All Forum Posts by: Johann Jells

When I look at what's on the rental market it seems like asking prices are simply all over the place! Last summer and fall I had to drop rents up to 17% for a small 1BR, trying to get a gauge on what's going on for my big 2BRs. Thoughts?

On the plus side, older properties were MUCH better built than they are today! My area is a mix of brownstones and high rises, and people living in the new construction are always complaining of noise and crappy quality.

Sounds high but you're in the trade and I guess you know your market. I've never had to separate electric but I've had to bring up new risers to apartments with one circuit and break up the wiring into a number of separate circuits. A lot depends on how it's set up and how creative you and the electrician can be with fishing through the walls. 

 I agree, but I'd still hate to be holding commercial office space. Could be major conversions to residential like happened on Wall Street.

2010 Odyssey & 2012 Soul. The latter is the only car I've ever bought new, and that was because 'cash for clunkers' had messed up the used market. I'm a city boy, and never confused what I drive for my identity.  I DIY most maintenance & my wife accuses me of dressing like I was homeless. I get a kick out of making bank deposits looking like that and seeing how solicitous they get when they see my balance.

My standard rant on "utilities Included" is that the cost isn't what you pay, it's the difference between what you pay and what's built into the rent.  That said, I bet separating electric is pretty feasible, far more than plumbing. Separating heat depends on a a lot of factors.

More actual numbers. 

For the four federal fiscal years that ended Sept. 30, 2018, the most recent numbers available, Kentucky got $148 billion more from the federal government than the Bluegrass State sent to Washington.

Meanwhile, New Jersey got $71.7 billion less than it sent, and New York got $116.2 billion less.

https://www.washingtonpost.com...

NY and KY get roughly the same military spending, around $11B. So no, it's not a discrepancy of military spending, not that I could find a study that even included military spending. The "dependency" narrative that @patrick m is pushing is all in the direction of the Red states.

Here's more great analysis

https://rockinst.org/issue-are...

https://wallethub.com/edu/states-most-least-dependent-on-the-federal-government/2700#

Don't bother asking good ole Patrick for actual facts. He's in a fact free 'death to cities' fantasy land. Besides, Miami will be in it's own existential struggle against the rising sea before long. Already they have 'clear sky' flooding of the streets during normal spring tides.

Ah, yes, of course, fake news.

"It is really amazing how difficult it is to get someone to say thank you for several billions of dollars."

This is something we can agree on, except that its trillions over many decades, much of it transferred from urban states to places like  "Kentucky, New Mexico and West Virginia", none known for economy dominating military presence, and certainly no more than NY, NJ or CA which also have significant bases. You present no data whatsoever, just a gut feeling that my public data MUST be wrong and urban poor MUST be taking your money!

There, fixed it for you. I bring up McConnell simply because he's such a massive hypocrite. You are still in denial about which way the cash flows. The rural states simply do not generate the federal taxes, the money flowing to urban areas is taxes they have generated and money borrowed to be paid off by taxes they will generate in the future.

 NJ is 2nd to last in taxes paid to aid received back. Look at the actual numbers to see how much more federal money NJ would have to get to just break even.  https://www.njspotlight.com/20...

Federal spending in New Jersey versus taxes paid this year comes to $0.82 on the dollar. Our payments were $119 billion and our receipts were $98 billion, a gap of $21 billion. Only New York was slightly worse. Other “losers” include Connecticut and Massachusetts. Forty-one other states had a positive ratio, with some states receiving more than $2.3 for every dollar they paid in federal taxes — such states as Kentucky, New Mexico and West Virginia.