Big bucks, tiny apartments (For the right price, you can own your own closet, er, studio co-op)

New York Daily news ^ | 8/3/03 | Tracy Connor

[CarmelValleyite]

Well, at least one can't become a pack rat! There's something to be said for THAT!

[CarmelValleyite]

They may as well forget about owning something and just stay in a hotel...

[Clemenza]

Plenty of bargains to be had here in Bay Ridge (Brooklyn), if you can stand an hour commute by subway. Just be careful where in the neighborhood you choose to live or you may be surrounded by the American chapter of Hezbollah and their "gangsta" children (and the A-rabs have a TON of these).

BTW: Rent Stabilized here. I am against rent control/stabilization, but just hope they wait until I leave school to abolish it.

[lowbridge]

Rent Stabilized here.

How hard or easy was it getting a rent stabilized apartment? Was there a long waiting list, etc.?

[TheMole]

Even an attached single-family home (townhouse) doesn't require $500 maintenance fees, negotiations with building managers or co-owners if it's not a condo (most around here are not).

I don't understand what you're trying to say. Here's the data directly from the real estate listings in the story itself:

140 W. 69th St.
Square feet: 250
Price: $139,000
Maintenance: $505 a month

113½ W. 15th St.
Square feet: 220
Price: $130,000
Maintenance: $433 a month

Whether or not the buildings are structured as condominiums, these are non-negotiable fees that are not part of the mortgage and must be paid.

[lowbridge]

bump

[Spyder]

Whew. Nice to see something that actually makes Oahu prices look good. Why would anyone live in Manhattan when they could live here?

[nopardons]

And the property tax IS included in the maintainence. At least that's the way it was, when I owned an apartment in Manhattan.

[lowbridge]

Why would anyone live in Manhattan when they could live here?

No volcanoes? (Just a weird guess. ;-))

[proxy_user]

Coops are an only-in-NYC phenomenon, and many people don't understand the financial structure.

The maintenance fee includes property taxes, building expenses, and paying the building mortgage. Property taxes are usually not too bad in the city. On these tiny studios, they should be less than $100/month.

The big costs are the building mortgage and salaries, particularly in a doorman building. It costs about $200,000 a year for four shifts of doormen. This is not too bad if there are 300 apartments in the building, but it's a big expense for smaller buildings. You also need a live-in super and a staff of from 2 to 20, depending on the building size.

The building mortgage can be large, especially if the sponser cashed out in a big way.

I bought my studio, 440 square feet, in 1985 for $75,000. It turned out to be a good deal, but there was a time when it was unsalable.

The guy who posted about rent stabilization is right. The market for these apartments would collapse if rent stabilitization were eliminated. But that is not going to happen, short of a revoluation.

[teech]

humbly disagree. The population pressure + developer $ -> political presure; the disconnect btwn Republican free-market rhetoric elsewhere and the reality in NYC becomes untenable; eventually the system gives way. I give it no more than another 10 yrs -- though that's just my opinion; I could be wrong.

Funny about that poster who wanted stabilization abolished, but not til after they were done playing w/it. Easy to have political beliefs that you don't have to pay the freight for...

[pyx]

First Freeper National Housing Cost Survey. Please put only the following information.
State ----- City or Town ----- Square Ft. ----- Approx. Price


An interesting exercise we might also consider doing this for are things such as gasoline, diesel fuel, one dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, one gallon of milk, etc.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Got a family from the Bay Area "next door" in the New Mexico East Mountains. They're trying to sell right now, and we have'nt had a real winter in three years.

Live in 180 square feet? My greenhouse is bigger than that. I better go tell my fig trees and melons they've got it better than folks in NYC. :)

[chris1]

This whole mess, here in NYC, is the perfect storm of illegals, liberals, socialism, and almost every other social and economic ill you can imagine.

[SamAdams76]

When I was single, I could live in an apartment like that. All I need is a laptop, a stereo and books to read and I'm happy. Laptop and stereo doesn't require much space and I could always get books at the library to read (if there isn't room for bookshelves). Being New York City, what would one need a kitchen for? When you are surrounded by at least 10,000 restaurants/delis within walking distance and can get a corned beef sandwich at 2 in the morning, you've got it made, foodwise.

[chris1]

NYC is like a big chicken farm where all the chickens have lost their heads. Everyone running around with really no direction and bouncing into each other. The coop situation, and the real estate market, are simply bezerk. Even in Brookyln and in the Bronx prices have skyrocketed.

[Tijeras_Slim]

This whole mess, here in NYC, is the perfect storm of illegals, liberals, socialism, and almost every other social and economic ill you can imagine.

And I don't think it's going to change any time soon.

[chris1]

The NY area, NYC and the surrounding areas is really becomming more like South America every day, tons of poor people (who generally are hard working people) and the elite who live behind big gates and security fences. The "middle class" is shrinking because most sane middle class people, like myself, are either leaving, or contemplating leaving as soon as possible.

[Okies love Dubya 2]

2.5 acres, 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch for $84K (slowly being remodeled but in nice structural condition for 25 years old)--that's our spread. My parents bought 57 acres in Indiana for $18K back in 1987 and put a house on it that last appraised for 250K. Now that Indianapolis has expanded, they would be rich if they sold off some of that land!

I guess I have gotten a little spoiled not having a neighbor sitting on top of me, but I will never do it again. Can't understand why my sil paid over 110K for a house on the smallest lot possible with her neighbors breathing down her neck. Her parents are getting away from it as well--down to s. Indiana from Chicago area to build a log cabin home on almost 15 acres--they can't wait!

[Indrid Cold]

No doubt--I bought a 3-bedroom house for $35k.