Property Grunt

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Lease Renewal

I recently received my new lease and attempted to negotiate the rent with my landlord who absolutely refused. He stated that fuel costs and taxes have hit the roof so there was no way in hell he could give me any concessions.

Despite the massive windfall that Bloomberg has gathered from real estate it seems that he is still squeezing every penny he can. Is anyone else having problems renegotiating their lease? Can any landlords or property managers bring any insight to this subject?

Yes. I am resigning the lease but I am looking to buy.

posted by Grunt at 2:08 PM | 13 comments

13 Comments:

  • It surprises me to hear that you're going to buy, Grunt. It was only a few months ago that you were predicting that the real estate doomsday was around the corner.

    By Blogger Matt431, at 12:20 PM  

  • to ammend to my previous comment: has your outlook on the RE market in New York City changed?

    By Blogger Matt431, at 12:23 PM  

  • Matt,

    My viewpoints have not changed regarding the New York market but I should make some clarifications.

    In the long run it is always better to buy. In my situation I am simply throwing my money away without gaining any equity. And even in this bubblicious market, I am still looking out for a good deal. However I am not afflicted with the irrational exuberance.

    By Blogger Grunt, at 7:16 PM  

  • Hey Grunt;

    I hope you keep a blow by blow accounting in your search: i.e.what 'hoods you are looking in, what your expectations are, getting the mortgage, etc.

    Definetly think the dramatic twists and turns inherent in buying a home will made even clearer by your wry, sardonic, and unafflicted views of the market.

    By Blogger Gustav, at 7:20 AM  

  • Hey Grunt if you need a realtor...

    By Blogger Sellrealest8, at 8:14 AM  

  • Calculate how much you pay in rent. Calculate how much it would cost per month to own.

    The difference is money in the bank, otherwise known is building equity.

    Unlike equity in your home, which can be destroyed by a bubble collapse, only inflation can destroy the cash equity in your bank account (and there's ways to protect against that, too)

    By Blogger L'Emmerdeur, at 12:07 PM  

  • Grunt,

    Ah the due diligence? What are comparable properties renting for in your nabe? The ever popular landlord complaint, "I'm not a bad guy, I'm just covering expenses here..." Do the increases in tax and fuel costs justify his asking rent? Last year my landlord wanted an increase with no discussion of concessions. I walked him through a list of comparable properties and various media clippings on tax and fuel costs and he quickly reduced his request. Obviously the vacancy rate plays an important factor here...how long will it take him to find another tenant, and will he get the rate he is asking you to pay?

    By Blogger Unreal City, at 4:56 PM  

  • OT, but l'emmerdeur, I've seen you post a lot, you seem to know a lot and I'm a cash person - how can I protect that cash against inflation? Any thoughts?

    By Blogger NJGal, at 5:40 AM  

  • Appreciating assets will protect against inflation. The easiest way is to get inflation indexed bonds, if you don't think the US government will default. Gold is the historical and universal inflation-hedge, but there are transaction costs (minimal these days). Stock, bonds, other commodities, too, but there you have to make judgements about whether the market is overvalued, just like real estate.

    By Blogger funktified, at 12:32 PM  

  • If you want to leave the trenches, you should consider PA. Great bang for the buck, no govt regulation, low taxes. A lot of New yorkers out here. only problem is the commute, about a half hour longer than from staten island :-)

    By Blogger pooka, at 2:14 PM  

  • Mr. Grunt Buys His Dream House -- this is gonna be fun!

    I would love to sit down and talk with you about this; I have a soft spot in my heart for first-timers from my years covering this stuff at the Post.

    One NYC insight to start -- listings are not the problem. You can see all the apts. you want on nytimes.com, or olr.com, or MLX.com. Or if you have a building you want to live in, you can do a mailing to its owners; that still works.

    The problem for you, as a buyer, will be deciding what you think those listings are worth. Historical data on co-ops is jealously guarded; IMHO that, and not listings availability, is what drives customers into the big/REBNY member firms.

    So if you think you'll be buying in six months, start throwing your real estate classifieds in a pile NOW. Print listings and floorplans you like whenever you see them on web sites. That way, when an agent shows you two expensive comps to justify a price on an apt., you'll be able to dig into your own personal price database, and counter with two cheap ones.

    alison rogers
    Member, National Association of Realtors

    By Blogger front_porch, at 7:38 AM  

  • Hey Grunt,

    I enjoy reading your blog. I suspect you're a very young person. Because while NYC real estate does only go up, the time frame may be a little long. According a NY Daily News article from last fall, from 1981 to 1999, there was actually zero appreciation. Now there were many flucuations in that time frame from prices zooming up in the 80s to a crash and then boom in the 90s.

    I bought a so called "classic six" a block off Central Park West in the 70s for the jaw dropping price of $389K in 1989. In 1995, I unfortunately lost my job and had to sell. The market was at the bottom then. No one, and I mean no one wanted to buy my beautiful place. Eventually I was foreclosed, my credit ruined and driven into bankruptcy. The apartment was sold at auction for under $300K or less than $200@sq ft. It sold last year for $1.75M
    This was my third owned apartment in the city.

    Unless you're confident that you'll never lose your job, get divorced or become ill, go ahead, pay a $1K or more per square foot. But if you're not so confident, do what I did, get yourself a nice rent stabilized apartment!

    By Blogger MrKnowItAll, at 11:54 AM  

  • We manage properties.

    Taxes, fuel and costs of employees and maintanencce skyrocket, while the value of the dollar erodes.

    There are not a lot of great rentals out there. If you do not like the rental increase, move.

    The cost matrix works both ways. Moving trucking and security deposits. Seetting up new accounts for phone and other utilities etc.

    If you do not want to continue to face rental increases, buy.

    when people do not buy, they drive the costs of rentals up.

    By Blogger Kathleen, at 5:23 PM  

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