Foo - Cheap NYC apartment..

So an acquaintance of mine says he'll consider letting me rent the 1st floor of his brownstone with a huge 10ft high glass wall leading out to the meditation garden in the back, high ceilings, no parking spot but I do get a secure place to store a sportbike, newly renovated for under 4 figures... being that I'm happy living at home and saving my $$, should I go for it considering I would have more space and apartments in the area are going for about 1800-2200/mo for something equivalent... I do appreciate having the extra cash for food and whatnot...

So an acquaintance of mine says he'll consider letting me rent the 1st floor of his brownstone with a huge 10ft high glass wall leading out to the meditation garden in the back, high ceilings, no parking spot but I do get a secure place to store a sportbike, newly renovated for under 4 figures... being that I'm happy living at home and saving my $$, should I go for it considering I would have more space and apartments in the area are going for about 1800-2200/mo for something equivalent... I do appreciate having the extra cash for food and whatnot...

Do it, and furnish it like this
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b229/stefbrn55/stray%20pics/keirin005.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b229/stefbrn55/stray%20pics/keirin004.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b229/stefbrn55/stray%20pics/keirin003.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b229/stefbrn55/stray%20pics/keirin002.jpg

Save yor money 'till you can buy something to live in.

Joe

^^^^ Ditto...
Rent in New York is like investing in Enron.
Try to forget about Bon Jovi and stink jokes and
buy in Norf Jersey :eek:

it sounds like a good deal, but in the end, it's still rent money down the toilet and you can't stay there forever. if you were indeed looking to move out, you should jump all over it. but if you're happy now and saving money, that's even better. if i was in your situation, i'd stay put and save as much money as possible.

if you were indeed looking to move out, you should jump all over it. but if you're happy now and saving money, that's even better.


agreed. but if you do want out, now's your chance! it's tough to find a good deal out here.

Agree with the previous posters re saving your cash. Just be sure you are saving some. Owning beats the hell out of renting, but you're unlikely to find another deal as good as that on rent in NYC.

Move to the South and get a mansion.

Yeah that's the problem.
The only bright side is that he doesn't need the money and he just took it off the market so it's just sitting there. And I do enjoy saving my $$. It feels good to buy a lot of crap and not have to finance or put it on my credit card.

Yeah that's the problem.
The only bright side is that he doesn't need the money and he just took it off the market so it's just sitting there. And I do enjoy saving my $$. It feels good to buy a lot of crap and not have to finance or put it on my credit card.
Should be putting it on your credit card, regardless of whether you need to - in order to build up your credit - You'll thank yourself later

Stay home and save your money. Your parents will eventually retire and leave you the house anyways.

^^^^ Huh ??
Its good to have as many credit cards as you can get but keep them at
Zero balance. There are many other ways to build credit than using
a credit card. That was useful in the 80's but not any more. Any money
you have on a card is dropping your credit score.

Stay home and save your money. Your parents will eventually retire and leave you the house anyways.

+1

if you're happy, stay home and save the money. Make sure you are in the will !

Haa... I just got through having a lot of 5-figure debt on my credit card during college and taking years to pay it off. Not doing THAT again...

^^^^ Huh ??
Its good to have as many credit cards as you can get but keep them at
Zero balance. There are many other ways to build credit than using
a credit card. That was useful in the 80's but not any more. Any money
you have on a card is dropping your credit score.

you're so wrong that i don't even know where to begin. as many cards as possible, at zero balance?? those accounts will go into deliquent status after a time (which shows up on your credit). having a bunch of open accounts means you could potentially rack up serious debt - which is looked down upon too.

carrying a resonable balance and paying it off regularly is the best way to build credit. money on the account doesn't lower your credit unless your income to debt ratio is seriously out of wack or you miss payments.

if you don't know something about a topic, don't make up stuff. your advice, if someone were to take it, would end up hurting them.

my grandmother has an appartment in Marine Park that i might want once she moves out when she retires. I dont know all the particulars of it rnet /ownership and i won't have to worry about it for another 3 years til she moves. Luckily i got connections, even if that connection happens to be your grandmother! ;)

you're so wrong that i don't even know where to begin. as many cards as possible, at zero balance?? those accounts will go into deliquent status after a time

Nope...google it. You are wrong.
Your credit rating is based in part by what many different financial institutions
ie: credit card companies, have appraised you and your financial history at.
If you are getting offers from companies giving you unsecured credit the companies
have gone to great pains to research your credit history and expect to gain financially
from giving you that responsibility. Credit card debt with any percentage interest is
absolutely the worst debt you can bring on yourself. Credit cards with no debt
indicate that many financial agencies have determined you are a fiscally responsible person.
If you are going to buy a house the mortgage company will look and see many agencies
have trusted you with thousands of dollars credit and you havent abused the privilage.
Also, credit cards dont go delinquent from non-use. I dont know where you heard this but
its wrong. Im not trying to be adversarial just setting the facts straight. I used to
work at MBNA in Hellaware so I think I know a little about it. But again, dont believe me..
Check out a financial page. Suze Orman for instance.....

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/DrDon/20040127a1.asp
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/20020125a.asp

Seems like better to just keep it open...

you really still live with your parents?

Yeah, they can't speak english (well they can but the amount they know I'd rather they not try..), someone's gotta take care of em.
I guess that's one of these things about being 1st generation asian (or pretty much any other race for that matter) is that their understanding of english or technology isn't the best in the world. Can't really blame em since they both worked pretty long hours to support me. I just wished they'd use the time to learn some english now since they only work part time...

What's the point of learning English? We'll all be speaking Spanish in another generation. Wait til they retire and move to Vegas and you get the house.

No house. And I'll definitely not be in NYC. I mean I enjoy it but unless someone detonates a nuclear weapon here, prices are way too high for a home.
I'd probably be dead by the time the US takes on spanish as the dominant language...

Save your money and buy a house that's big enough to turn the garage into a separate house for your parents. Or you can all move to Fla. and buy two houses near each other.

I think I'm more worried about getting stuck with my gf's parents. They have a place worth well over a million and if we ever get married they might sell it and move to a larger place in NJ and being the traditional italian family and her being the youngest one I might get stuck living with them. I can imagine her mom being like, "such a big house.. why would the 2 of you live somewhere else." Her dad would be more like, "i don't trust that boy with her alone in another house, where's the shotgun?" And I'm not sure a .44 would be enough up against an 8 gage, then again how hard can it be to take down an old man with a .44
Honestly the 2 of us actually like my parents better, they're a lot more open, don't give half a damn about anything and can cook the best food. 3/4ths of the time I'm over there we end up having chinese take out.

If they're Italian, they'll buy her a house for your wedding. It'll be next to theirs, they'll have a key and the pin # for the security system and the house will be in your wife's name. But at least it'll be separated by the width of a driveway.

dont believe me..


here are a few things taken from the ftc site: (http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/scoring.htm)

# Have you applied for new credit recently? Many scoring models consider whether you have applied for credit recently by looking at “inquiries” on your credit report when you apply for credit. If you have applied for too many new accounts recently, that may negatively affect your score. However, not all inquiries are counted. Inquiries by creditors who are monitoring your account or looking at credit reports to make “prescreened” credit offers are not counted.


# How many and what types of credit accounts do you have? Although it is generally good to have established credit accounts, too many credit card accounts may have a negative effect on your score. In addition, many models consider the type of credit accounts you have. For example, under some scoring models, loans from finance companies may negatively affect your credit score.


http://money.howstuffworks.com/credit-report6.htm:

According to TransUnion and Experion, you should not close out your oldest card, because it has the most history on it; also, you should maintain four to six credit cards to "keep your credit score and debt balances healthy" (TransUnion). But other than that, close the accounts you don't use. In addition to avoiding excessive available credit, you're limiting your exposure to indentity theft.

~~~~

again, aplying for "as many credit cards as you can get" seems to be wrong advice. i've had open accounts that i never used go into deliquent status, which in fact did lower my score. i have hard copy proof of this in my file cabinet.