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Thoughts on living in Newport/waterfront JC?
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Rising Star
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Put together a calculator. Coop: mortgage. And then split up debt service, taxes, and common charges, so that you can understand the actual price between apartments. Keep in mind areas in Brooklyn have seen exponential growth in the last ten years or so, and you pay a premium for the future appreciation. Condos are easier to value. Keep renting - ownership is expensive.
Lots of people in NYC rent forever. I love BK but we left during the pandemic to buy a brownstone in Jersey City. Wanted to own but still wanted to actually have money too.
Rising Star
I’m thinking of moving from the uws to paulus hook. Much more space and just 1 stop to NYC.
Rising Star
Lots of folks in NYC rent forever.
Rising Star
The financializaton of housing to build wealth is capitalist excess.
use the New York Times rent or buy calculator to help you make the decision
Came here to say this!!
Drive to Summit in NJ and you wouldnt want to buy an apt in NYC. You would want to live in a house where you wake up to bird chirping and sounds of the woods and sunshine.
Summit is lovely. Homes off the highway lol? Summit has neighborhoods. If you mainly stayed on the Highway, it would make sense that you mainly saw homes on the Highway. If you want a walkable town where you don’t really have to drive everywhere, I would consider Westfield, West Orange, etc. I parked my money in a home in NJ with quick access to the city. Best decision I’ve ever made
Chief
How are we supposed to convince you you’re wrong? You’re seeing what you’re seeing.
I can tell you this: I’m currently in the middle of buying an apartment. It’s the same size as my rental and in a slightly better location. It’s not quite as nice as my rental, but once I redo the kitchen and bathroom in a couple of years, it will be. And the mortgage payment + maintenance will be *less* than my rent, meanwhile I’ll be building equity, inflation will help erode my debt, and I’ll have the stability to get things set up exactly the way I want them and not get priced out like I am in my current place. It’s basically a no-brainer for me at this point.
I wouldn’t suggest sinking *all* of your market money into an apartment. Look for something cheaper (maybe that means in a bit of a different area). That will also help address the price and fees points. Then you can make it nicer — and in exactly the way you personally want — later. I can’t tell you how many apartments I saw that someone had already made nice, but in a way that I personally didn’t totally love. Why pay a premium for that and risk feeling stuck with it because you don’t want to throw out stuff that’s objectively good?
For me the pressure to buy was financial, so if you’re not seeing that I’m not sure why you would feel pressure to buy. But I also feel like if you’re not seeing that you may not be looking at the right things. Or the market is just very different wherever you are in Brooklyn versus my Manhattan neighborhood.
Chief
Why are you feeling pressurev
Rising Star
Short term you might like your rental. But long term after you've paid off your condo and can sell it for $1million, you'll like that more when you're old and need money than the years you liked just renting.
Capital Growth and to accumulate equity. I bought my first Manhattan two BR apartment in 1995 - and the market value has grown by 255%.
It introduces a level of stability into your life. My wife and I just bought and it’s mind blowing that our monthly payments will be stable even as our incomes grow. Rentals are volatile and, in the current climate, prices won’t go down anytime soon.
We’ve also seen appreciation in our home value (~7%) since we bought last year. At the same time, it hasn’t precluded me from increasing my investments at the same time.
If you can afford it, and you’re relatively settled then do it. All of the above points are valid but we haven’t regretted it for one instant.
Pro
Where are you thinking of buying now?
If it’s just the two of you, you can consider the next up and coming areas rather than already settled in areas
This is a great calculator to help you get started.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/buy-rent-calculator.html
I bought and locked in a real low interest rate with low carrying costs, so it’s cheaper than rent. Plus I see it as an investment.
Agreed!
Why bother selling the assets? I assume you stocks/bonds. I would avoid the tax hit & loan against them for the down payment. That’s one reason why it’s tough in BK those maintenance fees will continue to go up. Essentially you’re paying rent forever even if the mortgage is paid off
I watched a video about how you it can be cheaper to rent and invest the extra money you would have spent on ownership costs than it is to own. Obviously there are a ton of factors to consider and this video is pre covid BUT it did make me temporarily feel better about not owning ☺️ https://youtu.be/F3PIObPVRPk
Maybe you need to buy a smaller apartment in a nicer building
But I don’t want a smaller apartment - I can get a big one renting right now
You don’t have to buy. Now might actually be a bad time with rising interest rates.
The interest is more expensive but home prices come down as interest rates go up. If you have a lot of cash it’s better to buy when interest rates are high.
Thank you for the advice!! It’s a weird time in the market - need to separate noise / social pressure from what actually makes sense
Age old statement - I’ve heard it many times over my years in Manhattan. I understand you need to weight it all.
If you expect to live in your next place long term, buying can be worthwhile for reasons beyond the financial - ie ability to customize it to your liking with any renovations etc. But otherwise it’s largely a financial decision, and a calculator like the one posted above from NYT is really handy. If you make extreme assumptions about equity returns, rental inflation or home price appreciation, you can convince yourself there’s one right answer for nearly everyone. But if you take more moderate assumptions it can be a lot more nuanced, with some kinds of property being better deals to buy and others better to rent.
NYC sucks to live in. Buy a house in NJ with actual land and privacy instead. Montclair, Caldwell, etc.
Pro
+1 to this
Why do you want to own in NYC?