Lucy: I know how you feel about all this Christmas business, getting depressed and all that. It happens to me every year. I never get what I really want. I always get a lot of stupid toys or a bicycle or clothes or something like that.
Charlie Brown: What is it you want?
Lucy: Real estate.
A lot of my friends are looking into buying property - houses, co-ops, and the what not. I find this trend somewhat scary. For a long time, I thought I really wanted a house with a little porch and a yard where my unnamed dog could gambol about and a nice patch of earth to garden. In my desperate cling to youth, I have now decided that I'll never buy a house, I'll just rent forever. Probably, I'll change my mind again. Anyway, it ain't a buyer's market right now, so I guess it's good I have a fear of such things.
Philly's favorite website, Curbed, has been pulling articles about prognosticators remarking about the real estate bubble burst. Amongst all this, there are reports of a 600 sq/ft studio on Christopher Street that is going for $795K. No shit. Anyway, Curbed printed the very funny letter of an incensed reader regarding the studio. For those of you shopping in the Manhatts, or surrounding area, I hope that Curbed is right and $800K is not the new black.
Also of interest in the real estate department, the Times has a sampling of what you could buy in the 'burbs for the amount a 2 bedroom apartment in Manhattan would cost. Lord almighty, that house in Long Island is heinous. And explain to me again what's so great about Westchester?
If I were going to buy a house, it might be in wonderful Nyack, NY..... I know, I know I have talked up my love of New Jersey, but I'm on a Nyack kick right now because it's on the water. And they have really good food. And it's Rockland County, which frankly, ought to be subsumed by New Jersey.
Although, if I had unlimited funds, I might consider buying this joint in Montclair.
Ah Montclair. My real estate heaven. Buying a house is so stressful and complicated, I'm surprised that anyone does it. I'm looking right now at the notes I took while talking to the loan officer yesterday, and they're filled with dozens of little arrows, phrases I don't understand, and huge sums of money. For a co-op we are looking at, the co-op charges a $300 move-in fee (the price of a very nice bicycle), a $400 transfer fee, a $25 set up fee, and a $10 key fee.
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