It's All Relative (.001% related)

I guess I was just reminded that I'm poor?

Was at a buddy's house tonight--3BR apt in 'that' section of town. He bought it last year, and for some reason Mrs. Rutecki immediately looked it up on Streeteasy when we got home (we're moving so she got used to constantly being on that site). Sale price for his place was pushing eight figures (average apt price here--average is a 2BR--is now over 1mm, if there is any perspective to be gained in this).

Guess I can't even pretend to be surprised anymore (well, I was a little surprised, as I don't follow prices for those types of places--my guess woulda been a little over half what he paid, especially since it's only on the 2nd floor), but I wonder where this could be leading (especially due to the pressure it puts on all other RE and what that means for people making normal amounts of money who live here).

Granted, it's a really nice apt and pretty spacious, but still...a little hard for me to believe.

You live in Manhattan right? I'm surprised that you are surprised. At some point, housing is not about value and is a complete speculative luxury item. It is worth what someone else will pay for it. What is the difference between a $5mm apartment and and a $10mm apartment? I have no idea.

I thought someone who could afford a 10M apartment was automatically a douchebag 1%er and not worthy of anyones time

where are you moving?

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Originally Posted by Summit

where are you moving?

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To the East Side. To a de-luxe apartment in the sky.

96th Street. You wanna stop by?

Yeah, I'm not really surprised, although I did expect the price tag on this particular apt to be lower. I get that they're all worth whatever someone is willing to pay. Difference between a $5 and $10mm could be just the address, could be an extra few bedrooms, or it obviously could be living in the boroughs (price can easily double for the 'same' apt if you put it in Manhattan).

Brock, I would generally make the same assumption. This dude is a trader from Queens, scrappy, smart guy who went to NYC's best public (competitive admission) HS, Cornell scholarship, and kind of fought the big firms (he started his own) for every dollar he made. Disdains the 'new' trading model that's driving the smaller guys out of the game (I suspect he is one of the last hanging on).

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Originally Posted by iceman

To the East Side. To a de-luxe apartment in the sky.

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When our offer was accepted I called up Mrs. Rutecki and started singing that song to her. We are the Jeffersons. Sort of.

You and Summit are both invited to swing by.

You just don't wanna be that guy left holding the bag back in 2008.

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Originally Posted by Dexter Rutecki

When our offer was accepted I called up Mrs. Rutecki and started singing that song to her. We are the Jeffersons. Sort of.

You and Summit are both invited to swing by.

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Live in maid that talks back to you, and has zero respect, but is funny? Thats kinda cool.... #ballerstatus

This thread needs pictures.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fgZWSZqpjZQ/maxresdefault.jpg

So a $10 million pad puts you in the %.001?

I'm relatively poor, I guess.

Our current house is kind of a dump, small, crappy bathrooms and cheesy wood trim. We probably couldn't even get enough for it to buy a modest house in some tony neighborhood in Seattle proper. Hell, we probably have the cheesiest house in our neighborhood (surrounded by $1m+ horsie farmettes and snazzy designer houses). I guess I should be ashamed of it. But I'm not. It's a choice we made and if someone judges us for it, it's their issue.

A long time ago I decided I wasn't keeping up with the Joneses. I never fit into any of that pecking order bullshit anyway. I'd hate living in Manhattan; Seattle has grown too snotty too.

It's weird how much we focus on image and superficial shit like cars and houses or what one has or with whom one associates and the innert00bs seem to make it worse.

I like keeping some of my good stuff crypto and getting people to think about what I say rather than what I have.

So, excuse the ramble Dex, it's kind of tangential to what you started here. I have to rethink, remember and reassert what I'm trying to do in the face of all this material stuff especially now.

Dex I was being saracstic

It's definitely relative, there are probably people that live no more than 200 miles or so from you that would have the same reaction to your new apartment Lionel. Location, location, location.

A house near me I was interested in 15 years ago for 850k just went back on the market for 3.5M. There's a lot of money and low interest rates out there right now.

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Originally Posted by Dexter Rutecki

I guess I was just reminded that I'm poor?

Was at a buddy's house tonight--3BR apt in 'that' section of town. He bought it last year, and for some reason Mrs. Rutecki immediately looked it up on Streeteasy when we got home (we're moving so she got used to constantly being on that site). Sale price for his place was pushing eight figures (average apt price here--average is a 2BR--is now over 1mm, if there is any perspective to be gained in this).

Guess I can't even pretend to be surprised anymore (well, I was a little surprised, as I don't follow prices for those types of places--my guess woulda been a little over half what he paid, especially since it's only on the 2nd floor), but I wonder where this could be leading (especially due to the pressure it puts on all other RE and what that means for people making normal amounts of money who live here).

Granted, it's a really nice apt and pretty spacious, but still...a little hard for me to believe.

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I'm sure he's not pure

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Originally Posted by Dexter Rutecki

smart guy who went to NYC's best public (competitive admission) HS

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you will get some debate about which one that is, depending on who went where. :D

Old cape I drive by in Thomaston, Maine on Route 1 has dropped its price: 49,900. This house was lived in by the high school shop teacher for years and years. The house is a very old Cape with an attached barn on a street with ship captain mansions up and down the street. Haven't been in, but it has what my mom would call good bones. The biggest draw backs are the house is right on Route 1 which is a parade of traffic-at leas it is in town and the cops are infamous for tickets and it has a small yard. I have not been in it, but it looks ok from the road and had been lived in.

You know relative

^^^How far from the prison?

The only truly happy astoundingly wealthy individual I know of was a friend from high school who started Legendary Pictures.

The finance guys are all miserable cusses who need to get out/downsize but can't/won't.

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Originally Posted by Brock Landers

Dex I was being saracstic

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Yeah, I figured, but your point is generally probably true. Unfortunately (you'd think the moneyed dudes could be a little nicer/happier).

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Originally Posted by Danno

you will get some debate about which one that is, depending on who went where. :D

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Ha, but if you're not a Pegleg you're wrong! Actually, I always felt it was more clear-cut a long time ago. Now there are more of those schools and different cases to be made.

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Originally Posted by iceman

^^^How far from the prison?

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You mean where the bankers should live?

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Originally Posted by Stu Gotz

The only truly happy astoundingly wealthy individual I know of was a friend from high school who started Legendary Pictures.

The finance guys are all miserable cusses who need to get out/downsize but can't/won't.

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So just by happenstance I know a number of guys who make the guy I described look poor (again, all things being relative), and I'm not sure I'd say this is the case. Who knows what demons they actually have, but the billionaire guy seems happily oblivious to nearly everything, at times, and the only one who I know is miserable would likely be miserable regardless of income. Given that the one year for which I actually know his compensation he was more highly paid than any MLB player you'd think he could figure out some way to 'buy' a little happiness, but he literally has depression issues and nothing seems to help him (has a great family, too, but still miserable for some reason). (I mean, I don't really believe you can 'buy' happiness, and obviously clinical depression doesn't favor any income bracket, but it's hard not to think that with that amount of money you couldn't figure out a way to have some fun most of the time.)

Buster, I hear you, but it's all just what you make of it. Even in Manhattan if you don't pay attention to it then it almost doesn't exist. In some ways I think the anonymity you can enjoy here almost makes that easier.

Kinda goes without saying and I know you are on the same page, but the house doesn't matter, it's who is living inside the house with you that makes all the difference. I think you're in the .001% in that respect, so, you know.

I'm still not sure what this thread is about, but I was hoping Benny would chime in with his perspective on schadenfreude. He must be otherwise occupied today.

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Originally Posted by iceman

^^^How far from the prison?

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Originally Posted by Dexter Rutecki

You mean where the bankers should live?

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Well if the bankers should live in the prison in Thomaston Maine, I guess so, yes.

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Originally Posted by Dexter Rutecki

Ha, but if you're not a Pegleg you're wrong! Actually, I always felt it was more clear-cut a long time ago. Now there are more of those schools and different cases to be made.

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I'm not, though I could have been had I wanted to be! You can probably tell where I went (though I couldn't begin to tell you what the mascot/team name is).

Honestly, it was a good school filled with lots of smart kids (and a few dumb ones), but I went to a private middle school, and that was way harder. Always was grateful, however, for the national name recognition/reputation of my high school!

I know several people who are worth $10 mil plus. The ones who work in finance are all not as happy as they probably should be, and work too much to enjoy the money. It's ridiculous.

The ones I know as former co-workers at a tech company that went IPO in the early 2000's are all pretty happy as far as I can tell. I think part of the deal there is, walking away is part of the process in that industry. One friend of mine made over $25 million from the deal and now he works part time as a pilot for American. Not because he needs the money obviously, but he wanted to fly some larger aircrafts than the smaller two planes he owns. He's doing it right for sure!

I just want to say Maine is open for business to put your bankers in our prisons.