It Pretty Much Sucks to be a Seller Right Now
This weekend’s real estate cover story in the Times examines the plight of folks who have to sell their homes now because of things like job relocations. Case in point: “Mr. Rogers, his wife, Gillian, and their two small children had been comfortably ensconced in a four-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot condo in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. The couple…
This weekend’s real estate cover story in the Times examines the plight of folks who have to sell their homes now because of things like job relocations. Case in point: “Mr. Rogers, his wife, Gillian, and their two small children had been comfortably ensconced in a four-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot condo in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. The couple bought it for $599,000 in cash in January 2006, after selling the Hell’s Kitchen apartment they had outgrown for $920,000 at the height of the market, and pocketing a profit that was three times what they had paid. They hoped to make a similar killing by buying into another gentrifying neighborhood. ‘I used what I called the Starbucks index,’ Mr. Rogers said. ‘There were no Starbucks around in Hell’s Kitchen when I bought there, and when I sold there were four. There were no Starbucks here either when I bought.'” Fast forward to now, when Rogers has been relocated overseas, and we find the family unable to rent the condo or sell it for what they paid a few years ago (which would mean a loss of around $60,000 in transaction costs). Other hard-luck stories include a couple who have to sell or face housing their baby in a closet. The unifying theme: It’s tough out there for sellers.
Gotta Move, Gotta Sell [NY Times]
Pic by AnnabelB.
Poor Guy, he’s not going to triple his investment in 5 years twice in a row. What a hard luck story. Life isn’t fair. I think all of us renters and responsible buyers that were priced out of the market should chip in and help him out.
Easy come, easy go.
on a ratio of body size to living space, that baby is going to make out quite well.
glad you have a good sense of humor
It’s been over 25 years since I’ve been in the closet. I can now usually be found lurking around the kitchen and harassing the dishwashers.
The paradox: Those who are forced to sell now may actually come out better than those who are waiting for the market to “return to normal” and end up selling at even lower levels later in the cycle.
And that closet is the one Dave came out of :)Sorry Dave i could not resist
quote:
They hoped to make a similar killing by buying into another gentrifying neighborhood.
::seething hate::
*rob*
And the woman putting her baby in the closet is my ex-girlfriend.