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
guyincognito:
you nailed it.
how can it make any sense as tybur6 points out, the numbers dont add up.
how is that any different than banks making mortgages to people that can’t afford the monthly payments?
and let’s face it, two adult sisters living together will eventually blow up in their faces!
DH;
Imagine dating them!!
” 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”
I bet they shell out at the most 1,000 bucks a month each, interest free of course.
How annoying must these chicks be to have THAT many problems with their landlords?
“a luxury that not all renters have”
Try this instead: “a luxury almost no renters have”
If my old man was in the position to front me a half a million dollars in cash I’d have a Park Slope coop too.
THL… I also agree with Benson on this point, but I think you’re missing something when you talk about the daughter being a teacher and the dad being a “lender.” There is NO WAY that the combined income of these two chicks can possibly cover the mortgage, maintenance and taxes of a $600,000 property.
This is ridiculous. The father is basically subsidizing the rent of his two daughters… and since one is a teacher, it’s gonna be a long long long time before her salary catches up to the price tag.
JScheff… next time, think about posting these anger inducing posts later in the day. My blood pressure is already too high.
**barf**
Benson,
I agree with you to a point about having your kids learn and do for themselves, as my folks did with us. However, in this instance the girls are sharing a place and the daughter is a teacher, which while being a very noble profession is not exactly the most lucrative.
Besides, it says that he’s acting as their lender, which I’m assuming means he’s having them pay him the mortgage and interest.
That’s hardly the same as gifting them a home.
“Come on, don’t be so jealous. I bet almost all of us wish we’d had the ability to have the same opportunity at that age?
The dad is a smart cookie. Instead of having his girls flit away their money on rant or mortgage interest he’s keeping it in the family. ”
THL;
This is really a philosophical issue, but I strongly disagree. In my book, this father has done his kids no favor – probably postponed their maturity, which is a common phenomenon these days.
I don’t have time to go into it, but rather I would suggest that folks read the book “The Millionaire Next Door”, which goes into depth on this topic. Despite the title, this is a serious research book from two professors who studied the ways of the truly wealthy. One of their conclusions is that parents who give their kids a home are doing them no favors. In most cases, they wind up like lottery winners: squandering wealth that they never earned.
someone forgot to tell them they’re going to lose their shirt(s) buying brooklyn real estate. obviously, they and sugar daddy don’t avail themselves of the sage advice available here for free.