Asymmetrical Information

Oh no! I'm terribly sorry.

This post is, to say the least, painfully thin on detail.

Are you being evicted by your sister in MD, or by your landlord in NY?

What, pray tell, have you done (or not done) to deserve this ignominy?

Can we count on "film at 11"?

Awww, crap. I'm sorry. Is it within the terms of the lease (if you have one) or is it a generally scuzzy move by the owner? Also, by when do you need to leave?

Ick.

Benjamin Franklin said, "Three moves equals one fire." He was right.

Good luck!

The backstory:

February 1, 2007
From the desk of Jane Galt:

Worst. Day. Ever.
Fun facts about my day: [...]

3) Apparently my landlord decided to inspect my apartment in New York, along with five others, yesterday. It seems more likely than not that my lovely, cheap apartment, which I have carefully fixed up with my own two little hands, is about to become someone else's co-op.

I should have added: my sympathies to the proprietress. I hated moving in New York.

On March 9, Megan McArdle was asked to remove herself from her place of residence. That request came from her greedy landlord. Deep down, Megan knew he was a jerk. But she also knew that she had to find another place to live.
With nowhere else to go, Megan appeared at the home of her long time friend, Andrew Sullivan. Several years earlier, the New Republic threw Sullivan out, requesting that he never return.

Can you two outspoken bloggers share an apartment without driving each other crazy?

That's funny, really, in an ironic sort of way.

A dose of reality is good for you conservatives every once in a while. If you pay attention to it reality can make you a wiser person.

I blame rent control!

Couple possibilities:

1) Hoboken

2) Brooklyn

3) Queens

I personally like Hoboken, the commute to Midtown isn't bad and their are some reasonable places to eat and live. You also avoid the City Income Tax.

That sucks, my condolences. I'm in a very similar situation.

You are correct that NY's housing laws being draconian. Although I don't think there would be much additional housing in the city if it weren't for rent control (not alot of unused space), its just that the supply available to market-rent payers would increase as rent stabilized were priced out.

The issue isn't just rent control laws. It's also zoning and other land use regulations that prevent new residential buildings from being constructed. Take away all that regulation, and I'd bet there'd be plenty of $1200 apartments.

(PS - Sorry about Jane's predicament.)

There's plenty of space in NYC. You just have to build upward. We have the technology, you know? It's a question of incentives. If you can get $1200/month as rent for a small apartment, I'd say that there's something holding back the builders other than the mere cost of concrete, steel, and labor.

Ken, I think a dose of reality may be good for you, too. Jane says that even if she could, she would not dispossess her landlord. She really does honor the fact that she rents her apartment. He, not she, owns her apartment. Maybe you'll come out of this a wiser person, eh?

You can find a $1200 apartment in Manhattan. I will help you.

My friend Charlotte got a $950 studio on East 61st street last year. You really can find things.

Jane,

Very sorry about the situation. Are you sure you can't telecommute? The mortgage payment on our 3,000 sqft house -- with fruit trees in the back yard -- is less than $1,200 a month.

Jane: My sympathies for your situation.

I suppose a dose of reality is bad for whatever Ken is, as he appears to be allergic to it.

There is a great deal of residential construction going on in Manhattan, however the majority is for the condo market. Which, you would think, would lower rents as the supply of one type of housing might decrease prices of other types. Perhaps it does, but not nearly enough to create $1,200 per month rentals.

Screw Manhattan.

Rent a cottage on South Beach on Staten Island. The commute's tiny, and the benefits are plenty.

The sound of the surf. Walks on the boardwalk.

And paying less than $1200.00

Regarding your double update, on the contrary, New York is famous for price caps on rents resulting in buildings being in the exact condition you describe. Though that doesn't seem to be the situation here. New York is an often cited example of how price ceilings cause shortages.

That does suck, and with a huge dog too. I'd give up on downtown Manhattan -- Upper Manhattan or the boroughs are the way to go.

Where did you find a $1200 manhattan apartment that would accept a large dog? wow. Come check out Brooklyn. (Which at this point is probably not much cheaper.)

jack, staten island? come on, man, now you're just making places up.

"Let's be clear here: if I could pass a law to prevent my landlord from kicking me out, I wouldn't. "

Not even if it was restricted specifically to you and your landlord?

Me, I'd never own a condo. I'd be too worried that the people downstairs would decide to tear down their place. After all, if they own it, it would be dispossessing them to not let them tear it down.

Terrible news. I'm sorry to hear about it. Anyway, try Hoboken. I used to live there. It is a great town.

Since Manhattan is the center of one of the world's most important cities, it stands to reason that housing costs are going to be high there. Rent control makes it worse. As anyone who knows anyone who lives in NYC knows, those with rent-stabilized apartments do every thing in their power to keep those apartments off the market.

Me, I'd never own a condo. I'd be too worried that the people downstairs would decide to tear down their place. After all, if they own it, it would be dispossessing them to not let them tear it down.

Ooookkkaaayy....I think that's sarcasm, but in fact, most condo complexes fall under some sort of covenant control. So do most townhouses and the like.

I really do think it as sarcasm, but actually the owner of a condominium only solely owns the space between the exterior walls, and thus does not have sole title to exterior walls/ceilings/floors which can be torn down.

Some apartments in that price range:

http://www.housingmaps.com/?c=newyork&t=apa&p=1000_1500

As expected, not much in Manhattan.

"I don't think New York's more draconian housing laws have exactly contributed to the ease of finding an abode."

No, but I bet that they contributed greatly to your apartment being sold.

That's funny, really, in an ironic sort of way.

A dose of reality is good for you conservatives every once in a while.

Stay classy, libs. Stay classy.

"...I'd like even less to live in a world where building or buying a rental building was a prison sentence . . "

This is the attitude that keeps losers out of the rental real estate market and gives those with the nerve to serve that niche a competitive advantage.

Not all suceed. Some, like you, cannot handle the reality of the situation and never should have bought in the first place. But those that have the brains, balls and persistence to win are very, very rich. And you are...you are looking for a $1,200 apartment. I'm laughing at you.

I think the best description of Rent Control I have seen was in a novel, Christopher Stasheff's 'A Company of Stars' (Book One of Starship Troupers). Stasheff doesn't expect anything to improve in the next 500 years...

Stasheff does mention, though, checking for recently deceased living in rent-controlled apartments, friends willing to sub-let (without admitting that is what you are doing)...

Luck!

Ken reminds us that, of course, someone's deeply felt (and maturely handled) problems in life are good and tasteful comic fodder. Thanks for sharing, Ken. You can return to the glue and permanent markers now.

Ken also completely misunderstood Jane's response to him. Feel free to point and laugh, everyone.

Then there's the Bronx. It's more than just the war zone depicted in that wretched Paul Newman movie. You have Riverdale, Morris Park (where I live), Pelham Bay, City Island (a beautiful carbon copy of a New England fishing town), Throggs Neck (where a McArdle will fit in), Country Club, etc.

A longer commute but less rent?

The real question is why Ken is such a jerk.

Not all suceed. Some, like you, cannot handle the reality of the situation and never should have bought in the first place. But those that have the brains, balls and persistence to win are very, very rich. And you are...you are looking for a $1,200 apartment. I'm laughing at you.

Ken, you must be a joy to have around as a child.

"There's plenty of space in NYC. You just have to build upward. We have the technology, you know? It's a question of incentives. If you can get $1200/month as rent for a small apartment, I'd say that there's something holding back the builders other than the mere cost of concrete, steel, and labor."

At $1200/months, it can be just the "mere" cost of materials and labor. Depending on various factors, once the building is tall enough, the cost scales somewhere between quadratically and exponentially with height, and buildings in Manhattan are already very tall.

Heck, down here in Austin, whrere land is practically free, rent on some of the 20-30 story apartment complexes starts at over $1200/month.

Whoa! Jane evicted! Well that sucks and blows (at the same time!)

And to expand on s.r.e.'s comment: besides land in Manhattan being insanely expensive to begin with (there being but 22 sq. miles of it altogether): construction costs are (for various reason) anywhere from 25%-40% higher than the national average; and, given the size that most Manhattan residential structures have to be (if it can be gotten away with - strict zoning, and all); the average cost of an apartment tower makes it wildly impractical for a builder to put up anything but the most expensive structure he can. And for whatever reason, even now, there seems to be NO slack in sales of the highest of high-end properties - which, of course, makes more modestly (Jane Galt-level) priced apartments (whether rent or buy) scarcer. With the expected result on the market.

Hey, come down to Chattanooga. Not only would you be close enough to pop up for lunch with Instapundit, but you could get a heck of a place for $1200/m. Then telecommute.

Or, if you want to be closer to the city, come to Lynchburg. 3 hours to DC, and at $1400/month, I'll have a house the size of your apartment and 12 acres paid off in 5 years.

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