By Kim Velsey 5/25/12 4:28pm

Wealthy Europeans

France: get out while you still can (Celine Aussourd, flickr)

Rich French Residents Flee Tyrannical Taxes, Seek Shelter in New York

Mon Dieu! Rather than redecorating their chateaus or contemplating the new Chanel collection, the French elite must now find places to stash their cash, now that the people have gone and elected that terrible Socialist François Hollande.

The taxman cometh, reports The New York Times, and wealthy Gauls are not standing around waiting for him to take their hard-earned euros. Non! Instead, the French are rushing to spend their money on Manhattan real estate. Read More

By Kim Velsey 10:22am

More Rubles Than You Know What To Do With

Time to buy an apartment (ermakov, flickr)

The Russians Are Coming! (For Our High-End Real Estate)

Buyers are already starting to despair when it comes to finding ultra high-end New York properties, especially after casino king Steve Wynn reportedly snagged the $77.5 million duplex penthouse at the Ritz-Carlton.

And in the future, the market may get even tighter for buying-crazed billionaires, with a new crop of Russians and Ukrainians eager to snap up trophy properties, a new CNBC video warns. Read More

By Rachel R. White 5/09/12 10:55am

Arrangements

(Getty Images)

Home Invasion! How Old Is Too Old for Roommates?

When Michelle, a writer working on a first novel, tells people her husband, Daniel, is a hedge fund manager, they often remark, “Oh, honey, you did well.” And she did. The recently married pair live in a large dazzling loft in Dumbo. They currently rent, though they’ve started looking at places to buy and are Read More

By Kim Velsey 4/30/12 10:38am

Bad Behavior

Buying an apartment can end in a bloodbath (Polina Sergeeva, flickr)

Please Leave the Gun at Home When Buying a Home: Real Estate Closings Can Be A Real Nightmare

Sure, you might bring a shrewd mindset and a few inflexible demands to an apartment closing, but a revolver?

Some people do, The New York Times reports, in a story on acts of violence, temper tantrums and shouted threats that accompany some closings in the brutal world of New York real estate.

Is it laying out all of one’s savings and then some that drives people over the edge? Not really, the reporter finds. Mostly, it’s the little things. Read More

By Foster Kamer 4/25/12 5:50pm

PAT KIERNAN

tumblr_lhlnffabhO1qcruxf

NY1 Anchor Pat Kiernan Moving to Williamsburg, is a Baller

Residents of North Brooklyn’s 11211 area code who also happen to be part of the local cult-fanbase of NY1 anchor Pat Kiernan, your moment has come. Not only is Kiernan going to be on Live! With Kelly again next week, and not only is he profiled in tomorrow’s Thursday Styles (wherein “an abiding love” for Pat is declared that which makes one a “real New Yorker”), but yes:

Pat Kiernan is moving to Williamsburg. Read More

By Michael Ewing 3/15/12 2:35pm

The Rent

Affordable housing? (Turduckern/Flickr)

Five Borough Living Actually Kinda Cheap (By Certain Measures)

The National Low Income Housing Coalition published their “Out of Reach 2012: America’s Forgotten Housing Crisis” report this week. The report, in short, calculates the required hourly wages (at 40 hours a week and 52 weeks a year) to sustain a two bedroom apartment. The report surveyed hundreds of counties, metropolitian areas, and cities across the United States, and then our buen vecino Puerto Rico.

Keep in mind that the report also stipulated that an affordable two bedroom apartment is 30 percent of your monthly income. Here are some interesting breakdowns (in hourly wages at 2080 hours a year). Read More