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My Rent is So Cheap My Landlord is losing money!


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2012 Apr 19, 8:26am   26,581 views  60 comments

by BoomAndBustCycle   ➕follow (1)   💰tip   ignore  

I don't rent anymore..

But I see a lot of people constantly bragging about paying dirt cheap rent for a decade without any rent increases. Thought I'd make a thread for you to brag. And if you don't mind put down your AREA CODE, so everyone can find the amazing deals in your area on craigslist.

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4   Patrick   2012 Apr 19, 9:08am  

1sfrenter says

Seems like the "you should always rent" crowd

Never met anyone that says "you should always rent". I say you should rent if it costs a lot more to own the same thing. There's a difference.

1sfrenter says

bitter renters who haven't saved any money

Don't think so. Renters are saving lots of money every month around here. I don't know anyone evicted from a rental, but I know two families forced to sell and move because they overpaid when they bought, and a third family that was just on the edge of default.

1sfrenter says

but a 450K house of the same size - which is possible right now - would be about $2100 month (PITI).

Too bad there's NO inventory right now.

So it's possible to buy a house in a place where there is NO inventory?

eclipxe says

We had a 10% rent increase in our building for a lease renewal

Could happen, but in general, rents are not rising much if at all. Check out 94112 where 1sfrenter is:

http://patrick.net/housing/graphs.php?uaddr=94112&v=rents

5   Danaseb   2012 Apr 19, 9:26am  

Only a matter of time for greedy property owners to use this thread to point at rent control that a tiny number of older residents get in small areas as justification for how they have been gouging people. The great American pastime of passing the buck is truly in its golden age.

As for me long time ex renter, every Zip code I've lived in the RBA is full of cardboard studios going for $1500+ a month.

Could not save a dime renting here, I entered the workforce in the mid 00s so earn about half what someone twice my age would doing the same thing back in their day.

6   bmwman91   2012 Apr 19, 9:34am  

Currently paying $1775/month (+$75 in garbage/water/utilities) in 94043 (just off of Middlefield) for a 2BR 1.5BA 2-story unit in a 12-unit building. Our unit is about 950SF. We signed a 12 month lease in July of 2011. Had we looked 2 or 3 months earlier, we would have had the same unit in the same building for $1525, but things got nutty last summer. The current rent is more than I wanted to spend, but my fiancee & I were having a hell of a time finding anything reasonable in the area to begin with. $1775 for the unit we are in is still about $200 less than anything comparable, which does not bode well for the next lease period (higher rent).

Prior to that, we were living in Central Park at Whisman Station, about 4 blocks from where we are now. CP@WS is a huge complex with like 40 buildings. I moved into a room in a 3BR unit and paid $750 in 2008. Thereafter, I moved into another 3BR (2nd floor, end unit, next to pool, one of the 2 best units in the entire place) in summer 2009 and paid $2426 (had roommates and I paid $900 for the master bedroom, my fiancee & I split that amount). In summer 2010, we stayed in the same unit and got them to LOWER our rent to $2312, and added a roommate's GF to save more lol. Well, summer 2011 rolled up, and CP@WS said "$2560, no negotiating." We moved out to our current place, and the unit I had been in got rented to some sucker for a whopping $3400! I think that those units are renting for $2900 as of right now.

7   bubblesitter   2012 Apr 19, 10:09am  

No bragging,but my rent is same for last 4 years and it has decreased from the rental I moved in from. I am in good part of Socal, so can't talk of BA. May be it's time move out of BA if rents are increasing heavily there - I heard Detroit has some no rental fee move ins ready to occupy. LOL.

8   Patrick   2012 Apr 19, 11:02am  

I must also say that my rent is the same as when I moved in 10 years ago. It actually went down for a bit, then back up, but OK, that's not a bad inflation rate overall!

9   drew_eckhardt   2012 Apr 19, 12:09pm  

BoomAndBustCycle says

But I see a lot of people constantly bragging about paying dirt cheap rent for a decade without any rent increases. Thought I'd make a thread for you to brag. And if you don't mind put down your AREA CODE, so everyone can find the amazing deals in your area on craigslist.

Our below market rent ($1250/month 2008-2011 for one bedroom apartment in a triplex near Burgess Park in Menlo Park 94025) was never advertised.

When a tenant moved on the landlord put a sign on his tree with a phone number. It was somewhat dumpy but the landlord didn't object to us fixing it up (remove carpets, refinish underlying hardwood floors, new vinyl in the kitchen, new window coverings totaling $2K for an effective rent of $1300/month) so we ended up with a nice enough but old place that allowed pets. When we wanted to move to escape a bad replacement tenant in the upstairs unit, get more space, and be closer to my office other rents had gotten nutty, we didn't want to buy a place with common walls, stick built single family home prices were still falling, and mobile home purchase prices + slot rent were good.

That's less than $1500/month total cash flow (chattel mortgage, slot rent, insurance including flood and earthquake coverage) before the small tax break for 3/2, 1200 square feet, 1990s construction, central air, a small yard, and a great Sunnyvale location.

2 bedroom apartments at the nearest major intersection were renting for $2100-$2900, town houses were selling for $650K, and 1950s ranch homes needing renovation were $450K+ after their most recent five figure price cuts.

10   cunni123   2012 Apr 20, 12:59am  

Moved to small town in southeast Colorado in 06 to work a little longer. Found a 700 SF two bedroom that was offered for 350 a month. I countered to buy for 18K. Paid 3K down and made 60 payments of 300/month to pay off. Now pay only $140 a year in taxes and monthly utilities including heat that average $170.

Realize none of you would live here due to size of home - which is adequate for one and no tiny house that you see on yahoo and other cheap living blogs - and rural location in town of 1,600.

Boring town yes, but when my car is paid off next year I may just hold this and get a studio in Denver and migrate back and forth during the year to have the variety of rural and city life. Retired now.

11   RentingForHalfTheCost   2012 Apr 20, 1:32am  

Here is my rental history in the bay area

1997-2001, Redwood City, 2br/1ba duplex for 1800/mth, about 600sqft
2001-2003, Los Altos, 2br/2ba cottage for 2500/mth, about 800sqft
2003 bought a weekend home outside of the BA
2003-2004, Los Gatos, 1br/1ba basement appt downton for 1200/mth
2004-2005, Mountain View, studio appt downtown for $800/mth
2005-2008, Fremont, 2bd/1ba for $1100/mth
2008, sold weekend home outside of BA
2009-2012, Foster City, 3bd/2ba SFH for 2900/mth, about 1500sqft

Each place was in a safe area and I never had any trouble at all. I always felts like I was renting much less than I could buy, except for the first few years, where I couldn't buy if I wanted to anyway.

12   appletree12   2012 Apr 20, 1:45am  

I have a hard time finding a rental place in the peninsula. We found a 4 bd/2 bath home in Belmont (94002)- rent is $3700. We submitted an application, provided the full package: copy of credit score, DMV license, bank statement, pay stubs. So did at least 15 other parties at the 1-hour open house. I contacted the agent on how to beat the competition. In a hot rental market, she told me to offer higher rent. I didn't. And obviously, we didn't get selected. We weren't ready to offer $4000/month in rent. At that price, does it make more sense to buy? We're very torn right now, as we can't find a place to rent. The title of this thread says: My rent is so cheap my landlord is losing money.... Where???

13   ducsingle5313   2012 Apr 20, 2:17am  

Area code 94062: unincorporated Redwood City (i.e., Emerald Hills, Palomar Park, etc). 2BR/1BA cottage, 800-900 ft^2 + garage, no immediate neighbors, lots of deer, easy access to Hwy 280, Hwy 101 access isn't bad either. $2100/month including utilities.

I'm single, no kids, and make > $200k/year. So I could afford to buy, but won't until the price/rent ratio makes more sense. If the ratio is still wacky in 2-3 years, I'll seriously consider moving out of the Bay Area.

14   bmwman91   2012 Apr 20, 2:36am  

appletree12 says

In a hot rental market, she told me to offer higher rent. I didn't. And obviously, we didn't get selected. We weren't ready to offer $4000/month in rent. At that price, does it make more sense to buy?

I was sort of in your shoes last year, except that I wasn't looking for a house because my fiancee and I won't pay more than $2k for rent. We have a townhouse apartment now, for $1775 in Mountain View. The rental market went absolutely insane last summer, and most open houses that I went to had throngs of people there waiting. One landlord even said, "money talks." Since all internet listings were like that, I just biked around the neighborhoods I was interested in until I saw "for rent" signs and called. Thankfully, those weren't listed online, so there weren't mobs of people looking.

If you want to live up the Peninsula...I wish you good luck. If you want a HOUSE on the peninsula...I wish you really, REALLY good luck. If you want a house on the peninsula for some sort of reasonable price...there isn't enough luck in the universe for you right now. I would suggest looking either at apartments (which are still going to be in short supply), or somewhere further south. You can choose between losing some time to a commute, or losing a bunch of money on gouged rent.

You don't OFFER higher rent. That's stupid. All it does is show that you are desperate, and you end up with no leverage on anything with your landlord. If you actually ARE desperate to live in a particular place, then well, I guess you have to take your licks. Buying something on the peninsula is going to cost you a lot more than $4k a month, unless you can find a condo. The supply of properties that are move-in ready along there is next to zero if you aren't looking at $1M+ listings (probably $400k for condos).

In a nutshell, the peninsula is just a bad place for people on a middle class income. On the peninsula, a $200k combined income makes you squarely middle class, BTW. My advice is to look elsewhere, or perhaps further WEST around Half Moon Bay or El Granada. You still have to commute, but it is prettier than the Valley's concrete jungle, and a bit more affordable.

15   Betsy   2012 Apr 20, 2:46am  

I have lucked out with rentals. Hubbie and I pay $800/month within a MIL in 98199 (Seattle - Magnolia neighborhood), before this I paid $725 in 98107 (Seattle-ballard) for a duplex. For both, the rent has never increased but I think this is because we fix everything ourselves, and only call the landlord for a real emergency.

The house next door to ours sold in 2010 for too much (over $500k). I have The Tim at Seattle Bubble to thank for finding the rental gems: http://seattlebubble.com/blog/2008/02/25/how-to-use-craigslist-rss-to-find-a-great-rental/

16   RentingForHalfTheCost   2012 Apr 20, 3:14am  

appletree12 says

The title of this thread says: My rent is so cheap my landlord is losing money.... Where???

This one has been on the market since April 12th. Not in Belmont but close by.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/apa/2954535553.html

Finding a rental has some differences than finding a house to buy. It takes checking every morning and being ready to cut out from work and meet the landlord on his timing terms. My last rental I was there about 1hr it was posted on craigslist and had the lease signed before the next person even showed up. You have to be that quick. The landlord just wants someone to take care of his place mostly. Unless they are the greedy type and then they just want the money and you'll probably find yourself in court later with them. I have never had any problems with my landlords. Many have become friends and I am still in touch with them. I understand their side, and they understand and respect mine. Win-win in all my cases.

Also, it has never taken me more than 1 month to find my next rental. Just get into a routine of checking www.housingmaps.com each morning and go from there. Easy peasy.

17   bmwman91   2012 Apr 20, 3:21am  

I second what RFHTC said. When I DID check online listings, it became immediately apparent that I could only consider listings that were posted that day. You need to call the number on the listing within 1 hour if it being posted if you want to try to find something online. I got tired of playing stupid games since EVERYONE tris to find listings online, so I just ended up biking around to find stuff that wasn't listed online. Even those properties went really fast. My advice is to have everything you need for a rental application with you so that you can fill out an application on-the-spot.

The aforementioned townhouse I got in MV happened like that. I called the number on a For Rent sign and was told that the unit was open for viewing at 9AM on that coming saturday. We were in at 9AM, it looked good, and we had the applications filled-out and in the property manager's hand by 9:20AM. As we were leaving, a couple of guys were walking up to check it out, and a young couple was parking at the curb. Thankfully, like most landlords, it was a case of first-come first-served, so the other folks were out of luck.

Anyway, I find this all to be very irritating. The rental situation from 2008-2011 was nothing like this, and I even got my property manager to LOWER my rent in 2010. I don't know if it was because of the house buyer tax credits or what, but the rental market was luke-warm (at best) during that time. Since summer 2011, everything has gone to shit. Rents shot up, and it is hard to find anything (and sadly, it looks like the trend is continuing this year). The ONLY glimmer of hope that I have is in seeing all the band-wagoners jump onto the "rental investment" train. There are a number of large apartment complexes under construction around here, and people are buying houses left & right to try to rent them out. It sounds like the market will be flooded in the next 6 to 12 months. Well, one can only hope.....

20   sera   2012 Apr 20, 3:42am  

Using RentingForHalfTheCost post as a template here is my rental history

2000-2001, Mountain View, 1br/1ba/700sqft . 1600
2001-2002, Mountain View, 1br/1ba/700sqft. 1200
2002-2004, Sunnyvale, 1br/1ba/800sqft. 1150
2004-2005, San Jose, 1br/1ba/800sqft. 1050
2005-2006, San Jose, 2br/2ba/1100sqft. 1350
2007-2008, San Jose, 2br/2ba/1100sqft. 1500
2008-2011, Fremont, 4br/2.5ba/1850sqft, 1800
2012- Fremont, 4br/2.5ba/1850sqft, 1900

21   RentingForHalfTheCost   2012 Apr 20, 3:55am  

sera says

Using RentingForHalfTheCost post as a template here is my rental history

2000-2001, Mountain View, 1br/1ba/700sqft . 1600

2001-2002, Mountain View, 1br/1ba/700sqft. 1200

2002-2004, Sunnyvale, 1br/1ba/800sqft. 1150

2004-2005, San Jose, 1br/1ba/800sqft. 1050

2005-2006, San Jose, 2br/2ba/1100sqft. 1350

2007-2008, San Jose, 2br/2ba/1100sqft. 1500

2008-2011, Fremont, 4br/2.5ba/1850sqft, 1800

2012- Fremont, 4br/2.5ba/1850sqft, 1900

Looks like you have collected more and more stuff. I'm in the same boat, although, I have yet to buy a boat. The days of going back to a 1bd/1ba are long over for me as well. 3/2 is the bare minimum.

22   curious2   2012 Apr 20, 3:58am  

[...]

23   freak80   2012 Apr 20, 4:45am  

God Bless America.

24   mbodell   2012 Apr 20, 11:33am  

2000-2001, Mountain View (94041), 2br/1ba/900sqft. $2500/mth (I paid $1410 for master, room mate paid rest)
2001, Mountain View (94041), 1br/1ba/650sqft. $1100/mth
2002-present, Santa Clara (95054), 1br/1ba/743 sqft. Changed each year: Started at $1500/mth (including utils), then $1525, then $1325, then $1300, then $1300 (not including utils), then $1550, then $1905, then $1500, then $1589, then $1645, now $1720.

25   edvard2   2012 Apr 20, 12:11pm  

We've more or less lucked out. Live in a nice east bay neighborhood, 4 BR house with large yard and garage. We rent with one other housemate who's seldom home. Our part of the rent works out to be $1,100 a month and its been that way for over 9 years. Prior to that I shared a house with a lot of other people. My rent was never more than $500 a month. We're looking at buying now. Renting cheap was perhaps the largest enabler that allowed us to save up a lot of cash and be well-set for buying.

26   thomas.wong1986   2012 Apr 20, 12:42pm  

mbodell says

2000-2001, Mountain View (94041), 2br/1ba/900sqft. $2500/mth (I paid $1410 for master, room mate paid rest)
2001, Mountain View (94041), 1br/1ba/650sqft. $1100/mth
2002-present, Santa Clara (95054), 1br/1ba/743 sqft. Changed each year: Started at $1500/mth (including utils), then $1525, then $1325, then $1300, then $1300 (not including utils), then $1550, then $1905, then $1500, then $1589, then $1645, now $1720.

Yes, many people seemed to forgotten how high rents were back in 1997-2000 and the huge fall after that. Not just in residential but in commercial.. Still very much down since 2000 and very very unlikely to go back up anywhere near 2000 peaks.

27   thomas.wong1986   2012 Apr 20, 12:47pm  

curious2 says

Zoning and planning limit the quantity of new construction in SF especially. SF needs at least 100k more apartments, but the current shortage is very lucrative for landlords and gives politicians more power also.

Things do change, even in SF. Since 2000 we seen many new developements in SF prime. The city is still expanding near the SF Ball Park.. what did it look like before ??? We certainly did have all those towers you see today. Last I saw there was a new building going up near Sutter and Van Ness. Yes, things do change!

28   eclipxe   2012 Apr 20, 2:25pm  

E-man says

eclipxe says

I second this. We had a 10% rent increase in our building for a lease renewal - for a building that will be under extreme construction for most of the next year (mold removal?). Ridiculous.

New APTs went up across the street - 2/2s starting at...$2900

Is this right across from North Park by any chance?

Learn from your victory. Prosper from your failure.

Yep!

29   delete this account   2012 Apr 20, 2:28pm  

Here's my housing history in the Bay Area:

Summer 1980 - 3 of us summer interns split a cheap 3 bedroom apartment within short bicycling distance of IBM for $350/mo. The place was clean but definitely low end. Places that we as college students considered nice were $400+ (that's total not per person).

Summer 1981 - all of us got nice raises and vowed to live in a really nice apartment building this time around, with a plan to spend as much as $450/mo. At the time IBM paid living expenses for summer hires for like 5 days or something while you were looking. By the end of our paid time, we had figured out that the rental market had absolutely gone through the roof in our year absence. We hated to break the bank because we were all frugal but we ended up moving in as the very first tenants ever into a complex in San Jose known as "The Woods". Our 3 bedroom/2ba apt cost us (total) $650/mo, but it was nice and it was eerily cool being the only tenants yet in a new complex for hundreds. The manager couple was pretty nice and let us slide in a few days early, taking sympathy with our plight.

Summer 1982 - summer intern at HP, split half a town house in Sunnyvale with a permanent HP employee for total of $750.

Summer 1983 - summer intern/coop at HP labs in Palo Alto, 4 of us found a 3 br/2ba apartment in Palo Alto off of Los Robles for what I think was $950/mo

Summer 1984 - housing was in desperate short supply, and my other friends already had their situations all settled. A permanent employee at HP labs had an ex-wife looking to share half a small house on Harvard St for $675 each. It killed my budget, but I didn't have any other choices. It was nice to be able to walk to the labs.

Out of area 1985

1986 - finished grad school at went to work for HP in Cupertino. I liked the Palo Alto area but hated to pay for it. My starting engineering salary with an MS from a well respected school and lots of summer experience was $37K. I wanted to live as cheaply as humanly possible to save cash to be done with landlords. I found an absolutely tiny 2Br/1Ba duplex unit in Palo Alto on Alma St S of Oregon. A high school friend was going to grad school at Stanford, so we split the $615/mo rent. It was so noisy and so hard to pull out onto Alma in the morning that I hated the place. After a year, we got a $15/mo rent increase. I was tired of living there anyway, but used the opportunity to pull the plug.

1987 - Moved in with my brother and his wife in the small 3/2 Santa Clara house that they had just purchased for $174K.

1989 - buy the cheapest condo in all of Palo Alto. The Oregon Green complex was built in the early 70's when the units were sold for under $30k apiece. 2Br/1Ba, they had just built the sound wall in front on 101 in front of it which helped but still pretty loud. Listed for $103K, it had sat for 3 months till 3 of us put offers in at the same time. I revised my offer to $108K and my agent pressed to accept before the others had a chance to counter. Buyer took it but later tried to back out when it was clear the PA market was heating up again. 6 months later, my manager bought the same size unit at a better spot in the complex for $157K. He later sold that same unit in 1995 for $112K when the market dipped. Timing is everything.

1999 - bought a small Eichler (1080 sq ft 3/2) in PA listed for $525K. The place was badly in need or remodelling but the low entry price had a lot of interest. The seller accepts my $515K offer. rent out my PA condo for $1350/mo.

2001 - remodel my Palo Alto Eichler dumping in $200K on it with a plan of staying long term. Nice remodel, love the place, subzero fridge, top of the line, redo the radiant heat with new copper, new baths, paint, etc. Finally sell the condo (which I had fixed up with a $30K kitchen in 91) for $315K in Sept 2001. We were in contract without contingencies when 9/11 hit and were a little nervous about the buyer backing out. I see that at the peak, similar units sold for $400K in 2007, but the most recent sales in the complex for 2Br's were for $357K (yes, this is PA not EPA).

2004 - married now, my family is getting too large for our Eichler and my wife and I have been looking every weekend in Palo Alto/ Los Altos Hills for something that we like. No luck until we find a large home set on 7.5 acres in the hills of another peninsula town nearby. The schools turn out to be great we love it here. But the drive up our windy road does wear on me.

We list our nicely remodeled 3/2 1084sq ft house for $920K in 2004. We sell for $997K with 3 offers to an attorney/SW engineer couple. They later do a major remodel to add another 1000 sq ft

Currently looking for a house ideally 4Br/3Ba 2700sq ft on half an acre or so, but inventory is so low. My own house will move slower since its further up the hills. When I sell it, I expect that it will sell for 5-8% less than I paid for it if I put it on today. We shall see.

30   Brent99999   2012 Apr 20, 2:35pm  

When I saw this thread I knew I had to comment as that has happened to me.

I have lived in the same apartment for the last 11 years no rent increase ever. 1 bed 1 bath 550 sq feet most expensive zip code in Boise, ID 83712 and I pay 350.00 a month.

You guys in California must be dying. I can’t imagine paying the kind of money you guys are shelling out.

31   savethepopulation   2012 Apr 20, 3:25pm  

I live south of the border, in a small 2bdrm house.

My rent is $270/month.
Water is $1.50/month.
Electricity is $5/month.
Gas is $10/month.

32   B.A.C.A.H.   2012 Apr 20, 3:30pm  

savethepopulation says

I live south of the border, in a small 2bdrm house.

My rent is $270/month.
Water is $1.50/month.
Electricity is $5/month.
Gas is $10/month.

How much is your wage?

33   Mick Russom   2012 Apr 21, 12:54am  

ducsingle5313 says

If the ratio is still wacky in 2-3 years, I'll seriously consider moving out of the Bay Area.

Same here. No amount of salary can fix the cost of living issues here. Its RSUs, lottery, massive bonus or get away from this place.

34   RentingForHalfTheCost   2012 Apr 21, 4:22am  

E-man says

RentingForHalfTheCost says

2009-2012, Foster City, 3bd/2ba SFH for 2900/mth, about 1500sqft

Why such a big jump in rent and home size? Did you get marry and had kid(s)?

Learn from your victory. Prosper from your failure.

Bingo. Also sold the weekend home so all the toys are now under one roof. :)

35   lurking   2012 Apr 21, 4:26am  

Mick Russom says

If the ratio is still wacky in 2-3 years, I'll seriously consider moving out of the Bay Area.

Same here. No amount of salary can fix the cost of living issues here. Its RSUs, lottery, massive bonus or get away from this place.

Mick, what's taking you so long to leave? Why wait 2-3 years, go now. If you have lived in CA your entire life like I have you know that the BA and Southern CA coastal areas, as well as CA in general have always been very high cost of living areas. If you're a transplant and came here from somewhere else you surely had to know it was a very high cost of living state. It's not going to get less expensive just because you want it to.... Be happy and leave now.

36   thomas.wong1986   2012 Apr 21, 4:29am  

Mick Russom says

Same here. No amount of salary can fix the cost of living issues here. Its RSUs, lottery, massive bonus or get away from this place.

Massive insider stock trading of employer stock...

Stanley Ng Arrested In His Cupertino Home, Charged With Insider Trading

Ng, a former Marvell Technology accountant, allegedly passed on corporate secrets to Winifred Jiau and an 'investment club.'

http://cupertino.patch.com/articles/stanley-ng-arrested-in-his-cupertino-home-charged-with-insider-trading

Stanley Ng was arrested in his Cupertino home Wednesday charged by federal prosecutors for insider trading of corporate secrets to hedge fund traders.

Ng, a former accountant at Santa Clara-based Marvell Technology Group “was charged with one count of conspiring to commit securities fraud,” according to the New York Times.

“Stanley Ng and his co-conspirators traded inside information as casually as some people trade baseball cards,” Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for Manhattan, said in a statement. “Like so many others recently, he will now be held to account in a court of law.”

Ng, 42, was hired in 2002 to be Marvell’s “manager responsible for ensuring federal securities laws were followed when crimes were committed,” as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Out on a $50,000 bail, Ng’s arrest is part of a larger federal crackdown on insider trading that has, since August 2009, yielded 52 charges against people accused of insider trading, 48 of which resulted in guilty pleas or jury convictions.

Ng, who faces up to five years in prison if convicted, is scheduled to appear in a Manhattan court Aug. 26.

37   bubblesitter   2012 Apr 21, 4:31am  

savethepopulation says

I live south of the border, in a small 2bdrm house.

My rent is $270/month.

Water is $1.50/month.

Electricity is $5/month.

Gas is $10/month.

How many times have you been kidnapped so far this year?

38   thomas.wong1986   2012 Apr 21, 4:39am  

Former Apple supplier exec indicted for insider trading
February 4, 2011

Shimoon leaked info on iPhone, iPad

http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/02/04/shimoon.leaked.info.on.iphone.ipad/

Walter Shimoon -- formerly a senior director of business development at Apple supplier Flextronics -- has been indicted along with five others on insider trading charges, says the Associated Press. Shimoon was initially caught through a federal sweep aimed at expert networking firms, in particular Primary Global Research. Such companies charge a price for getting investors in touch with analysts and other experts.

39   RentingForHalfTheCost   2012 Apr 21, 6:55am  

lurking says

It's not going to get less expensive just because you want it to....

Nope it won't. However, it will get less expensive when all the non-paying, and underwater home owners are forced into foreclosure. We don't need hope, simple economics are on our side. Booyah!

40   RentingForHalfTheCost   2012 Apr 21, 6:56am  

bubblesitter says

savethepopulation says

I live south of the border, in a small 2bdrm house.

My rent is $270/month.

Water is $1.50/month.

Electricity is $5/month.

Gas is $10/month.

How many times have you been kidnapped so far this year?

DO YOUR MATH

If he doesn't respond in a few days then it is +1. :)

41   bubblesitter   2012 Apr 21, 8:13am  

RentingForHalfTheCost says

If he doesn't respond in a few days then it is +1. :)

Haha. I'll leave up to AF Tony Manero to comment further. :)

42   soeren   2012 Apr 21, 6:08pm  

Heh, I got all of ya's beat(`cept maybe the guy in Mexico;) For 6 years, I got away with murder. Bought a cheap motorhome on ebay for $2k, paid $100 a month rent for the spot + electric. Water was free. Area code 631. Saved enough by living on the cheap, I was able to buy a winter getaway/future retirement home for cash.

Of course, all good things must come to an end, and in Dec of
2008, I had to relocate the MH on short notice(one of the risks of livin' cheap-but-illegal;), and have been paying $300 a month
+ elec at the new location - still dirt-cheap by Long Island standards. It works for me.

Due to the economy and jobs situtation, I will be staying put here until I'm ready to wrap things up, and then move to the place I bought, where my "rent"(property taxes) will be about $15 bucks a month, + utils.

PS: I wouldn't DREAM of retiring here on LI, even if someone gave a me a house for free - the property taxes here are absolutely insane - mid-high 4 figures for an old, small, crappy. house in a so-so neighborhood. low 5 figures for a nice house in a good neighborhood.

43   Michinaga   2012 Apr 21, 8:35pm  

soeren says

Area code 631.

Now I feel properly humiliated; I once lived on Long Island as a child (the area code then was 516), and when I saw this area code, I assumed that it must be another Long Island somewhere, just like those silly Californians who think that their "Long Beach" is the default despite the real one being on Long Island east of Rockaway. But in fact the town I lived in three decades ago is now part of 631.

The US and Canada need to radically realign their area codes at some point; it's now impossible to tell where anything is by looking at the phone number. The least they could do is have multiple-area-code cities use consecutive numbers instead of the orderless mishmash that seems to be the standard these days.

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