$150k plus $700/month for 175 square feet
December 16th, 2009 | by mbhunter |Makes me wonder: If I were to ask a New Yorker about the real estate collapse, they might tell me, “Real estate what?”
Tough Money Love commented on Zaarath and Christopher Prokop’s postage-stamp real estate purchase: a 175-square-foot “microstudio” apartment, secured for the cool price of $150,000 plus a $700+/month maintenance fee. He didn’t really know what to make of it. Is it sad, stupid, or genius?
I’m not from the City, but this is still stupid. Why, of all places to live, do people choose the most expensive city in the US, and the 8th most expensive city in the world, to call home? Where is the advantage of paying off a home in two years (as the Prokops expect to do), if there’s still a $700/month maintenance fee tacked on? That’s $4 per square foot, per month, after the mortgage is paid off!
What’s more, they don’t cook. Their clothes are stored in the kitchen cabinets. Now, I can see the appeal of dejunking a bit, but no pantry? That’s a very expensive, and likely unhealthy, way to nourish themselves, and it makes them terribly vulnerable to anything that could disrupt their ability to eat out. In sacrificing their space, they also sacrifice their ability to be independent and self-sufficient.
There have to be better ways to live than this.
4 Responses to “$150k plus $700/month for 175 square feet”
By Katharine on Dec 16, 2009 | Reply
I feel like they should be able to rent a micro-studio for $700 a month.
By Claire at Saving Money Plan on Dec 16, 2009 | Reply
There is no doubt that their lifestyle is not economically “smart” if we’re talking about saving money.
On a random note – I found it interesting that in their apartment they appeared to have *no* books!
By Bargain Junkie on Dec 17, 2009 | Reply
I agree that this does not seem like a sound investment, although I sympathize with anyone who will sacrifice to live in The Big Apple. No other city in the world offers the excitement, the diversity, the culture that New York provides. I transplanted to L. A. many years ago, and still miss Manhattan every day.
My son and his wife finally realized that they could not find anything spacious and affordable in NY, so they are buying a condo just across the river in Jersey City. At least it has views of Manhattan, so they won’t feel totally deprived!
By Aryn on Dec 20, 2009 | Reply
What most concerned me was the fact that they store most of their clothes at the dry cleaner. Their dry cleaning bills must be huge! They crow about paying off their mortgage in two years, but how much are they spending on eating out and dry cleaning?