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
Amen, THL (Are we having Vulcan mindmelditis?)
Your mud slinging sensor must be going off the charts since you’ve been tossing bombs at this family since your first post.
tyburg- you and benson seem to have unresolved issues that you are projecting onto these women and their father. You know nothing about them yet you seem to feel capable of making pronouncements about their lives, their personalities and their father’s parenting skills. Based on a newpaper article. I hope you don’t decide everything in life according to a lifestyle reporter.
THL;
Have a lovely (remainder of) the day! My mud-slinging sensor is ringing, so it’s time to shut down the debate.
are they at least attractive? i havent seen the picture yet.
oh wait, ive decided not to turn straight
*rob*
Methinks I detect a green-eyed monster.
“And it is envy that stinks up this thread like a fart in an elevator.”
AMEN!
Direct quote from the article:
“The sisters are using their father, who provided the money, as their mortgage lender.”
Direct quote from Benson:
“As Tybur6 just pointed out, they were not just given a “jump start”. They were given an apartment.”
How can you say this when frankly, you have no idea what their payment arrangements/structure may or may not be?
It’s o.k. though, We’ve become quite used to those pious sweeping assumptions.
A friend of mine was given an apartment by his parents. They bought it with cash, no mortgage.
He pays the maintenance. He does this by going to his job and working hard every damn day like the rest of us.
I am, admittedly, a wee bit envious.
And it is envy that stinks up this thread like a fart in an elevator.