Study: Brooklynites Bearing Heavy Rent Burden

I assume he's got his own place? I'd rather share with people, in a safe(r) neighborhood and save 250 bucks a month. 940 bucks a month seems ridiculous for ENY.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 9:09 AM

You forgot about Homedebters too!

No flying eagle shit. But this is NOT the story of the day this is!

Bank of America May Not Guarantee Countrywide's Debt

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=anhQQxll0NJY&refer=home

Yep Assfucks, you (The Taxpayer) will be on the hook for billions of dollars. Plus, JP Morgan is going to get you to pony you for the Bear Sterns deal!

The Bond Market is gonna love this!

``There is no assurance that any such debt would be redeemed, assumed or guaranteed,''

The CFC Bond and Equity holders will get ASSFUCKED!

You tell me everything is OK! You borrowing cost is getting ready to go up. Goodbye 6% interest rates.

The What

Someday this war is gonna end...

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 9:22 AM

The guy who makes $1,300 a month could make the same income in Binghamton, Rochester, Syracuse or Buffalo and get a decent 1-bedroom apartment for $400. MOVE!

In the early 1800's when times got tough for some New York farmers, they got on their horses and buggies and took weeks to get to their promised land of the midwest. Now you can hop on a bus and start a new life in hours. But instead the local government has to provide you with affordable housing. There is affordable housing all over the country and it's easy to find. MOVE!

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 9:39 AM

Your poll should be quite enlightening, Mr. B, considering most Brownstoner posters who admit to renting are roundly ridiculed.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 9:42 AM

If his after tax income is $1300 a month - maybe not so easy to get that same paying job in "Binghamton, Rochester, Syracuse or Buffalo and get a decent 1-bedroom apartment for $400".
And then would propably need a car and insurance and money for car repair and gasoline.
Those cities would not be losing population so quickly if jobs were around.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 9:51 AM

9:51, anyone with a minimal work ethic can get a job in a mall upstate for 8 bucks an hour, which is $1,300 per month. And you can live near a bus line so you can get to work, for goodness sakes. And at the end of the year, if you are frugal, you can actually have saved some money.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 10:07 AM

The lack of affordable housing in NY affects everyone. If low income NY'ers moved out en masse the rest of us will be f'd. Prices and cost of living would rise that much more. Many businesses survive on the basis of low paid labor, without them a lot of ventures wouldn't be profitable. The productivity rate of our local economy would go way down. On an individual level, however, if you want to have a better quality of life and the numbers don't add up here, there are plenty of places that are more affordable. Plenty of people do the math and make that decision each year.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 10:22 AM

more than 50% - you people need to move!

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 10:39 AM

Some of you people are unbelievable - you say move, but if everyone who was struggeling were to move elsewhere, who would provide you with all your services? Who would paint the walls of your brownstone and pour your $5 cup of coffee in the morning? Who would be nanny to your rugrats?

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 10:41 AM

These high rents are exactly why people should buy a condo. Its silly that people are throwing away so much of their income on rent. Personal Finance 101, people.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 10:46 AM

10:46 AM - You people are delusional. Do you realize that even just getting the down payment for a studio in the fring - and even then the monthly nut is going to be greater than renting a larger space.
Reality 101 people

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 10:50 AM

Entitlement

Entitlement is a guarantee of access to benefits because of rights, or by agreement through law. It can also refer, in a more casual sense to someone's belief that he/she is deserving of some particular reward or benefit.

Like the assfucks on Brownstoner. I hope to see you at the CRASH!! I what to see how you punkassed keyboard warriors deal with DEPRESSION. Trapped in you overpriced Brownstoner in marginal neighborhoods, getting your ass kick by people who want yours!!!!!

"the guy in eny should get roommates to shoulder the cost of renting"

Why don't you let him/her more in with you? You dudes kill me!

The What

Someday this war is gonna end....

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 10:52 AM

These high rents are exactly why people should buy a condo. Its silly that people are throwing away so much of their income on rent. Personal Finance 101, people.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 10:53 AM

If I were making $1,300 per month with no prospects of getting a high-paying job that would allow me to save a few bucks at the end of the month after paying the $940 rent, I would move. And people do it all the time. This is not rocket science. I'd rather serve the $5 dollar latte in Philly, where rents are relatively dirt cheap.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 10:55 AM

"These high rents are exactly why people should buy a condo. Its silly that people are throwing away so much of their income on rent. Personal Finance 101, people."

If the value of the condo falls then what assfuck.

Plus the monthly nut is higher dumbfuck.

2 Bedroom condo 699k 4500.00 a month in carrying cost.
2 Bedroom Apt 1800 per month

Please kill yourself!

The What

Someday this war is gonna end...

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 10:57 AM

how do you buy a condo if you dont have 20k to put down and you cant get a loan?

dur.

also I pay $800 a month and make around $1650 a month. I live on the park slope/prospect heights line.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 10:57 AM

What - you are confusing the defintion of "entitlement" with the definition of "sense of entitlement" (the former having the implication of justified, the latter having the scent of unjustified).

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 11:07 AM

As a homeowner I'd like to point out that no-one "throws away" money on rent any more than they throw away money on buying food. Housing, like food, is a necessities. Its a dumb thing to say.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 11:15 AM

Brownstoner -

This is a great survey.

Please do the same survey for HOMEOWNERS - i.e.,

What Percentage of Your After-tax Income Do You Spend on Home Carrying Costs (= mortgage principal + interest + maintenance/cc + taxes + insurance + estimated interest foregone on downpayment). Would be fascinating.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 11:24 AM

I grow my own food and kill my own livestock.

all you bitches buying food are idiots

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 11:28 AM

11.24 - they won't answer honestly, too much ego invested in what financial geniuses they are.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 11:29 AM

10:53 Not everyone can afford to put down 10-20% down on a condo. ANd many people who do own these ridiculously high priced condos share their space. As for the other commenters: The guy in ENY is just trying to live in this overpriced city. Why should he get a roommate not everyone likes to live with strangers. ANd how dare people suggest he move; he's probably lived in Brooklyn longer thatn most of you who comment on this website. I agree with 11:15 HOUSING AND FOOD ARE NECESSITIES.

You ENY is not as bad as you guys make it sound. If you get your ass on the train and visit Cypress hills (section of ENY) you would see it is a decent and nice neighborhood. You need to get off the Cop Stats because BEdstuy and Clinton hills crime is rising and in the precious DUMBO as well.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 11:32 AM

who cares how long he has lived in brooklyn?

people move all the time because of changing conditions. The same thing happened when I lived in North Carolina. Tons of "yankees" moved in and all the natives were pissed.

only rednecks and white trash have this "ive been here longer" mentality.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 11:39 AM

11:32

I'm pretty sure the Cypress Hills neighborhood you speak of is it's own 'hood in Queens. It just borders ENY, Brooklyn.

And for the love of God, it's Clinton "Hill" not "Hills"

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 11:40 AM

My bad... Cypress Hills is in BK.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 11:43 AM

Oh please!!!! you must be a NEWBIE.... 11:40

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 11:44 AM

Oh please!!!! you must be a NEWBIE.... 11:40

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 11:44 AM

And how much more of his income is under the table? Come on, this is NYC, if he really is earning that little he needs to get a second job (for cash), like the rest of us!

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 11:56 AM

sounds like all the doom and gloom people are way off....

NYTIMES: May 2, 2008
Many Americans earned less in April, the government said on Friday, as the economy shed 20,000 jobs, the fourth consecutive month of decline. The drop in payrolls was less severe than expected, but businesses and employees continued to feel the effects of a widespread downturn.

Economists had been bracing for a decline of up to 85,000 jobs, in line with the rate of losses over the first three months of the year. Instead, service industries like restaurants and medical care recorded a surge of new hires, according to the Labor Department.

The unemployment rate dropped as well, to 5 percent from 5.1 percent in March, as a separate survey of households, which is considered more volatile, showed that employment actually rose last month. It is not uncommon for the two surveys to disagree

The unemployment report is likely to be seized on as evidence that the focus of the Federal Reserve should switch to curtailing inflation, rather than fighting off a recession that may be less severe than first thought.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 12:53 PM

5% unemployment rate is still EXTREMELY healthy.

sure, the economy is in a bad patch and incomes are stagnant, but it's not NEARLY the death spiral that the what and others were talking about.

when unemployment hits 8%, get back to me.

you people are such whiners. economies go up, and they go down. it's the nature of the being.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 1:07 PM

last year, i could have answered at 30% of after tax income.

however since my overtime and bonus got slashed big time, i am now 43%.

:(

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 3:04 PM

now that my rent has increased every year for the past 20, what once started at 30% has now risen to almost 50% of my income.

i wish i would have bought years ago.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 3:27 PM

this guy has probably lived here longer than any of you asswipes and is doing what he can. if you think he should move let him into your 2 million dollar brownstone with your rugrats and treat him to a $5 soy latte in the morning before he heads to work. do something good for change. help a fellow out.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 4:52 PM

lots of people work hard for their 2 million dollar brownstone, 4:52. don't assume people got them from their parents or didn't work their butt off to make that purchase happen.

this is not a communist society.

if this guys wants to improve his life situation he can get a 2nd job, not a free handout.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 4:59 PM

4;59 How much more should people have to sacrifice in order to just live. I work in a hospital and have seen many young and older patients that work 2 and 3 jobs and end with a heart atack or stroke. Please get a life. People need to enjoy their life not be A SLAVE TO THE MIGHTY AMERICAN DOLLAR!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 8:07 PM

1:07 - Unemployment numbers might not be that high, but they don't reflect the fact that there is a large percentage of people who are making far far less than they were just a few years ago. They also don't show people no longer getting unemployment, but haven't found a job.
Sure, they might be making $8 an hour at Walmart, but they were making enough to really support a family before the factory closed.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 8:08 PM

My wife and I pay 8% but it's a real shit hole. She wants to buy but I want to rent and save like crazy as there is opportunity for prices to fall substantially. If interest rates go up, we put more money down on a cheaper house and feel no effect.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 8:23 PM

What percent of take-home pay are people paying to own a home? Poll, brownstoner?

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 8:28 PM

bitterrenter.com.

The tWhat is a ghetto ass punk bitch.

Funny how immigrants can come to this country, work hard, save money, send some back home, buy a house and pay for their kids to go to college. Where there is a will there is a way. Get off your lazy ass and work and get a college education. A GED hasn't cut it for 50 years now.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 8:35 PM

fuckedbuyer.com
underwater.com

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 8:43 PM

8:43 = bitter renter.

I am not underwater. I own AND i can easily afford not to rent to pay for everything. In fact, I live in the entire house. Space galore. I hope you enjoy your little box. HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Rents due!

Renters in this city are fucked and they just spend their time justifying their irresponsible choices by assuming housing prices in Brooklyn will decline enough for them to afford to buy something. Losers!

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 8:56 PM

people in million dollar condos will be surprised when their 8 dollar an hour doorman will not protec them from the unwashed masses when they rise up. what will your showbox be worth when the riots start and the poor and hungry are looking to break down your door. so think about it million dollar condos in marginalized neighborhoods will become worthless, they wont even rent, your minimum wage slaves will no longer tolerate the 2hour communte from shanties on the outskirts of town just to serve you starbucks

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 10:36 PM

everyone in this city is fucked. home owner, renter whats the difference? this city is a half working disaster, always has been and will continue to be. no one is ever going to rise up again either.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 10:53 PM

10:36: The poor masses are too stupid and lazy to rise up. They are busy spending what little they get on the latest clothes, ipods, phones, food, fuel and the lease on an SUV. And when they actually get up and riot, they destroy the local Rent-A-Center and steal a flat screen TV.

Some day this war is gonna end and you will be the loser.

The tWhat is a ghetto ass punk bitch.

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 10:53 PM

8:56 - Renters in the city are not fucked and are not irresponsible. When you finish college, you don't have 250k to put down on a house. You have to save for a few years before you can buy.

With todays home prices being what they are, its much better to rent then to buy. I would rather pay $2000 a month in rent then $5000 a month in mortgage payments.

I am a home owner as well as a landlord in pk slope.

Posted by: guest at May 3, 2008 9:44 AM

"Rents due!"

*Mortgage is 90 days past due
*Get that water and tax lien lifted
*Brooklyn Union just called
*Con Ed just called

Being house poor sucks.

Posted by: guest at May 3, 2008 10:15 AM

I love how some people here always assume that a working class person is either lazy, or feels entitled, because they want to stay in their neighborhood of choice, even the hated(on this board)ENY. This is always followed by the irrational call to move, or get roommates.

Love how you can tell someone you know nothing about what to do. Move upstate? To what jobs? They are all coming here to look for work. Move? With what? No matter where you go, moving takes money, and new apts take securities, down payments, etc. How can anyone save with a couple of hundred dollars left after rent? Not to mention all the other variables like family, job, friends, health care, schools, etc, etc, that provide quality of life to anyone's life. These things are just as important to him as to anyone better off.

If anyone is going to tell anyone else what to do, try taking a moment to think what it would be like if someone told you to do the same without a second thought, or a moment's empathy.

Posted by: guest at May 3, 2008 1:08 PM

Fed Revs Up Lending in Latest Jolt to Credit Market

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aYYjhTF1vEhE&refer=home

Borrowing costs for banks have risen as much as 0.38 percentage point in the past six weeks, an increase that blunted the impact of the cash injections that began in December. The strains threatened to further impair mortgage markets, worsening an economy where growth has already stalled.

If borrowing cost went up for banks, what the fuck you think will happen to you?

Rates and Bonds

http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/rates/index.html

The What

Someday this war is gonna end...

"The tWhat is a ghetto ass punk bitch."

May I ask you a question? Were you that guy threatening me? I think you wanted to meet me at Fulton and Classon, right. Maybe I will give you that chance. You are punkassed bitch!

Posted by: guest at May 3, 2008 3:48 PM

fulton & classon is not so scary anymore for hipsters & yuppies, i mean whats scarier is why with my own eyes i saw mommies whipping out checkbooks for their darling pratt brat's $2200 luxury studio lofts on troutman off knickerbocker, thats scary. by the way, bitterrenter.com is my domain, but i think soon there will be more underwater homeowner type sites.

Posted by: guest at May 3, 2008 5:28 PM

fulton & classon is not so scary anymore for hipsters & yuppies, i mean whats scarier is why with my own eyes i saw mommies whipping out checkbooks for their darling pratt brat's $2200 luxury studio lofts on troutman off knickerbocker, thats scary. by the way, bitterrenter.com is my domain, but i think soon there will be more underwater homeowner type sites.

Posted by: guest at May 3, 2008 5:29 PM

fulton & classon is not so scary anymore for hipsters & yuppies, i mean whats scarier is why with my own eyes i saw mommies whipping out checkbooks for their darling pratt brat's $2200 luxury studio lofts on troutman off knickerbocker, thats scary. by the way, bitterrenter.com is my domain, but i think soon there will be more underwater homeowner type sites.

Posted by: guest at May 3, 2008 5:29 PM

i think you're still renting, 5:28, 5:29 and 5:29 because you can't even figure out how to post only once on a blog.

Posted by: guest at May 3, 2008 5:51 PM

OWning a house does not automatically make you house poor, oh bitter one.

As for the loser who thinks I have to be hassled by paying my mortgage, it is automatically deducted from my account. Meter readings? Done with a handheld device that does not require me to be there. Paying that bill? on-line. You, renting loser, have a LOT to learn about how things work in the world. Perhaps, if you were more efficient and organized, you could be a homeowner by now.

And why do you expect to move right into a house. Try a condo or co-op first. If you are thinking you move from a rental to a brownstone then your upbringing in Iowa left you unprepared for life in teh big city.

Bitterrenter.com, millions of hits a day in NYC alone.

Posted by: guest at May 4, 2008 2:45 PM

i hear ALL THE TIME from my friends that they wish they owned and didn't rent.

i have no idea why the people on this blog have such a hard time admitting that fact. there's nothing wrong with saying it. i wished i owned and was a bit envious of people before i owned as well.

now that i do, i appreciate it, don't take it for granted at all, and think i'm a good role model for my friends who aspire to owning a piece of nyc. they now see that it is possible to live on a modest salary and save up money to buy a place at a relatively young age, without parental help and some good luck.

i also happen to pay less to own my place than many people i know renting similar spaces. they are shocked at that fact. once you get the downpayment saved, it's shocking how, after tax deductions, you can own a pretty nice place (a small one) on a budget of similar to what you paid in rent. not so on a brownstone (to be expected...it's the equivalent of owning a huge suburban mansion in terms of price) but for most modest apartments.

owning a home allows one the opportunity to take control of one's finances in a way that renting does not. i know that for the next 30 years, i will pay the same amount and not be subject to increasing rental costs and each year wonder if i have to leave my place. that feeling is unsettling, and this allows one the opportunity to make sense of at least one thing in this crazy city we call home.

it's the best thing i ever did.

Posted by: guest at May 4, 2008 4:07 PM

the folks saying 'move' aren't considering something: connections. if you grew up in brooklyn and all your family is here, it is harder to just up and move away than if you moved here recently. and the idea that everyone should just move because rents are crazy here is kind of absurd. people who have lived in nyc for their whole lives, whose families have been here for generations, are being priced out of the city, whether they rent or, god forbid, wanted to buy something. "get a roommate" and "move" might be personal solutions, but on a grand scale something is -horribly- wrong with the housing market in nyc. if you can't support yourself on minimum wage working full time, there is something wrong with the economics of a place. and that is the situation here.

and yes, buffalo is less expensive, but it's also less comfortable for a lot of folks, for instance, queer folks.

Posted by: guest at May 4, 2008 6:45 PM

if you can't afford the neighborhood you grew up in, that sucks. but you know what...there are 50 other great neighborhoods you can move into in Brooklyn and Queens which ARE affordable.

i can't afford to live in chevy chase, maryland where i grew up either, but i'm not crying about it.

lots of people grew up in neighborhoods which they can no longer afford. it is not a birth right to die in the same hood you were born into.

that's absurd. move to flatbush, to jackson heights, to sunnyside, to bensonhurst, to brighton beach, to astoria, to midwood....there are tons of neighborhoods around where you can still make it on a meager salary. come on now.

Posted by: guest at May 4, 2008 6:56 PM

get real. its not as simple as just moving to jackson heights, dont you think theres already overcrowding in sunnyside, corona etc. theres already tons of illegal conversions where 20 or more people live in shanty like conditions inside one or two family homes, or 1-2 bedroom apt rentals are still $2-3K a month becuase the expectation is that 4-8 people will be using it as a crash pad, there is also the errosion of handshake deals and look you in the eye landlords, pre gentrification LIC and greenpoint was where you could walk around and just look at a sign in the window, then landlord would hand you keys and say bring the $ later, sorry i didnt make alot of money and chased the almighty dollar while living in my $600 a month one bedroom, now im priced out of nyc and will be leaving, nyc sucks for normal people who are not consumed by greed, all the people ive met in recent years are transpplants who are alwyas taking a chance becuase they always have somewhere to go if it fails, too many people have mommy and daddy subsidizing their nyc existence, but its at the expense of normal everyday new yorkers, post all the hate you want all the rage, but really who will slave away for $8 an hour with a 90 min or longer commute from the farthest reaches of nyc just to clean up after you or pour your lazy ass some latte with soy chapafrappa whatever you call it this week,

Posted by: guest at May 5, 2008 12:14 PM