Until the banking crisis finishes playing itself out, we're not going to be fully back to normal.

Posted by: tonewlots at June 18, 2009 7:56 PM in response to Corco: Signed Contracts Up, Inventory Down

"Ironic? Or not?"

Oh, I'm sure it's serious -- DEADly serious.

Enter the copycats. I'll be the first to predict "I hate parents" somewhere near P.S. 321.

Posted by: tonewlots at June 16, 2009 12:26 PM in response to Burg Condo Unwelcoming to Children

If I had a million bucks to spend and was willing to fix skin-deep aesthetics, I'd head a few blocks east:

http://corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?ListingID=1280225&Region=NYC&OhDat=;

Posted by: tonewlots at June 9, 2009 1:58 PM in response to House of the Day: 1809 Glenwood Road

I'm pretty pro-dollar store. Isn't everyone? I mean, aside from rich people who want everyone else out of their neighborhoods?

Posted by: tonewlots at May 18, 2009 3:41 PM in response to Streetlevel: Former Dollar Store to Become...a Dollar Store

Sounds like a great idea. I'd be up for it, but my partner is tired of having roommates. So no co-housing for us, but I wish them all the best.

Posted by: tonewlots at May 4, 2009 1:01 PM in response to Brooklyn Co-Housing Lands in Greenwood Heights

Did they reject your bid, lechacal?

Posted by: tonewlots at May 4, 2009 12:49 PM in response to Signs of Life for Williamsburg Condos?

Um, no, as gomuppets mentioned, this isn't what got us into this mess. There is a difference between responsible lending to subprime borrowers and predatory lending. The former (post-1980s FHA loans, Nehemiah housing, etc.) have had low rates of default, even during the last year or two. The latter, exotic mortgages marketed by non-CRA-regulated mortgage companies, are largely the proximate cause of the crisis.

Past government programs have a lot to account for: designing public housing to fail, actively encouraging discrimination in the private housing market for decades, and enabling massive fraud in the early 1970s. So there's plenty of reasons to be vigilant about any new wave of FHA lending. But if you're looking to blame the government for the subprime crisis, blame it for deregulation and its misplaced trust in the private market.

Posted by: tonewlots at April 20, 2009 12:46 PM in response to 111 Monroe Street: Let's Do the Time Warp Again

Part of the difference may reflect differences in the way that Kings County deals w/foreclosure filings, too.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Some Judges Stiffen Foreclosure Standards
By AMIR EFRATI
July 26, 2008; Page A3

A cadre of state-court judges scrutinizing foreclosure actions in a string of recent rulings have discovered flaws in documents that borrowers may be able to use to keep their homes. The judges, including a committee from the Kings County Supreme Court in Brooklyn, N.Y., are highlighting shortcuts taken by mortgage companies in court filings, which borrowers might be able to exploit when facing foreclosure. The rulings show the critical role that judges are beginning to play as foreclosures mount in the most severe housing crisis since the Great Depression. The recent decisions build upon widely circulated opinions issued last fall by federal judges in Ohio who found trusts that hold the mortgages regularly begin foreclosure proceedings before they obtain the legal right to do
so.

Judges in states including New Jersey, Florida and
Massachusetts have begun to dismiss many cases "without
prejudice," meaning the plaintiffs can fix the defects and
resume the process, but the ruling gives the homeowners more
time. Meanwhile, some bankruptcy courts, where creditors may
seek permission to foreclose if the debtor isn't keeping up with the bankruptcy plan, have issued standing orders requiring creditors to prove ownership of loans. Other state courts, including in Ohio and Pennsylvania, have begun requiring owners of loans who have filed foreclosure suits to try to negotiate settlements with borrowers to avoid foreclosure.

[...] About six judges from the supreme court in Brooklyn, the state's lowest court, which handles most of the New York City borough's foreclosure actions, have been digging into the problem and finding new issues that they can use to dismiss cases.

The work of the Brooklyn court -- which formed a committee to discuss foreclosures about five years ago, long before the housing crisis emerged -- looks prescient now as it has rejected dozens of foreclosure actions since the crisis began by identifying mistakes or suspicious information.[...]

Posted by: tonewlots at April 3, 2009 10:57 AM in response to Brooklyn Foreclosures Drop Dramatically in First Quarter

I've been told by a couple lawyers that this opinion was important:

http://www.foreclosuredefenselawblog.com/2008/06/new-york-court.html

Posted by: tonewlots at April 3, 2009 9:41 AM in response to Brooklyn Foreclosures Drop Dramatically in First Quarter

"And believe me, the law has both upper and lower incisors and a couple of poison fangs."

Care to explain? The ability to deregulate at $2000 strikes me, as a humble renter, as pretty poisonous to anyone who is trying to hold on in Brownstoner's favorite neighborhoods.

Even if the tenant does not pay ANY RENT they can, if they are clever, continue to occupy the apartment for years and years. There are many renters in Brooklyn who have not paid rent for a decade.

Really? How many could there be? A quick check of the 2000 Census shows less than 2% of units in Brooklyn had no contract or gross rent.

Posted by: tonewlots at April 1, 2009 11:13 AM in response to 306 Washington Sells for 26 Percent Below Initial Ask

Aww, ditto...

Posted by: tonewlots at March 23, 2009 6:08 PM in response to Closing Bell: Balancing Slabs on Dumbo Beach

7andfive, my thinking exactly.

But the streeteasy listings seem a little screwy. The square footages and floorplans don't seem to correspond to the units listed.

Posted by: tonewlots at March 18, 2009 11:58 AM in response to The Edge Tests the Price-Cutting Waters

Examples of other "shovel-ready" projects in Brooklyn, bxgirl? I've long been agnostic on Atlantic Yards, but if we're trying to kill the project, we need real alternatives for job creation.

Posted by: tonewlots at March 17, 2009 6:59 PM in response to Petition: Say No to Stimulus Money for Atlantic Yards

I've seen other places with similar layouts, and I always wonder: upper level reno and staging aside, how do we count the square footage for the large, nearly-windowless rec room? What psf should one pay for what's essentially a finished basement?

Posted by: tonewlots at March 12, 2009 1:19 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 26 South Oxford Street

That poor guy...

Posted by: tonewlots at March 9, 2009 9:52 AM in response to Houses Looking Cheap Everywhere Else

As a fellow socialist told me after the election: "If only we were getting the socialist that the right wing accuses us of voting for..."

As for data, I would check the Case-Schiller Index for NYC from 1997 to present against household incomes for the same period. I get a 35% real drop that's yet to come as the market shakes out excess inventory. Though brownstones in popular neighborhoods, I'm guessing, will probably fall less than that. 'Cause they're all pretty-like.

Posted by: tonewlots at March 6, 2009 3:46 PM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later

Anyone seen the documentary "Flag Wars"? Good doc about tensions between older and newer residents in a gentrifying area of Columbus, OH that partly hinge on a fight over signage.

Posted by: tonewlots at March 4, 2009 11:43 PM in response to New Signage at Teen Challenge Center a Real Bummer

Just to step into the fray: I am surprised that the dude's point about value/rent ratios is so mystifying to folks around here -- it's not all that arcane. Assuming away NYC's many market distortions, he's basically right. When ratios head upwards of 30, for instance, something's got to give.

Of course someone may find an apartment that's perfect for them and buy it without a thought for its rental value or resale value. But even if you plan to stay in your apartment until you peacefully and painlessly pass away in your sleep it's helpful to consider the future trajectory of home values, as it will affect your taxes and ability to refi when you lose that cushy sinecure in the financial sector.

Posted by: tonewlots at February 24, 2009 7:01 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 360 Clinton Avenue

Amen (x3?) to Oxygen's comment.

It wasn't so long ago on this board that an unsuspecting tenant asked about bargaining for a lower rent with their landlord. I think the house next door had a fire, with negative consequences for the tenant. A sizable group of folks rallied around -- you guessed it -- the landlord, who should be protected from income loss beyond their control. At the time, it made me wonder how the Brownstoners would respond to the next round of the rent-stabilization debate, whether they'd extend the same market protections to tenants who lose income in an overheated rental market.

Posted by: tonewlots at February 4, 2009 12:28 AM in response to Democratic Assembly Passes Pro-Tenant Legislation

A friend bought here, and has heard a March date. The 7th St units apparently have lot-line windows, too.

Posted by: tonewlots at February 4, 2009 12:16 AM in response to Checking In On The Argyle