Thank you, Josh, for inviting me to join the Biggerpockets.com blog community! And I also wanted to congratulate him on his recent nuptials & honeymoon to Thailand & Hong Kong. I’ve spent some time there myself, & they are such amazing places to visit, Thailand with its exquisite beaches & Hong Kong with its fast-paced vitality. Speaking of fast-paced, vital cities, I’m writing from New York. Love it or hate it, there’s always something happening here! It’s fun to be living here, & although the competitive nature of the place gets to me sometimes, I still can’t imagine living anywhere else.

New York City has probably led the country in the real estate run-up, & though many say that prices are softening, I don’t really see all that much of it. Maybe the bidding wars of years past have subsided somewhat, but prices here can still take your breath away. There’s still a lot of new construction going on, & those prices are still astounding. Here’s 2 examples of some family-size apartments in these new developments that I have personally looked at for my family of 4:

170 East End Avenue: Apt. 12 B (3 BR, 2,716 sq. ft.) at $5,395,000

310 East 53^rd St.: Apt. 11C (3BR, 2,313 sq. ft.) at $3,550,000

Both are beautiful, glass-encased beauties, with the one in midtown (E. 53rd St.) slightly priced better, probably because of its midtown location, a less residential area that is further away from most schools. The developments downtown in the financial district are priced even better, but who wants to spend the whole day in transportation in getting the kids to and from school?

Of course, when my husband & I visited the sales offices for the properties listed above, our eyes sort of just glazed over. They are so far from what we are able to afford, but yet as middle-class citizens of Manhattan, is it so ridiculous for us to be interested in a nice, new 3BR apartment? The answer, unfortunately, is yes. Meanwhile, we retreat to the comforts of our cramped rental apartment & the search continues….

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Tags: city, estate, manhattan, midtown, New, real, rental, York

I have to admit it when someone comes up with a brilliant idea, and I just read about someone who definitely did that! John Keith of the Boston Real Estate Blog put me on to a story in the New York Times about a graduate student named Julie Hampton, who bought an Italian villa using her sheer genius!

In order to buy the $82,000 Italian home, she convinced 60 people to give her $1,000 in return for a three-week stay there (not all 3 weeks had to be used at one time), and used $12,000 from a retirement account, a $6,000 loan from her parents and $8,000 in loans from her credit union to cover the rest. “She found a lawyer willing to help her create a limited-liability company and draw up simple legal arrangements for the transactions that would implement her plan . . . She also put a six-line classified ad in The New York Times Travel section for four weeks at $270 a week.”

I realize that many people use both family and loans for financing, but I love the concept of offering time in exchange for funds to make a down-payment on that vacation home you always wanted. Good for her. Florence, Italy is absolutely beautiful, and I’m sure the little town of Vitiana, Italy, where her villa is located, is stunning as well!

I wonder how long it would take me to raise the millions I need for that private island I always wanted . . . hmmm.

Tags: creative, estate, financing, Florence, home, Italy, real, rental, vacation, villa, Vitiana