Real estate investment possibility

[Pointedstick]

A million dollars plus 3 and a half grand a month for 488 square feet without a bedroom. For the unmarried workaholic who makes so much money that they're never home, yet finds it crucially important that the location of their bed be in a beautiful highrise.

[Libertarian666]

A million dollars plus 3 and a half grand a month for 488 square feet without a bedroom. For the unmarried workaholic who makes so much money that they're never home, yet finds it crucially important that the location of their bed be in a beautiful highrise.

So then I can sign you up for the group purchase where we all kick in 10% of that as a VP investment, right?

[Bean]

Even though this investment is nuts, these prices will probably stick in NYC.

On a general note, I love real estate as an investment.  They are not making any more of it.  But I loathe renting it from the government via taxes.

[annieB]

Made most of my retirement money from rental real estate bought at auctions,bank REO departments,etc.
Wouldn't buy unless it would cash flow soon with better management.Finally got enough properties to hire a management company to do the day to day management.Financing is hard to get on these properties so when the market went nuts in 2005-2006,I sold everything.Lucky call.

[MediumTex]

How do you short something like this?

Couldn't you live more cheaply in a nice hotel?

[Coffee]

Made most of my retirement money from rental real estate bought at auctions,bank REO departments,etc.
Wouldn't buy unless it would cash flow soon with better management.Finally got enough properties to hire a management company to do the day to day management.Financing is hard to get on these properties so when the market went nuts in 2005-2006,I sold everything.Lucky call.

I can't figure out (on paper) how to make single family houses cash flow, even with the note paid off.  Once you factor in the maintenance, including eventual roof and AC replacement plus all the rest-- it always seem to make more sense to just buy an index fund.

Unless you're lucky enough to win the real estate lotto and buy into a fast appreciating market.

[annieB]

That is a good observation.i stayed away from single family as the maintenance and turnover costs were much higher.Perhaps the hedge funds can buy at such deep discounts that they can make it work.

[sophie]

Wow.  That's crazy, even for Manhattan.  Nothing like negative cash flow for years to come to make this really attractive.  Makes me want to go check it out next time I'm down there, although I'm really tired of seeing "Trump" stamped on buildings, ice rinks etc everywhere you look.

[Ad Orientem]

How do you short something like this?

Couldn't you live more cheaply in a nice hotel?

That depends on how you define "nice hotel." In Manhattan people think differently than most of us.

A nice hotel with long term leases...
http://www.waldorftowersresidences.com/gallery/

[MediumTex]

Wow.  That's crazy, even for Manhattan.  Nothing like negative cash flow for years to come to make this really attractive.  Makes me want to go check it out next time I'm down there, although I'm really tired of seeing "Trump" stamped on buildings, ice rinks etc everywhere you look.

Any time I see "Trump" stamped on anything, I feel like our society is one step closer to the world of "Idiocracy."

Donald Trump is, to me, the purest expression of buffoonery in the human form that any of us are ever likely to see.

[sophie]

In Manhattan people think differently than most of us.

You can't be serious!!!!!  I assure you my thought processes are not so drastically different from yours.  Maybe you meant the uber-wealthy folks for whom such places are intended?  There are plenty of them outside of Manhattan.  Go check out Beverly Hills or Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles, for starters.

[jacob_h]

The value of this real estate is not the square footage, but a very important intangible amenity.

Related: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-09-3 ... oom-ending

So, let's say you are a wealthy foreigner with some questionably acquired money in a country where it may be excessively taxed or confiscated.  You can buy and hold expensive American real estate (even though it is a small studio apartment) for a few years, resell it for basically the same price, and get squeaky clean money back as a result.

I wonder if there is an arbitrage opportunity for us non-Trumps.  Purchase lower-cost property in a traditional American vacation spot (like Bar Harbor, Maine, or Anchorage, Alaska), convert it to ultra-luxury, and market it to the same audience with the angle that they can buy property in a location where it would be fun to actually get-away and vacation.