes rugged individualism is beyond me. https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/frisco-soldier-gets-home-b...

There was another case, in Texas too, I believe where an older widow didn't pay a HOA due after her husband died.

The amount was in the low hundreds (maybe $300).

HOA liened her house, then forced sale.

A local landlord put a bid that was found later to be about 70% under market (like $125,000 offered for a $400,000 home). The HOA Board voted to accept the offer and sold the house to this landlord.

In the drama that unfollowed there was also this little nugget: the landlord was on the HOA Board, and was one of the ones who pushed for the forced sale, and then voted in favor of the Board accepting his short offer on the house.

I don't recall the details of the outcome, although I believe some compensation was paid out to her.

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

#352

Post by lifestyleguru »

vr46 wrote: post #341
belter wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The landlord put in a new kitchen for you? When I lived in several different towns in Germany every single flat was rented without kitchen...I bought more than one and had to dismount the kitchen when leaving. One of German absurdities I don't miss... "Apartments don’t come with kitchens in Germany" - https://alisajordanwrites.com/2018/08/06/apartments-dont-com...

Yes, well, the kitchen - AND ALL THE LIGHTS IN THE HOUSE - were removed by the previous tenants. This is so fucking stupid it deserves a dedicated room in the Museum of The Stupid. Kitchens are so fitted to the physical rooms they are in, they are basically part of the house like walls, floors, ceilings and doors. It's totally mad, isn't it!

Argument I heard every time while in Germany "some people like to take the kitchen with them"... apparently they take all these fitted furniture and do something with it. Then yeah, lightning and sometimes even the flooring.... first days in new place in absolute darkness. Still the deposit is three months in case you damage... what exactly? ADSL internet from Vodafone or some other scum is the ultimate blow.

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

#353

Post by tmaly »

no_wizard wrote: post #308
tmaly wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am curios what you consider pretty high property tax? I am in Connecticut and they just reassessed the property. I say a 42% increase in assessment. Our rates are 23 mil.

If your property tax is 23 million dollars then your overall income would in proportion be well over 100 million a year to afford it reasonably no? To even own a home like that in the first place, you’d have to have a property worth over 100 million dollars if tax calculators are correct. I think this is outside the realm of what most people run into affordability wise and frankly at that level of income I’m willing…

mil is mill rate = $1 per $1000 of assessed value.

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

#354

Post by ethanbond »

hakfoo wrote: post #225
ethanbond wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Land Value Tax: Make it financially unfeasible to speculate, to withhold units from the market, and to withhold unused land from the market. Let prices freely fluctuate with the market. Increases in rent derived from externalities (i.e. Amazon HQ2 setting up shop nearby or a new subway station) go back into public coffers, while increases in rent derived from landlord actions (i.e. renovations, building bigger, bette…

You're making it too complex. Enforce owner-occupancy aggressively. You can own two housing units untaxed, as long as you can produce evidence you spent at least 30 days a year in each of them. This doesn't disrupt non-speculators-- even the modest rich with a single vacation home, or the snowbirds who have a home in Minnesota and a winter place in Arizona don't see an impact. Anything beyond that? Annual tax of 70%…

What you’re describing is far more complex than an LVT. Interstate records of property ownership and interstate reconciliation of “presence?” Do children or family members using a property for 30 days count?

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

#355

Post by jrockway »

carom wrote: post #319
jrockway wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Rent control fundamentally cannot work Rent control definitely works, because owners lock in the original price of the building with a fixed-rate mortgage. If you buy a building in 1960 to rent out, you can rent it out at 1960s prices pretty much forever, with only a tiny fraction added to cover increasing property taxes (subsidized for owners of rent-stabilized apartments) and the increasing costs of routine maint…

So you cannot sell the building? Also you have to get all the tenants out to build, do you have buyouts? This seems like no one will run apartments.

I mean, it's the same as selling a rent-stabilized building today. No, you can't kick the tenants out when you sell. You often sell at a significant discount because of the problem to profitability that the tenants pose. This is fine.

NYC is full of vacant land. You can kick cars out of a parking lot and turn it into a 50 story residential skyscraper without any problem. You can tear down nearly-abandoned office buildings and replace them with housing. Tearing down a building where people are happily living is completely unnecessary. Profitable? Sure, it can be. But the city is under no obligation to making housing profitable. Housing is infrastructure; does the city make a profit by charging tolls on roads? Nope! They don't need to; they exist for the public good, not for your 401(k) plan.

Plenty of people are making TONS of money on brand-new buildings. In the 12 years I've lived here I've watched Downtown Brooklyn change from a forgotten wasteland to the home of the tallest building in Brooklyn. The neighborhood is full of $1M studio apartments (and up for more space) and they are sold before the building even breaks ground. People want new stuff and they can afford it. It doesn't have to come at the cost of existing residents.

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

#356

Post by BugsJustFindMe »

PH95VuimJjqBqy wrote: post #331
BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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_,…

> defecating and urinating are absolutely essential activities

But doing them in a toilet is not, unless we start expanding the definition of essential to include dignity and thriving.

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

#357

Post by jrockway »

mmaurizi wrote: post #330
jrockway wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Rent control fundamentally cannot work Rent control definitely works, because owners lock in the original price of the building with a fixed-rate mortgage. If you buy a building in 1960 to rent out, you can rent it out at 1960s prices pretty much forever, with only a tiny fraction added to cover increasing property taxes (subsidized for owners of rent-stabilized apartments) and the increasing costs of routine maint…

The people maintaining your building need somewhere to live, so unless they're in a rent-controlled unit themselves your maintenance costs will rise at the same rate as housing costs, as they're primarily labor.

Rent stabilized apartments increase their rent by ~3% a year. That seems fine for keeping up with costs. You also have to keep in mind that the required work becomes more efficient over time. An example I've noticed is that in times past, every building had a live-in super/porter that would (among other things) take out the trash 3 times a week. Now I see someone driving around the neighborhood in a moped on trash day, parking in front of a building, taking out the trash, and moving on to the next customer. That's probably cheaper than it was, even if the person's apartment now costs more.

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

#358

Post by wormius »

conductr wrote: post #97
ethanbond wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Land Value Tax: Make it financially unfeasible to speculate, to withhold units from the market, and to withhold unused land from the market. Let prices freely fluctuate with the market. Increases in rent derived from externalities (i.e. Amazon HQ2 setting up shop nearby or a new subway station) go back into public coffers, while increases in rent derived from landlord actions (i.e. renovations, building bigger, bette…

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…

Your mention of "growth" makes me think about : https://whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu/local/growth_coalition_theo...

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

#359

Post by Jensson »

codedokode wrote: post #261
Tijdreiziger wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need to manage the supply, not the demand. As long as enough properties are built in the areas where people want to live, there’s no problem. Sure, maybe not everyone will be able to live smack in the center of Amsterdam, but there’s enough space in other parts of the city, not to mention nearby places like Amstelveen, Hoofddorp or Almere (which, you will know, house mostly ‘overflow’ from the Amsterdam market).

If you want to create a fair system you should also build infrastructure otherwise it is unfair when someone lives near the subway in a historical part of the city and someone has to live near the forest among ugly modern high-rise buildings.

That is how things are done all over Europe though. The state plans a new suburb by also planning bus stops, roads, subways, trains, parks, shopping malls and schools within walking distance etc. That ensures there are no really bad homes so even the cheap homes are in nice livable areas.

It isn't expensive to build such areas, so there is no reason not to do it except if you want to punish the poor.

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

#360

Post by tasuki »

Throw73747 wrote: post #211

This is pretty common in Prague. Rent contract has some value, so you pay compensation to original owner. Pretending otherwise is just lying. Here is an example from centre of Prague. 400 euro per month, 20k compensation https://www.sreality.cz/detail/pronajem/byt/2+kk/praha-smich...

Who pockets this "odstupné nájemného" of 20k eur? If it's rent-controlled, shouldn't this be forbidden?
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