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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

#231

Post by throw__away7391 »

malshe wrote: post #185
throw__away7391 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 haven’t been to NYC recently but I read that the public transport has become filthier. Homelessness has become a major issue too.

I already felt like I was ranting for too long, but yes that too. People are paying far more now for a much worse experience/quality of life compared to before the pandemic. I was at one point in the city among my reasons because it had good public transit, but then taking taxis all the time because my partner did not feel safe on the subway after numerous incidents, and just had a “what the fuck am I even doing here” moment.

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

#232

Post by jrockway »

mgaunard wrote: post #11

If rent keeps going up, why don't people just buy to let?

It's expensive these days. I lived in one of these buildings for 11 years: https://www.bhsusa.com/brooklyn/brooklyn-heights/60--66-clar... Now the set of 4 buildings is on the market for $25,000,000. If you click to the brochure, you can see the rent that each leased unit pays, about $100,000 per month across the set of buildings. Property taxes + other expenses are around $400,000 a year. So without a mortgage, you make about $800,000 a year. With a mortgage (0% down, 6.5% interest, perhaps not completely realistic but ballpark), you lose about a million dollars a year.

That's about the average situation in NYC. Brooklyn Heights is obviously extra-expensive because it's nice and is a 20 minute to commute to pretty much anywhere in the city, but the math is about the same everywhere.

Meanwhile, if you're just going to go for a single unit in a new building as an investment property, budget on about $1.2 million for a 1 bedroom that you could MAYBE rent at $5k/month or $900k for a studio that you could rent for $4k/month. 20% down on a $1MM apartment, you're looking at a mortgage of $5k/month. Add property taxes, $6k/month. Add insurance, $6100/month. So you need to come up with $1100/month as long as your tenant pays on time. That's not a monthly loss per se, you get to keep the principal and recover it when you sell. But how much money you make really depends on your access to capital. I recommend being rich in advance of your foray into becoming a landlord in NYC. If you are buying these units at 0%, and many people are, this is a very nice racket.

Personally, I wouldn't do it. A lot of the more affordable units in NYC are in co-ops, which often prohibit renting (to keep prices lower). So the market has already priced in that "investment property" premium for condos, in the area of 20-30%.

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

#233

Post by chrisandchris »

BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #207
PH95VuimJjqBqy wrote: post #175

When I see people complaining about never being able to purchase a house my response is always the same. move. $1,100 is considered "well below market rates" for a 1 bedroom apartment in NYC? That's _nuts_ to me. I'm paying $1,600 for a 3 bed, 2 bath 1800 sq ft house with a 2 car garage. Vaulted ceilings, my neighbor is a police officer and I'm on a corner lot across from a park. fire department is literally 3 blocks…

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…

> 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. [...]

That's a very bold statement and a total oversimplification. Like the rest of your comment too IMHO. Do you think people in the countriside don't have "social loving desires"? I know lot of people living on the countryside and friendship is much more better than in an anonymous city (IMHO).

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

#234

Post by bosie »

pas wrote: post #204
the_gipsy wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People move to dense areas because that's where job opportunities are. It's a vicious cycle. For software devs tho, you are right. Just get a remote job.

people are extremely bad at coordinating/advocating for their interests, ie. to get more housing built. it's learned helplessness, and crazy memes (like conservation of neighborhood character)

Denser housing only helps so much though. You need to increase street capacity, increase public transport, more doctors in the area etc. And yes, neighnorhood character is real.

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

#235

Post by PH95VuimJjqBqy »

drewcoo wrote: post #217
PH95VuimJjqBqy wrote: post #175

When I see people complaining about never being able to purchase a house my response is always the same. move. $1,100 is considered "well below market rates" for a 1 bedroom apartment in NYC? That's _nuts_ to me. I'm paying $1,600 for a 3 bed, 2 bath 1800 sq ft house with a 2 car garage. Vaulted ceilings, my neighbor is a police officer and I'm on a corner lot across from a park. fire department is literally 3 blocks…

Police officers aren't exactly high income. I'd expect living next to a cop to be cheaper, not more expensive.

I just looked it up, police officers in this area will make 70k first year up to 100k or more depending on experience, etc.

The point is that here, a 70k salary is easily good enough to buy a nice house in a nice neighborhood.

Are there nicer houses in nicer neighborhoods? We have a lot of old money here, gated mansions with groundskeepers, and so forth.

That wasn't my point.

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

#236

Post by kredd »

ltbarcly3 wrote: post #223
BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #207

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…

And presumably you can afford to out bid all the other people who want what you want. Its great that you are wealthy and/or able and willing to spend a very high fraction of your income on non essentials like walking to nice restaurants and being near cool people you want to be near. The problem is that people who can't afford that think it is a hate crime if they can't afford to live in Brooklyn with the rest of the…

Your “non-essential” is someone else’s “essential”. Everyone has different needs and wants, and it’s just a useless flamewar. It’s the same as the discussion of whether the cities should stop subsidizing suburbs and other areas. Absolutely useless as everyone have their preferences and we have to find some sort of compromise.

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

#237

Post by _annum »

TheBlight wrote: post #187
PH95VuimJjqBqy wrote: post #175

When I see people complaining about never being able to purchase a house my response is always the same. move. $1,100 is considered "well below market rates" for a 1 bedroom apartment in NYC? That's _nuts_ to me. I'm paying $1,600 for a 3 bed, 2 bath 1800 sq ft house with a 2 car garage. Vaulted ceilings, my neighbor is a police officer and I'm on a corner lot across from a park. fire department is literally 3 blocks…

[flagged]

Not all industries are as location agnostic as tech. Cities offer jobs, clients, and collaborators that may be thinly distributed elsewhere.

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

#238

Post by rawgabbit »

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…

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...

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

#239

Post by PH95VuimJjqBqy »

whycome wrote: post #210
PH95VuimJjqBqy wrote: post #175

When I see people complaining about never being able to purchase a house my response is always the same. move. $1,100 is considered "well below market rates" for a 1 bedroom apartment in NYC? That's _nuts_ to me. I'm paying $1,600 for a 3 bed, 2 bath 1800 sq ft house with a 2 car garage. Vaulted ceilings, my neighbor is a police officer and I'm on a corner lot across from a park. fire department is literally 3 blocks…

> my neighbor is a police officer What's the implication here? That you're extra safe? Or that it's a neighborhood that they would also choose?

both, the park regularly has kids playing in it from the neighborhood. Kids run up and down the streets not worrying about violence, etc.

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

#240

Post by mutatio »

ethanbond wrote: post #59
vr46 wrote: post #13

The UK has completely abolished fees (I think) for tenants - I am a reluctant landlord - and I completely agree with that, the power asymmetry in finding housing is already bad enough without allowing blank-cheque negotiations. In my section of Germany, housing is even worse with rent caps and tenant rights, plus a lack of housing. Tenants are hard to move on, so landlords are painfully cautious about getting the rig…

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…

Occupancy rate for commercial property is mostly over 90% in London, and I believe the residential market is even more efficient. How would LTV help if occupancy is so high? Don't forget occupancy rate also highlights slack in the market allowing for the dynamism you need, if you punish that I suspect the unintended consequences would be less desirable than any tax proceeds, after all, all forms of rent control invariably disadvantage the renter the most - and I don't see this being any different - the market would absorb the risk and rental prices would likely increase.
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