Comments on: Making Your Landlord Rich?

By: Mike Martin

Mike Martin — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:24:59 +0000

It’s true. I lived in an illegal basement apartment in Cambridge for a while, and without Central Square — well, there’s no way in hell. I don’t have The Plough and Stars or bluegrass at the Can Tab or 5 different Indian lunch buffets right out my front door…but I have off street parking, and a shed, and a garden, and a real dining room….

By: SF bound Dave

SF bound Dave — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:31:54 +0000

Hey Mike,

Yeah, the bay area has its charms and we’ll be sampling them a bit later this year. At least it will be sunnier!

I’ve been thinking about a real-estate “truth” that I keep encountering in cities — I think the amount one cares about minor differences between neighborhoods (e.g. Castro vs. Haight in SF) is inversely proportional to the similarity of the living quarters to those the person really wants. When you live in a closet, the neighborhood matters more?

Whaddya think?

By: mike.martin

mike.martin — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:47:33 +0000

Arlingtonian — I hated having roommates when I was 18; the stupid drama and conflict is not worth the break in rent. At 35, I would tolerate a non-romantic roommate who was dead, or possibly in a coma…. But you have a point. I’m going to try to do an article on making friends via Craig’s List in your new area. Beverly and Salem are both real PLACES, though — they aren’t suburbs or cul-de-sacs or bedroom communities (at least not down here in South Beverly). Salem is more urban and racially diverse, but — hey — people TALK to each other here, instead of pulling on their ipods and pretending they’re alone like they do down in Boston.

By: mike.martin

mike.martin — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:39:41 +0000

Shorty, hot Subaru drivers aside, I worry that the 30-somethings I know who are living like 20-somethings are going to be broke, bitter 40-somethings. It’s time to build a nest egg, and real estate (and the tax breaks) are the right way to do it. Work out $700 per month — a normal rent for 1 room in a 3 bedroom in Jamaica Plain — over 10 years. That can be equity in something you own, or it can be your landlord’s Escalade. Fight the power.

By: mike.martin

mike.martin — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:34:53 +0000

Ilsa — yeah, SF rents are every bit as bad as Boston. I lived in Pittsburgh for a while, though…it’s cheap for a reason. These goofy tax refund checks aren’t going to keep the poorer parts of the country out of a recession — withdrawing from collapsing job markets and heading for the coast isn’t a bad gamble, if you can pull it off. Good luck.

By: One o' your Arlingtonian friends

One o' your Arlingtonian friends — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 03:37:03 +0000

Hmmm, ’tis better to cling with roommates than to cling in a town on one’s own?

By: Shorty

Shorty — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 00:21:44 +0000

Hmmm….but my ridiculously expensive neighbourhood is filled with hot girls driving Subarus and I can bike to to work. Trump that Beverly boy.

By: Ilsa

Ilsa — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:05:31 +0000

Great site! Now that we are relocating to the Bay Area, real estate is DEFINITELY on my mind. I can’t believe I am moving from a four-bedroom house in Pittsburgh for which we pay a mortgage of $800 a month to renting a dinky 2 bedroom apartment in San Fran for $2800 a month.

Maybe I can talk Dave into moving to Mass. instead