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
Fair enough Ty!
I don’t agree that all people who grow up with money are automatically spoiled brats though. Good parenting is good parenting and bad parenting is bad parenting. I don’t see it as a money-based issue. PLENTY of rich kids grow up to be good, self sufficient people. Gifted apartment or not.
Rob, when did you change your species?
Hahahaha… 11217. No, I have made comments about finding a sugar mama before and they are really just jokes. I don’t think I would like being in their position. Money does not come free, as they say. If I found myself a lady friend that already had a fancy shmancy house, then of course I would move in… but honestly, I think I’d be quite uncomfortable about it for a while. I would much rather have been able to provide what I can to make a home together (whether that’s 5% or 75% of the mortgage payment)
That being said, there’s a BIG difference between a couple (where one of the two is rich) and being subsidized by your parents *deep* into adulthood. That’s what this is… they are postponing growing up by letting their daddy pay their way. This isn’t daddy helping out with a “little gift” like $15,000 to help with a down payment. His subsidy probably amounts to more than that EVERY YEAR.
Why would anyone who is an full grown adult want to put themselves into a position of dependency on someone that is not their spouse/partner?!!
it’s not weird for two sisters to live together.
IF THEY ARE 75 YEARS OLD AND HAVE 100 CATS!
*ROB*
11217;
Let me jump in. Your question to Tybur6 is sort of like asking someone: “Do you want to win the mega-millions lottery”. Of course, almost all of us would instinctively answer “Yeah baby!!”. However, I’m sure you have seen the studies that find that most winners eventually wind up in worse shape then before they won, indeed, some even end up in debt after a few years.
That is really what we are talking about here. Sure, on one level, who wouldn’t want to be handed a $600,000 apartment? On the other hand, someone could be handing you a narcotic (in the form of a 2-bedroom apartment in PS). Not every one becomes addicted when they take a narcotic, but many people do.
tyburg- what 11217 said.
Tyburg:
You know I love you, but from listening to your posts it seems that you basically want the same thing that these girls have. You’ve made comments before about finding a rich chick and if someone offered you an apartment like this, would you not take it…
It’s comments like your last one that just ooze jealousy. If you can admit it, no problem but please don’t make it seem like you are all high and mighty when you know you’d love to be in their position.
Umm… Bxgrl… her priorities are in the right place?! She’s decided to live beyond her means on her daddy’s dime. Her choice of career is irrelevant. The only thing it tells us is that she’s NOT making the $250,000 a year that you would normally need to afford this apartment.
I guess since she can get away with living beyond her means, then more power to her. However, being dependent on daddy (as is clearly the case) is going to leave her less than prepared for the future if she ever decides to grow up.
And who says she actually any good at being a teacher? Or could have pulled off a “high paying corporate career.” Obviously, her dad doesn’t want to test her self-sufficiency… so I wonder if she’s even capable.
So, yeah, while it might seem sexist… this girl has made this decision. She wants to live with this level of comfort (or more comfortably) for the rest of her life. Consequently, she will need to have another person basically supporting her — be it a husband or her daddy. She couldn’t deal with the “annoying” world of renting within her price range, so she leans on someone else to take up the slack… and give her what she deserves as a adorable princess.
I mean, think about how her teaching would be affected and how the children in her classroom would be harmed if she didn’t have a really nice place to live?!
You’re right, petebklyn. It is sexist. I respect her for becoming a teacher, going for a high paying corporate career. Her priorities seem to be in the right place and I bet her dad had something to do with that.