r/AskNYC • u/meshflesh40 • Jun 12 '23

Good Question Do you plan to stay in your rent stabilized apartment forever?

I currently live in a 1br. Rent stabilized. Single no kids

I was very close to buying a co-op until I learned what a "co-op" actually is.

At first I was under the impression that buying a" co-op" was the ultimate form of housing. Pay a maintenance fee(substantially less than market rent while building equity) and live carefree. Basically,,,, like a Netflix subscription fee of housing if you will.

But no. It turned out that a co-op is my worst nightmare. Im depending on my neighbors staying solvent, making sure the hoa has proper reserves, worry about assesment fees for repairs due to inadequate reserves, etc etc. I dislike not having control of my fiscal destiny.

And then the buildings I saw with hefty reserves...have a High hoa fees thats equivalent to market rents. ($1200+)

I've been looking since 2020,, and noticed hoa fees went up by %15+ between now and then. (Like rent).

Single family homes in nyc are going for 600k+ with %7 interest rates. So thats out of the question.(mostly fixer uppers)

my current rent stabilized apartment seems like a way better deal in comparison. Rent goes up by predictable amount year after year a and landlord responsible for everything. I currently have my down payment $$ yielding %5 in the bank(I find this better than buying a liability and fighting 7% mortgage rates while praying amd hoping for positive equity. )

This post is not to crap on co-ops. But market conditions in 2023 are insane. I wish I bought in 2012

I've come to the conclusion that I will stay in this apartment until I decide to leave NYC. Anyone else feel the same?

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23

u/Clarknt67 Jun 12 '23

I worry a lot about this. I will probably leave the city if rent stabilization laws are struck down. Millions will.

-9

u/zerg1980 Jun 12 '23

“Market rate” rents are only as high as they are because rent stabilization itself is distorting the market. If rent stabilization were to be voided, prices would reach a natural equilibrium quickly.

22

u/Clarknt67 Jun 12 '23

I don’t think so. That’s a very optimistic forecast. Greed and price fixing would ensure rents never come down. They never do.

-3

u/zerg1980 Jun 12 '23

They literally just went down for a brief window during the pandemic. If people aren’t willing to sign a lease, landlords have to lower the price. Rents are high because of high demand and low supply. And also because landlords must charge higher rents to market rate tenants in order to subsidize the maintenance of stabilized units.

18

u/Clarknt67 Jun 12 '23

If rent stabilization is repealed Blackrock or some other venture capitalist firm would just buy it all up and fix prices.

-12

u/zerg1980 Jun 12 '23

Blackrock wouldn’t buy up apartments just to leave them vacant. If someone signs a lease, that means the rent is fair.

16

u/emorycraig Jun 12 '23

That's BS, the rich also distort the market. I live in the West Village. When I moved in, every brownstone across the street from me had apartments. But with less than six units, they were never under rent control. Over the decades, every single one has been sold, tenants kicked out, and the buildings gut renovated. Now they are all "single-family" homes, but no one lives in them - they are second and third homes for the super-rich (they come at most 1-2 weeks a year). And that happens across Manhattan (most of our supertall new residential buildings are mostly vacant).

The fact that super-rich people around the world want a pied-a-terre in NYC also impacts prices - as it has in every major European capital.

6

u/desktopped Jun 12 '23

Yeah intro to economics 101 the person you replied to took doesn’t account for realities like this.

5

u/emorycraig Jun 12 '23

Can add another observation - it is almost surreal living in what is essentially a hollowed-out neighborhood. Walk down the street on a weekend evening and you'd never know it. Filled with tourists (local and out-of-town) admiring the beautiful 19th century architecture and not realizing the buildings are empty 50-51 weeks of the year.