Things to Check Before Moving Into an Apartment -- powered by ehow
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Things to Check Before Moving Into an Apartment -- powered by ehow
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 Twitter's impending relocation to Mid-Market district has driven local rents up 60%! This also has driven out the local flavor of the area. Soon, the vagabonds, addicts and ladies of the night will be replaced with tech yuppie tweeting on their smartphones and IT hipsters sipping their hoity toity coffee.
The rental company that offers subsidized government housing took Amber Portwood of MTV's Teen Mom series to court. Judge ruled she abused the system meant to help struggling people while she raked in the bucks to a tune of $280,000/yr!
Rental Sales Agent Tips & Tricks -- powered by ehow As host for Real Estate Web Series on eHow.com, I answer a question we got from a viewer: What are the disadvantages to apartments? Let me know if I missed any! The Disadvantages of Apartments -- powered by ehow  Boo! Is a renter entitled to their deposit back if the house is haunted? This New Jersey couple thinks so! After moving in for 1 week, they witnessed "paranormal activity at the house, including lights that switch on and off by themselves, clothes and towels mysteriously ejected from closets, unintelligible whispering, footsteps in the kitchen and a mysterious force tugging at bedsheets during the night." They are suing to get back their $2,250 security deposit. IMHO, it was never noted that it was "haunted" before so they will have a tough time proving this was not just buyers' remorse. Not only that, but who is to say the renters weren't the ones who brought the ghost in the 1st place!
 concrete jungle where dreams are made of Look at this NYC Celeb Rental Map by Rentannae & compare what you would pay in rent with what these stars fork over each month! They oughta do one for each big city!...with all that dough fattening some landlord's wallet, you'd think these celebs would buy!
 After listing his $4.49M condo in March for 7 days, Andrew Madoff has decided to rent it out for $25k/mo. Is he cash strapped? “They assume that my mother & I have billions of dollars that people lost sitting in our bank accounts. We don’t acuteally have it,” Andrew Madoff has said. Do you believe him? I do. Why? He & his mom may not have billions but I'd bet my life they still have MILLIONS!  Due to NYC rent control, Thomas Lombardi pays $55.01/month for a one-bedroom at 5 Spring Street in SoHo. This is unheard of! Simply amazing? Shocking? Unfair? Maybe it's sour grapes for me. Market rate would be $2500/mo.
Gee, I feel bad for that poor (literally) landlord...but then again, apparently this landlord never filed paperwork to increase rent either.  Nene has the BEST expressions! She can diss u in 1 glance! Mediatakeout questions Nene's (of Real Housewives of Atlanta on BravoTV) priorities for RENTING her house. Their Zillow screen capture of her townhouse shows her rent is a mere $1900/mo, which pales in comparison to her $100k car and $20k purse. It can appear her priorities are outta whack...but who's to say her car & purse aren't rented too!! So if she is leasing everything, I guess in some odd way, her priorities are in line then?
 A landlord is evicting a tenant for being over $50,000 late in rent and re-painting the walls (forbidden by lease). Honestly, I have little sympathy for this landlord. If you know a tenant has historically been a trouble maker, why would you be surprised s/he would act differently in your rental? It's Courtney Love for heaven's sake! Drugs, rehab, money drama, daughter emancipated herself. Duh, she's a live wire. And you let her live in your hoity-toity $8M historical NYC residence.
If she were anyone else, this landlord would not have rented it out. I suspect landlord got blinded by having a "celebrity" tenant. But, celebs are people too!  The rental market is on fire! Many homeowners got burned from the foreclosure crisis, so now they would just rather rent. Lots of Millenials can't find a good paying job to buy a house, so they have to rent. And people in general have lost faith in the value of owning a home. Don't have to be brain surgeon to see we've become Generation Rent!
If you are on the prowl for rental property, now is the time to jump into. Due to the aforementioned factors, rents are rising as demand for rentals increase. Owning rental property can be advantageous, but it can also be a headache, especially with tenants. Read my new article on Yahoo! Finance: How I Avoid Common Problems With My Tenants. You'll be chummy with your renters like Mr. Furley before you know it!  *You'd think having $10M vacation home in New Hampshire, a fancy Boston townhouse, and a $12M La Jolla house, he'd be satisfied. But presidential contender Mitt Romney wants to quadruple his La Jolla house from 3009 sq ft to 11,062 sq ft....because it currently is "inadequate for his needs". [ via San Diego Union ] *Brad & Angelia along with their 4 dozen kids have rented a country estate that includes a 16th century mansion. Jumping from mansions, to castles, to estates every other month, the tykes are living like gypsies, but I'll bet they can beat anyone when it comes to ancient history trivia! [ via People ] *Would you marry an elderly man for his rent controlled NYC apt? That's what this landlord is accusing this 63 yr old of. She inherited her 83 yr old hubby's apt after only 1 month of marriage! If she gets to pay $500/mo for a $5000/mo pad, girlfriend has hit the jackpot! [via NY Post ] *What do a sugar daddy, an adulterous handsome swindler & slain wife have in common? Apparently real estate! The New York Post exclusively reports, "Less than 2 years ago, handsome alleged killer Kashif Parvaiz, 26, had persuaded a frail, older gay man to sign over to him his share of a Queens apartment building that is now about to be sold for more than $9 million" Real Estate ain't just for investments; it's a motive for murder! Read more here *Realtor confronts Obama! "The loan modification system has been a nightmare and the lenders are so tight and you have to be so perfect. And it’s not a perfect world.” Preach, girl, preach! [ via AG Beat ]   Question: My bff & I share an apartment and the lease ends next month. She asked her boyfriend if we could stay at his house (we would pay rent). He said yes but last minute reneged when he found out her roomie was a gay man (me). Is this housing discrimination? -Homeless Will & Grace Answer: Hey Will, What a creep! He was all gung-ho when he thought 2 hot gals would be parading around his house all day in see-through nighties. No wonder he was so quick to agree to this. He thought he was Jack & you two would be Janet & Chrissy…..but instead he got Janet & Chris. Oops! Read why this is not housing discrimination in my weekly Q&A column for LOGO here.  Speaking of Three's Company (one of my all time favorites sitcoms!), did any of you see Justin Timberlake & Lady Gaga's song on SNL, It's Not Gay, If It's a Three-way, where they parodied Three's Company?! Hilarious! And catchy tune too.  Ask an Expert is a section on LogoOnline where people write in with their LGBTQ related dilemmas. I'm thrilled to share my expertise, experience and eccentric point of view about real estate on this platform. My weekly posts will alternate between written Q&A and video Q&A. I can't let these cheekbones go to waste, right?
This week's question is "How to deal with an anti-gay landlord?" Read my official answer here. I want to share a personal story that I did not include in the article. When I was at UC Berkeley, I had an apartment that had floor to ceiling windows that faced out to Frat Row. My younger sister came to visit me one weekend from high school. She was a dancer & came to help me choreograph a show I was doing for National Coming Out Day. I was in drag rehearsing my routine in front of my sister when all of a sudden she screamed & pointed out the window. As I whipped around, I heard the entire wall of glass shatter and all I saw were shards of glass cascading all around us. We fled into another room & called the police. We huddled in a corner til they arrived. Clearly it was a hate crime. (not to mention vandalism and assault!) I was in full drag on Frat Row, and some 'phobes were trying to cut me...literally! The policeman was not sympathetic whatsoever. "It was just a prank..there's nothing we can really do...blah blah" I felt ignored, ashamed, violated, unsafe (not to mention guilty for putting my little sister in danger & exposing her to the cruelty of the world outside her suburban cocoon). The only person who showed me any empathy was my landlord, who was very understanding and comforting. He said this was not my fault & that he respected me for being out and proud. That meant the world to an 18 yr old Herman. For every anti-gay landlord you encounter, there is a gay friendly landlord! There ARE people out there who care. |
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