Renters Become Their Own Landlords
The New York Times this weekend chronicled the housing woes of Mariah and Dominique Freda, two sisters who started out by playing the rental game in Park Slope. They were leasing a two-bedroom for $2,050, but the poor conditions and the inflexibility of the landlord motivated them to look into buying a place of their…
The New York Times this weekend chronicled the housing woes of Mariah and Dominique Freda, two sisters who started out by playing the rental game in Park Slope. They were leasing a two-bedroom for $2,050, but the poor conditions and the inflexibility of the landlord motivated them to look into buying a place of their own. The buying game turned out to have obstacles of its own, but the sisters eventually settled on a 1,400-square-foot, two-bedroom, three-bathroom condo in Park Slope with a spiral staircase leading to a basement recreation room. The apartment had started out with a price tag of $639,000 but had recently been reduced to $599,000 and had a deal fall through; with some help from Dad, they were able to make an all-cash offer that beat out a higher, competing bid. The common charge and taxes were slightly less than $400 a month. “I didn’t realize how annoying a landlord is until I didn’t have one anymore,” Dominique told the Times. From the article, it seems that the Freda sisters could not have purchased the condo without their father’s assistance, who provided the up-front cash and is acting as the girls’ mortgage lender—a luxury that not all renters have—but their story is also one of renters who persevere to take matters into their own hands.
Theirs to Fix and Fix Up [NY Times]
Photo by Angel Franco for The New York Times
H’mmm…I guess there was a lot of back and forth from all of you today. Well, I have to say that I wish the two sisters in the article well. Parents helping kids out and/or buying a property outright is not uncommon. It can often seem like a great place to stick a wad of cash…and sometimes it can be protected under your kids’ names–and/or can be gifted over a number of years to them. A friend of our bought houses for his married daughters and a number of income properties and I think this was his angle more or less (he’s an accountant so knows the ins and outs).
In the end though, from my experience, you really can risk retarding your kids’ development if they’re not already mature in the way they relate to money and spending. It all depends. My father was handed life on a gold platter and, frankly, he wasn’t better for it, but my aunts and uncle were pretty well adjusted…well, kind of…
😉
I would personally NOT pay my daughter’s rent. She pays what she can afford out of her university professor salary…end of story.
Back again: I actually am a bit envious that so much of what counts for “ordinary housing” is out of the reach of many hard working New Yorkers with combined incomes of $130,000 or thereabouts.
I know a young couple (about 28), with professional jobs in upstate, making good but not fabulous salaries. They have a house in a decent neighborhood, reasonable commute for each, a small vacation house on a lake, two cars, and seem to be a lot happier than many of us. Did they get help from their parents? Maybe a little, but I kind of doubt it. All I’m saying is things are a little twisted here in the city; the recession is evening the playing field a bit more.
We own, but quite frankly, I want to see more leveling! (More chances for people to buy, yeah, probably without too much assistance from their parents, but I’m not going to begrudge these two sisters the opportunity their father has provided them.)
We keep calling Benson out on his stupidity and his only response is:
“THL: Have a lovely (remainder of) the day! My mud-slinging sensor is ringing, so it’s time to shut down the debate.â€
“Mr. Joist: No point in “debating” you. Have a nice day!â€
Do you have a form letter or Magic 8 Ball or something? Better keep them handy if you continue to post nonsensical drivel.
I have one comment. This NYT article, like last week’s (the Italian), shows exactly what has been the state of NY real estate — parents’ with some accumulated wealth subsidizing their children’s ownership. Thi sis why somany $500K one bedroom apartments were built (and some sold). Since when did twenty-somethings even WANT to own homes before? Who ever wanted to be tied down that way? For the past 5-10 years it seems that everyone drank the owner’s koolade. It is not sustainable (as we know) and not good for anyone.
Which thread DH?
DH- that is something I never said. And I don’t think that way either – although I have to say the fact that you allowed your parents to buy you food and toiletries doesn’t bode well for your ability to fend for yourself without your trust fund. 🙂
I just love how the same article a month ago – sub two cute school teachers in park slope for a 20 something in a williamsburg condo got vastly different reactions summed up by “dirtbag hipster trustfunders living off mommy and daddy” by some of the same people defending these 2 girls/parent.
Rob, they’re pretty cute.
Seems so!