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ha ha ha your right , i just noticed my spelling... oh well yesterday i couldnt even spell electrical engineer and today i are one..
well i can tell you i have had tenants thru the decades who have been put under a microscope and were good as gold. but lifes events can quickly change all that... im not saying being a landlord isnt okay for someone during their working years... what im saying is the retirement graveyard is filled with failed retirements because folks counted on income from rentals that went bad...
unlike other investments that your not happy with you cant just sell it on a moments notice and preserve your investing capital...it can take months of enduring more losses while waiting for a court to decide to hear your case. the judges in housing court can be totaly unsympethetic to a landlords problems...
to be fore warned is to be fore armed thats all i can say... for those who have never done it they dont realize the pitfalls..im only making them aware...if they choose to do it then at least they know the potential pitfalls.
would i do it? nope! and i have been landlording for 25 years and did very well at it...
Perhaps you own entire apt buildings, which is a different animal entirely from one unit in a coop or condo. That seems perfectly doable to me; as I say, if they have to pass the board it seems like a low risk venture. If they violate the terms of the lease, they can be evicted by the board. Seems pretty no muss, no fuss to me.
Now if you're a major landlord of a whole bldg, then I can see where you're coming from. That can be a major headache; you have to pay for heat, utilities, and repairs; put up with delinquent/problematic tenants, etc etc. But I don't think the op is in that situation, and neither am I.
Wherever I choose to live, I want to own property in NYC. I have the option to sublet my co-op and potential tenants must go through the same screening as owners. My folks sold a house in Queens in 2000 and moved out of state, and watched houses double in value over the next six years. We kick ourselves and say, who knew? We couldn't see it coming. So with that said, I will do whatever I can to keep a property in NYC. I would love to live in a Latin American country during some of my retirement years and I hope to travel this year to do a language immersion to check things out.
I've started to think about where I will live in my retirement years since I'm slightly past mid-career. Also, given that living in NYC is very expensive for the average working person, it will be even harder on a fixed income. I believe in forward planning and am toying with a few ideas.
I could ...
Sell my apt (good location - 20 min from midtown) and buy a house in a cheaper neighborhood, "locking in" my monthly payment so that I'm not at the mercy of rent, co-op maintenance or condo association fee increases. I could also rent part of the house to generate income.
Some info:
-Schools are a non-issue
-Need full access to basic services (supermarkets, banks, hospitals, pharmacies, doctors, etc.) via public transportation
-Safety and low density/low noise are a top priority
-I don't like neighborhoods with hi-rise apartments
-Nearby parks/open space would be nice for walking pets, bike riding, walks
I would prefer to be away from the hustle-bustle. Been there, done that. I have already unplugged myself from the corporate matrix and am working at a slower paced job.
Now there's always the option of leaving NYC. In that case my wish list would be the same so places where I must drive are out. Any suggestions?
I know that a lot of people on the forum are young but if anyone is thinking about retirement, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
I definitely won't be going anywhere.I think NYC is a great place for retirement and I think a lot of other people do too.There are lots of retirees selling their houses in the suburbs and buying apartments here.
When I was looking to buy an apartment a few years ago I had all of the things you mention in the back of my head because I see it coming as well.
I know it might sound crazy but it's one of the reasons I moved to The Bronx! I purposely put myself in the position where I am making more money than ever in my life but my housing expenses are less than they have been in decades while I am actually in the biggest apartment in the nicest building.I have a park view,The NY Botanical Garden is across the street and absolutely everything is within a couple of blocks including the subway and express bus.I found a quiet,peaceful little oasis that is only a few blocks from everything.
I am hoping to pay off the loan on my apt completely before retirement comes so I will only have a very modest maintenance.
we already bought a home in the pocono's to retire to ..... our plan is to give up the nyc place, be at the house in the poconos from april to nov and to rent somewhere different for the winter every year......
nyc is just to costly for us to live the lifestyle we want ... there is noooooooooo place like nyc ill say that.... origionally we were going to retire next year but i put that on hold because of a new business venture im doing... however with the thought of leaving my wife and i started taking advantge of all the things our wonderful city offers ,although at a price.........
just for the heck of it i looked at what the last golden tenant that went bad cost us..
it took 3 months with her stalling to get thru the process ,that was
4500 in rent lost plus she owed 3,000 in back rent... 7500.00 in lost income
1000.00 for legal fees
co-op maintaince paid was 3500.00
repairs and renovations from damage and also age 7,000
i had to wait for the board meeting to approve my next tenant so another 1500.00 in rent lost and another 700 in co-op maintance paid........
i luckily didnt have a mortgage to pay ...
but thats just an idea about how it can go in nyc when things go badly..
thats a tough nut to swallow in retirement for all but very few.......
Perhaps you own entire apt buildings, which is a different animal entirely from one unit in a coop or condo. That seems perfectly doable to me; as I say, if they have to pass the board it seems like a low risk venture. If they violate the terms of the lease, they can be evicted by the board. Seems pretty no muss, no fuss to me.
Now if you're a major landlord of a whole bldg, then I can see where you're coming from. That can be a major headache; you have to pay for heat, utilities, and repairs; put up with delinquent/problematic tenants, etc etc. But I don't think the op is in that situation, and neither am I.
just so you know they cant be evicted by the board... the board can only request that you start eviction preceedings in court to get them out for breaking terms as they are your sub tenant in a co-op... ONLY COURTS CAN EVICT .by the way not all co-op's allow renting .... you have to make sure you can if your in a building and want to do that.
we only own apartments,not the building.....actually my wifes family were builders... they were elliot spitzers dads partner in a few projects....
her family would take a small stake in some of these ventures by taking a number of apartments.
one of the ventures was the 200 central park south building which turned out decades later to be one of the top buildings in manhattan....... how many times does luck like that happen in life ha ha ha..
i was already an investor myself so it worked out well for us..
non the less nothing i want to deal with in retirement, but thats just me....
Last edited by mathjak107; 06-10-2010 at 08:13 AM..
I am definetely out of here. NY weather sucks big time.
headed for Palm Springs, heaven on earth !!!
and counting the days....
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