Calling NYC dwellers

[Harriet]

Date: 6/13/2007 7:19:33 PM
Author: Skippy123
I don''t know how to make my avatar not look smushy??!?! Do you know?

Gosh, that is crazy. I am sorry. I would rent until it settles down a bit but if you don''t think it will I would buy.

You''re asking me?!
The market is crazy -- the bubble-bursting is not a question of "if," but "when." Because the dollar is weak, foreign investors are snapping up units while there''s just a hole in the ground. Am I silly in being so attached to my apartment?

 

[Skippy123]

I hate the dollar being so weak; it sucks! Yes, I was asking you.

I put a different silly one till I hubby gets home so he can help me.

 

[Harriet]

As RockDoc puts it, I''m a computer-grape.

 

[Skippy123]

So why don''t your dog pics look smooshed?

 

[Harriet]

They are!

 

[Skippy123]

no. I am going back to mermaid.

so what are you probably going to do about the apt?

 

[ursulawrite]

We just put our apartment on the market two days ago, with a view to buying something slightly bigger. We live in Soho, and have all but been priced out of the area because of Buildings like 40 Bond (Ian Schrager) and the Balazs building at 210 Lafayette. It is terrifying to think that $1500 a square foot is nothing around here.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 6/13/2007 9:59:37 PM
Author: ursulawrite
We just put our apartment on the market two days ago, with a view to buying something slightly bigger. We live in Soho, and have all but been priced out of the area because of Buildings like 40 Bond (Ian Schrager) and the Balazs building at 210 Lafayette. It is terrifying to think that $1500 a square foot is nothing around here.

yikes

 

[Harriet]

Date: 6/13/2007 9:52:26 PM
Author: Skippy123
no. I am going back to mermaid.

so what are you probably going to do about the apt?

Cry.

 

[Harriet]

Date: 6/13/2007 9:59:37 PM
Author: ursulawrite
We just put our apartment on the market two days ago, with a view to buying something slightly bigger. We live in Soho, and have all but been priced out of the area because of Buildings like 40 Bond (Ian Schrager) and the Balazs building at 210 Lafayette. It is terrifying to think that $1500 a square foot is nothing around here.

No kidding! Which areas are you looking at?

 

[KimberlyH]

Oh, poor Harriet. Take a few deep breathes, have a glass of (good) wine and a good, long discussion about what to do next with FI. I know the stress you''re feeling, we''re trying to figure out our next bold move housing-wise and it''s really such a tough call.

I have my fingers crossed for you!

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 6/13/2007 10:34:29 PM
Author: KimberlyH
Oh, poor Harriet. Take a few deep breathes, have a glass of (good) wine and a good, long discussion about what to do next with FI. I know the stress you''re feeling, we''re trying to figure out our next bold move housing-wise and it''s really such a tough call.

I have my fingers crossed for you!

me too!

 

[Harriet]

Date: 6/13/2007 10:34:29 PM
Author: KimberlyH
Oh, poor Harriet. Take a few deep breathes, have a glass of (good) wine and a good, long discussion about what to do next with FI. I know the stress you''re feeling, we''re trying to figure out our next bold move housing-wise and it''s really such a tough call.

I have my fingers crossed for you!

Thanks for understanding. I''ll cross my fingers for you too.

 

[Harriet]

Date: 6/13/2007 10:38:26 PM
Author: Skippy123
me too!

Thank you too. Maybe a slice of Ellen''s pecan pie will cheer me up.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 6/13/2007 10:59:18 PM
Author: Harriet

Date: 6/13/2007 10:38:26 PM
Author: Skippy123
me too!

Thank you too. Maybe a slice of Ellen's pecan pie will cheer me up.

Yes, or Carrot cake

hehehe. Did me putting the mermaid help; I DID IT JUST FOR YOU AND ELLEN!?!?!?!

 

[Harriet]

Thank you! I can''t see your sweet face though!

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 6/13/2007 11:16:26 PM
Author: Harriet
Thank you! I can't see your sweet face though!

Awwwwe, thanks a bunch; very sweet compliment!

I didn't call Kimberly a silly, just you.

I called myself one too.

 

[Phoenix]

Harriet,

I haven''t logged on for a few days but just saw yr last posts. Do you and yr FI really think that the market will turn at some point or maybe it will just continue to go up? We have the same problem here in S''pore and nobody knows what''s going to happen for sure. Some friends who thought that the market would burst at some point and didn''t buy last year or even a few months ago are now regretting not having bought.

The thing you mentioned abt the US dollar being weak, I personally don''t think is going to change any time soon. I am not an economist and don''t know this for sure, but I think the US economy is going to have to improve significantly before the US dollar even begins to recover. The main problem is the "twin deficits" and that''s not goiing to change much any time soon. Plus, the yield differential between the US dollar and some high yielding currencies such as the Oz dollar and the Kiwi mean that more investors are going long on the latter two, amongst other things.

DH and I had some problems deciding whether and where to buy our home here. As for "whether", we figured we had to live somewhere and were sick of renting, ie. throwing money away. For the "where", we originally wanted to stay in Greenleaf, but after having looked really long and hard (and I mean really long and hard), we finally settled on the Grove area and guess what? We really love living here now. The pluses of living in this area outweigh the minuses and we''re still in District 10 so we can''t complain. Whilst I understand yr being attached to where you are now, it might pay dividend to look elsewhere too (and I mean really look with the view to buying to live there, not just to compare with where you are now - we used to compare everywhere to Greenleaf and it did cost us some time and some money ie. the market moved whilst we were trying to decide). You might be pleasantly surprised.

Just some things for you to think abt. Good luck! Keep us posted.

 

[ursulawrite]

Well, there are a couple of apartments left in 48 Bond (another new development) that aren''t too badly priced, but I was hoping to step up to 1800 sq. feet for our next apartment, but that''s unlikely to happen--not unless we extend our search to some of the buildings in the West 20s, but I''m loathe to do that.

I guess we''ll be looking at Greenwich Village, West Village, Soho, Noho, maybe Tribeca (though I hate the lack of greenery) and up to Gramercy for a bit more value.

Hope everything works out well for you!

 

[Harriet]

Date: 6/13/2007 11:23:03 PM
Author: Skippy123
Awwwwe, thanks a bunch; very sweet compliment!

I didn''t call Kimberly a silly, just you.

I called myself one too.

Sorry, Kimberly!

 

[Harriet]

Date: 6/14/2007 4:56:21 AM
Author: lienTN
Harriet,

I haven''t logged on for a few days but just saw yr last posts. Do you and yr FI really think that the market will turn at some point or maybe it will just continue to go up? We have the same problem here in S''pore and nobody knows what''s going to happen for sure. Some friends who thought that the market would burst at some point and didn''t buy last year or even a few months ago are now regretting not having bought.

The thing you mentioned abt the US dollar being weak, I personally don''t think is going to change any time soon. I am not an economist and don''t know this for sure, but I think the US economy is going to have to improve significantly before the US dollar even begins to recover. The main problem is the ''twin deficits'' and that''s not goiing to change much any time soon. Plus, the yield differential between the US dollar and some high yielding currencies such as the Oz dollar and the Kiwi mean that more investors are going long on the latter two, amongst other things.

DH and I had some problems deciding whether and where to buy our home here. As for ''whether'', we figured we had to live somewhere and were sick of renting, ie. throwing money away. For the ''where'', we originally wanted to stay in Greenleaf, but after having looked really long and hard (and I mean really long and hard), we finally settled on the Grove area and guess what? We really love living here now. The pluses of living in this area outweigh the minuses and we''re still in District 10 so we can''t complain. Whilst I understand yr being attached to where you are now, it might pay dividend to look elsewhere too (and I mean really look with the view to buying to live there, not just to compare with where you are now - we used to compare everywhere to Greenleaf and it did cost us some time and some money ie. the market moved whilst we were trying to decide). You might be pleasantly surprised.

Just some things for you to think abt. Good luck! Keep us posted.

A lot to chew on. Thanks, Lien! Btw, I reponded to your Anniversary Redux thread.

 

[Harriet]

Date: 6/14/2007 9:20:09 AM
Author: ursulawrite
Well, there are a couple of apartments left in 48 Bond (another new development) that aren''t too badly priced, but I was hoping to step up to 1800 sq. feet for our next apartment, but that''s unlikely to happen--not unless we extend our search to some of the buildings in the West 20s, but I''m loathe to do that.

I guess we''ll be looking at Greenwich Village, West Village, Soho, Noho, maybe Tribeca (though I hate the lack of greenery) and up to Gramercy for a bit more value.

Hope everything works out well for you!

Gramercy would be great. Imagine having a private park.
Thanks, and you too!

 

[ammayernyc]

So sorry to hear about what''s going on with your apartment. There are tons of rental buildings on the UES for you to chose from. What happened to the Solow building you liked?

 

[Harriet]

Thanks, Amanda. How''s your own hunt going? We''ll probably be moving into the Solow on 66th. The one on the river is just too far. I hope there will be an apartment available when our current lease is up. Btw, have you ever been inside 800 5th?

 

[Skippy123]

I am just teasing you Harriet. It is fun to be silly

What do the other people in the building say? Have you had a meeting? do you know who is buying?
I hope you find something. . . fingers crossed

 

[Dee*Jay]

Harriet, are you sure you have to move out of your apartment, at least right away? Can you get a month-to-month lease from the developer and stay until the unit is sold (which could be a long time if the units really are overpriced)? That of course subjects you to having potential buyers come through your apartment, but there will probably be some sort of notice provision (most likely 24 or 48 hours) in the lease. Or, maybe your units will be purchased by an investor who is happy to have a long term tenant, which could work out great for you as long as the rent doesn't go up (much). You could ask the developer's agent to pitch your unit in that way when potential investors come in to the office.

BTW, I am purposefully NOT weighing in on the issue of a real estate bubble and whether I think prices will go down at some point. There are too many variables to make an intelligent point on a market that I'm not familiar with, so, even though I have an *opinion* it is more of a gut feeling born opinion than an educated evaluation.

 

[Skippy123]

Wow, I love DeeJay's thoughts!!!!

I hope it works Harriet!

 

[Harriet]

Date: 6/14/2007 2:41:05 PM
Author: Skippy123
I am just teasing you Harriet. It is fun to be silly

What do the other people in the building say? Have you had a meeting? do you know who is buying?
I hope you find something. . . fingers crossed

The weird thing is that only 2 people have said that they are buying. Everyone has said that it''s overpriced. This is mostly according to the doormen, though they see and hear more than we think.

 

[Harriet]

Date: 6/14/2007 3:21:00 PM
Author: Dee*Jay
Harriet, are you sure you have to move out of your apartment, at least right away? Can you get a month-to-month lease from the developer and stay until the unit is sold (which could be a long time if the units really are overpriced)? That of course subjects you to having potential buyers come through your apartment, but there will probably be some sort of notice provision (most likely 24 or 48 hours) in the lease. Or, maybe your units will be purchased by an investor who is happy to have a long term tenant, which could work out great for you as long as the rent doesn''t go up (much). You could ask the developer''s agent to pitch your unit in that way when potential investors come in to the office.

BTW, I am purposefully NOT weighing in on the issue of a real estate bubble and whether I think prices will go down at some point. There are too many variables to make an intelligent point on a market that I''m not familiar with, so, even though I have an *opinion* it is more of a gut feeling born opinion than an educated evaluation.

DeeJay,
I understand and respect why you''re not weighing in on the issue of a bubble.
The non-renewal letters, which preclude month-to-moth leases, have gone out. Our lease runs through December 31, but the NY rental market is notoriously tight, especially at that time. We would love to rent from an investor (you?

), but that depends on the units being permitted to be sold and being sold by the time our lease expires.