everything-must-go.jpgThis weekend’s real estate cover story in the Times examines the plight of folks who have to sell their homes now because of things like job relocations. Case in point: “Mr. Rogers, his wife, Gillian, and their two small children had been comfortably ensconced in a four-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot condo in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. The couple bought it for $599,000 in cash in January 2006, after selling the Hell’s Kitchen apartment they had outgrown for $920,000 at the height of the market, and pocketing a profit that was three times what they had paid. They hoped to make a similar killing by buying into another gentrifying neighborhood. ‘I used what I called the Starbucks index,’ Mr. Rogers said. ‘There were no Starbucks around in Hell’s Kitchen when I bought there, and when I sold there were four. There were no Starbucks here either when I bought.'” Fast forward to now, when Rogers has been relocated overseas, and we find the family unable to rent the condo or sell it for what they paid a few years ago (which would mean a loss of around $60,000 in transaction costs). Other hard-luck stories include a couple who have to sell or face housing their baby in a closet. The unifying theme: It’s tough out there for sellers.
Gotta Move, Gotta Sell [NY Times]
Pic by AnnabelB.


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  1. Ditto on the couple who moved to Switzerland.

    The real estate bubble has been very good to them. They should calculate their overall return on NYC real estate investment over the last 10-15 years and then sit down and shut up. If they really have a cash flow problem, slash the price and sell. They will still be way ahead overall. Hard to feel a lot of pity for those sitting on 500k+ equity when so many people are suffering bankruptcy, unemployment, homelessness, etc.

    Besides, if this couple had put all the proceeds from the earlier sale (mostly nontaxed, right?) into the stock market, they would’ve lost a lot more. But then no one writes sympathetic newspaper stories about employed people whose $500K stock portfolio has fallen to $400K.

  2. “Well, you gotta write SOMETHING. Can’t say sh*t about the MAB shrapnel lacerating your face [you won’t feel the I-beam].”

    Oh ROTFLMMFAO! Dave P0WN3D!

    You know something? This Fall is going to be very painful! The look on the delusional Retards faces is going to be priceless. You notice I don’t have to say anything, Mainstream Media is running with the ball now…

    The What (MAB shrapnel! LMMFAO)

    Someday this war is gonna end…

  3. “Yo BHO What’s Cracking Bruh!!!”

    Ahh yeah! Boy’s back!

    “a four-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot condo in Clinton Hill”

    Liar liar pants on fire… http://tinyurl.com/m9r37l …this Fedders extravaganza is in Stuy baby! A full block beyond Classon in the confines of the notorious LG (and the notorious 88th) – undisputable. No wonder they can’t get anybody besides Pratt students. $0.599M?! ROTFLMMFAO!

    “I’s quite apparent the What = BHO from these two posts.”

    Well, you gotta write SOMETHING. Can’t say shit about the MAB shrapnel lacerating your face [you won’t feel the I-beam].

    ***Bid half off peak comps***

  4. Guys/gals,

    Do not try this “HOLD ON” techique at home. I-beams hurt. This “accidental” seller syndrome comes with the territory of a collapse. Especially when the whole economy was wrapped around housing [well, still is – 180 degrees in the other direction, however, i.e. South]. The very Ponzi/Madoff effect of your home price appreciation also funded your income, albeit implicitly through tax revenue and consumer spending.

    Look at your higest bank-approved bid and take it on the chin if you should be so lucky to not have that deal fall through.

    The game of queezing out a net gain is over. Minimizing loss is the new order.

    ***Bid half off peak comps***

  5. Cry me a river.

    I’m surprised that no one pounced on the fact that their Swiss apartment is even bigger than the 2500 square feet they’re trying to unload here.

    Thanks for the link, BHO: http://tinyurl.com/m9r37l it looks like the right listing. That would be a block of Kent that dead ends at the projects. I know this block primarily as the place that the teenagers who mugged me a few weeks back took my shit to rifle through it. I just can’t fathom why people wouldn’t be swarming to pay more than half a million dollars for a condo right there.

    (Anyone buy a Cowon iAudio on the street recently? Perhaps a Samsung AT&T phone?)

  6. Yo BHO What’s Cracking Bruh!!!

    I’m Reenforcing my Bunker with Extra Duty Radiation Blast Panels!

    The funny thing is the Retards are still in denial…

    You are witnessing the collapse of the Mutant Asset Bubble!

    The What (Buh Bye retards! Thanks for the Good Times…)

    Someday this war is gonna end…

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