The Home Ownership Thread

[dcg]

Digging all this Philly suburb talk, I'm over in Wayne

 

[ChrisGold]



Digging all this Philly suburb talk, I'm over in Wayne

Great town, some great restaurants... I have a buddy who was a top exec at Main Line Health who moved at the same time from the same small town in CT. He had to live there because of his job location and was not happy with the real estate prices compared to living up in Buck's County, which we chose because my wife was commuting to Princeton (Lawrenceville) at the time.

 

[dcg]



Great town, some great restaurants... I have a buddy who was a top exec at Main Line Health who moved at the same time from the same small town in CT. He had to live there because of his job location and was not happy with the real estate prices compared to living up in Buck's County, which we chose because my wife was commuting to Princeton (Lawrenceville) at the time.

Crazy the number of pizza shops in Wayne. There's a corner where there are 4 within your line of sight, and there are three more within a block. Went out with a few buddies last weekend and tried three of them; need to confirm which is the best ASAP.

My fiancee worked in Princeton until just recently, but is now on the PA side of the river. She's from NJ which means I'm not allowed to speak ill of the state and so that's all I'll say about that. Princeton is quite nice, though.

 

[SeaJen]

Nothing beats Minella's.

 

[ChrisGold]



Crazy the number of pizza shops in Wayne. There's a corner where there are 4 within your line of sight, and there are three more within a block. Went out with a few buddies last weekend and tried three of them; need to confirm which is the best ASAP.

My fiancee worked in Princeton until just recently, but is now on the PA side of the river. She's from NJ which means I'm not allowed to speak ill of the state and so that's all I'll say about that. Princeton is quite nice, though.

I'm a fan of Princeton, and it was between that and the Doylestown area. My wife now works over on this side of the river also so it worked out, but the real decision was based on property taxes... only pay $8K here and would have paid $14K in Princeton. Also, you have to navigate around all that crazy traffic in the Princeton area which gets tiring.

I used to have a lot of great meals at Margaret Kuos when I worked out in that direction, it's funny how many restaurants are clustered right in that area.

 

[ChrisGold]



Nothing beats Minella's.

Closed a big investor for my last startup over breakfast there. Great food.

 

[texas_jack]



I know multiple guys who are small time landlords (most work in real estate as their full time job), but they can pretty much pick from the top shelf, when looking for tenants, one guy told me he got 500-800 applicants on his $1500 a month 1br.

We rent out our other house using a management co and they rented it in 2 days. We get $1050 for it and still come out ahead after the 10%

 

[texas_jack]



I'm a fan of Princeton, and it was between that and the Doylestown area. My wife now works over on this side of the river also so it worked out, but the real decision was based on property taxes... only pay $8K here and would have paid $14K in Princeton. Also, you have to navigate around all that crazy traffic in the Princeton area which gets tiring.

I used to have a lot of great meals at Margaret Kuos when I worked out in that direction, it's funny how many restaurants are clustered right in that area.

My mom was born in Doylestown. I used to have a bunch of relatives there but they're pretty much all gone. The farm she grew up on is now homes like you're describing.

 

[ChrisGold]



My mom was born in Doylestown. I used to have a bunch of relatives there but they're pretty much all gone. The farm she grew up on is now homes like you're describing.

I live right outside of Doylestown. It's an incredible little town, with a ridiculously long list of famous residents, mostly related to the arts. (Ridiculously long because there's really no attraction to live there, was just a sleepy, bucolic little farm town.)

 

[GreenFrog]

Can anyone here with experience owning / renting out in NYC comment on their experiences?

--

Folks who bought in the past 5 years or so: did you put down 20%?

 

[Piobaire]



I know multiple guys who are small time landlords (most work in real estate as their full time job), but they can pretty much pick from the top shelf, when looking for tenants, one guy told me he got 500-800 applicants on his $1500 a month 1br.

I'm going to suggest the housing and rental stock varies quite a bit throughout the world.

 

[jbarwick]

Can anyone here with experience owning / renting out in NYC comment on their experiences?

--

Folks who bought in the past 5 years or so: did you put down 20%?

We did 20% and have some friends who put 5%, 10%, and a special case is a 0% for a doctor in residency. I didn't know this was an option but some special programs allow doctors to do this.

 

[ellsbebc]

It pains me to rent. We pay $1,200/month for a very modest 2BR apartment but could easily get a decent house for $220k, which is only $1,100 PITI. Desire to have our own place and the wife enjoys gardening (plants and veggies) -- obviously cannot do that without green space in an apartment. Problem is we don't know how long we will stay in town so the financially responsible decision is still rent. I'm even inclined to purchase and take a $5-10k loss for our personal satisfaction if we can commit to two years.

 

[horndog]

WTF all this Wayne and Minella's talk brings me back to my Villanova undergrad days ('07).

Closed a big investor for my last startup over breakfast there. Great food.

Drunk coeds close a lot of deals at Minella's... .

 

[nootje]



Not a fan of having bragging rights?

Simply don't care anymore, my parents took care of that a long time ago.
Grew up in a 10k sqf home in a city center, which for Dutch standards is downright palatial. Suffice to say it wasn't the warmest home, or practical, or even logical.
That and it cost a year of minimum wage salary in upkeep per month to keep in good condition with the gardens and all.

If you have that particular type of company or job where it actually is helpful to have a home where you can entertain scores and impress them with your taste, fine. Other than that I simply don't see the point of owning such a home. There is certainly nothing to enjoy about it imho.