Real EstateDiscuss Real estate investments, home improvements, decorating etc.
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So I'm interested in purchasing a new pad. I've been looking all over the place, and have seen quite a few nice places lately, but found myself in a pickle.
Out of all the places I looked... My favorite place happened to be an apartment on the Jersey shore. The apartment is gorgeous, it's a penthouse, about 2,200 sq ft 2br/2ba plus a 700sq ft private rooftop deck with ocean and lakeviews from every single window. The quality and workmanship is unbelievable. It's got so much character, exposed brick, huge windows, 16 foot ceilings, etc. Maintenance and taxes are pretty low as well.
Now my problem....
This apartment isn't exactly in the greatest area. The area was once a gorgeous place, with a lot of history. However, over the past decade, it has become a pretty dangerous ghetto area. As of the past 5 years, there has been a lot of eminent domain taking place, and they have been rebuilding the city tremendously. In the downtown part of the city, it is absolutely stunning. Everything is cleaned up, and beautiful apartments are going up left and right. On the outskirts of the downtown area there are beautiful fixed up Victorian homes.
Okay... so whats the real problem?
The real problem is that this town has become one of the hottest/largest communities for gay and lesbians. Everywhere you go in the city there are rainbow flags out of apartment windows, store fronts, etc. The community really does a great job making the city shine, and they're definitely a large reason to the comeback of this city. Now I am no homophobe at all, at least I don't think I am. I have friends who are gay, and I'm perfectly fine with it however recently I found myself in an awkward situation.
I recently went to look at the unit with my parents. We met up with the realtor who represents the property, and he showed us every little inch of it. Now keep in my mind I am a single 23 year old, and for a long time girls have been a big hobby of mine... My parents are well aware of my little hobby and wanted to hear the realtors opinion on the night life, so they danced around saying "Are there a lot of young girls out at the bars here?". However the realtor went the complete opposite way with it and said " Don't worry... Your son will love that he can just walk outside his apartment and meet a million single men".
When he said this, my parents and I started laughing pretty hard, but then we thought that maybe he was gay, and we didn't want to offend him. So we kept quiet and didn't correct him. So after my parents kept asking if what had happened bothered me, and if I want this new place I need to understand that things like this will happen and I have to be able to take it. I figured that I didn't care because obviously I love women, and that's not something I need to prove....
Today - I met up with another realtor, a young pretty chick, to look around Hoboken, which is right outside Manhattan. Its a great place, I lived there before and its all young singles. It's so much fun. Prices are way more expensive for instance taxes are on average about 8k more a year. However, apartments cannot compare to what I had seen on the shore. Even apartments in Hoboken that I looked at for close to $2m couldn't compare... The realtor had asked me if I had looked anywhere else lately, and I told her about the other place I saw. When I told her she made a comment and said " Figures, all the good ones are gay!" Ironically I was flirting with her and joking with her all day, so when she said this, it caught me off gaurd and got under my skin. So I told her that I wasn't gay, and she claimed she knew and said it as a joke, but I'm not sure anymore. In fact, its driving me crazy because the apartment was so amazing and I think I want it, but not if everyone I meet is going to think I'm gay once I tell them where I live!
So I've been discussing it with my father, and a few of his friends since they are big into real estate and here is the negatives vs positives.
Negatives: It is a gay community. People may assume I'm gay at first. The city still needs some work before it's perfectly nice.
Positives: The apartment is incredible. Price and taxes are good. Girls will take their pants off at the door as they walk in, and realistically I see it as being a great investment, as does everyone else. There is a college campus (that is loaded with beautiful girls, and I have pretty high standards) less than 2 miles away. They are investing so much money into the city, there is no way it can fail. My father figures within 3-5 years the city will be the hottest spot on the Jersey shore, and ultimately in 5 years this apartment can be worth more than triple its current value. Finally, the most prestiguous cities in the United States went through the same evolutions to get where they are... Ghetto to Gay to $$$$: South Beach, San Fransisco, Meat Packing Industry, Soho, the Village, etc...
What would you guys do?
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As a real estate investor, nothing makes me happier then gay men moving into a neighborhood that I own property in. It almost always means that the neighborhood is on the upswing. I will buy in a heart beat in a neighborhood that is a little dillapitated but see signs of gay couples moving in. Within a couple of years it will be the hottest area in the town/city.
As a real estate investor, nothing makes me happier then gay men moving into a neighborhood that I own property in. It almost always means that the neighborhood is on the upswing. I will buy in a heart beat in a neighborhood that is a little dillapitated but see signs of gay couples moving in. Within a couple of years it will be the hottest area in the town/city.
^^I 2nd this. You have a chance to actually make some money in real estate. Get in before it hot and ride the wave. San Fransico has a massive Gay/Les population, but it doesn't mean that everyone you meet that finds out you live in SF thinks you're gay. I think if you pass on this apt, you'll look back and when it's much too late and realize you've made a pretty bit error.
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Go for it. I live next to Collingswood, NJ, which is also known as a gay-friendly community. They have great restaurants, great street fairs, and I never thought my friend was gay just because he moved there.
The other plus with gay guys is that they like to decorate, so they keep the property looking nice
I am planning to move to the Palm Springs area in California soon. In the past, I lived a long time in NJ (Essex and Morris counties) and I never thought of NJ as a gay-friendly place. I guess everything is relative.
What the hell? Who cares! It'll be pimp living in a gay/les area but being straight. Shows you are a MAN who is confident in himself. Plus it gives you something to talk about and have little 'play fights' over with the girls.
I live near a gay-friendly area as well (New Hope, PA) and go to school at a liberal arts university that used to be all female. There are a ton of gay guys there and it's still 75% female. Straight guys are a rare sight and that being the straight single girls FLOCK to us. I mean picking up girls is almost done by just waking up that day and walking to class. It's pretty rediculous actually. I know this doesn't have much with real estate or investment but it does have to deal with continuous systematic contact with the gay community. Oh and they are majorily a very kind group of people! (there are still *******s in every group though.) I'd say go for it! Good luck!
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As a real estate investor, nothing makes me happier then gay men moving into a neighborhood that I own property in. It almost always means that the neighborhood is on the upswing. I will buy in a heart beat in a neighborhood that is a little dillapitated but see signs of gay couples moving in. Within a couple of years it will be the hottest area in the town/city.
I agree 100%, gays started moving into my neighborhood about 10 years ago and the property values and home prices went way up.
Apartment rents started climbing and priced all the scum out. Even in this economy the prices in my neighborhood have stayed pretty stable.
"They are investing so much money into the city, there is no way it can fail. My father figures within 3-5 years the city will be the hottest spot on the Jersey shore, and ultimately in 5 years this apartment can be worth more than triple its current value."
As a guy finishing up a Masters in Real Estate Development, I gotta hear the math that makes this possible. I don't think the fact that it's in a "gay" area hurts your appreciation chances at all, but i think you have to be realistic that resi prices pretty much anywhere on the East Coast may have a while to go before they hit bottom. If you want an asset that may triple in value in five years, buy discounted senior mortgage backed debt. If it performs, sell the note at full value, if it defaults, you end up with the property at a significant discount.
sorry but coming from different country, i dont really see how it's the "jackpot" as far as investment is concerned. i guess that's just how it works in the US but does anyone care to briefly (if possible) explain what this is about? i feel like there's something really important that i am missing.
thanks!
ABSOLUTELY not gonna happen. Please do not make any buy decision based on this ridiculous advice.
I actually think I'm passing on the apartment because I'm not sure I can handle it. However based on the towns surrounding it, this is what happened in every one of them. They did eminent domain in one of them for the past 5 years and now its hard to find an apartment under a million. A lot of it has to do with the community of people, who are developing it as well.
Real estate as been overpriced for years and now it is unwinding EVERYWHERE. This does not happen overnight, and unlike a liquid stock market, real estate cycles do not shoot back up after a bottom is finally reached.... this takes years to get back going in the right direction.
Eminent domain is an interesting situation of course, but there is no guarantee that will continue to happen.
Glad you decided to not to buy. Be patience. Prices are still declining.
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