In Columbus, however, that’s a lot of money for an apartment. In fact, as I said, I live outside of Columbus (in the country, so to speak), and around here you’d have a mansion for that, practically. My house has about 2500 in living space and the mortgage is about 1/3 that. Still, if you have the money, it’s a cool ass place.
I got back from a trip to Italy last Friday. It was pretty great.
None of the food was anything remotely like the Olive Garden.
Brendan
3523
Well that was fun.
Some of you might remember my rather… strained working relationship with my married collegues. Today it exploded.
I made a code change, checked it in and emailed the husband to do a code review and verbally asked him to do it. Unfortunately my change broke a section of code in the ancient legacy system (For which I’ll accept full responsibility.) that husband and wife know very well but refuse to explain to me. Now, in a normal environment this would be picked up in code review, the error of my way pointed out to me and I’d apologise and fix the problem. Unfortunately, husband decided to ignore my email and request and just before the build was done wifey decided to check the code and went rampaging up to our boss like a raging rhino and started ranting about how I didn’t request code review, how I messed up, etc.
The boss then came raging up to me and proceeded to tear me a new asshole. Fortunately, I had the email proof that I requested a code review which embarrassed and calmed him down slightly.
At this stage I was ready to blow my top - I’ve taken comments about getting preferential treatment because I’m white, jibes about my salary, etc. without showing too much emotion but this tipped me slightly over the edge. At this point I asked my boss about why she went to him instead of telling me and explaining the issue so that we could just fix the problem and get on with our lives. I also mentioned about the toxic work environment their lack of communication, frequent temper tantrums and bad attitude are causing.
I think my boss has realised things are at boiling point and we now have a meeting tomorrow to work this out. If his bias towards them holds tomorrow is going to be an interesting day…
WarrenM
3525
Uh, you haven’t lived in New York or other large city, have you? 3.3K will get you a modest place in a modest neighborhood. Nothing to write home about. Your “chef” is the corner restaurant.
That’s seems remarkably reasonable for relatively unique living arrangements.
3.3K is a middling mortgage on a decent house here in the SF Bay Area. That’s a steal- ElG should definitely go for it.
Heh, no, I never have and hopefully never will. That’s a glorious waste of money.
A colleague came buy my workplace today with her 5-year-old (or thereabout) son in tow, which I had never met or heard about before. An inquisitive little fellow, he asked about everything and everyone, and with nothing urgent on my plate, I gave him a tour of the place while his mom chatted with some other colleagues. When they left, he gave me a big hug. Totally made my day :)
Lorini
3527
It’s not a steal because it’s in Columbus OH. Nothing against the place, and I’ve been there a bunch of times, but nothing suggests living there would be worth $3,300 a month.
I can show you a multi acre home in the middle of the southern California desert for under half a million dollars. But it’s in the middle of the desert, 2 hours from LA and nearly any other semblances of civilization.
The issue is how much such a unique living arrangment costs relative to what’s around it. I highly suspect that 3.3K is no more than 3 to 4 times what other downtown Columbus places costs.
Now, take the differential between an average place in NY/SF/CHG and a unique place and it will be a lot more than 3 to 4x.
Comparing it to a place in the desert (or off in the country) is irrelevant. Rather, compare it to alternative housing in the same area.
Lorini
3529
No, you have to look at overall value. Columbus Ohio has nothing to offer that would be worth $3,300 dollars a month. It’s not a bad city by any means but it doesn’t have a professional sports team (except soccer), it doesn’t have a major museum, it doesn’t have a lake or ocean nearby, it has little to offer a connoisseur in anything. For that money you could in fact get a decent place in SF which is brimming with stuff to do and appreciate.
I don’t think ElG is shopping for a penthouse, and then deciding where to live. Like a rationale person, he’s going the other way around- he picked the place first, and is now considering where to live there.
Once you’ve decided Columbus, that’s what you compare.
Shadarr
3531
And hockey. And Ohio State could probably beat the Browns.
Lorini
3532
I still wouldn’t pay it though, it’s just not worth the money, particularly in this housing market. I’d offer them half of that, and see what happens.
Lorini
3533
I thought about this more and let’s do the math:
In order to afford a $3,300 per month penthouse, you need to bring home three times that much (financial planners will tell you that your housing expenses shouldn’t exceed a third of your take home). So that’s approximately $10k a month. $10k a month is $120k a year take home. Which translates into somewhere between $135k and $150k salary depending on how you do your taxes.
Here is a chart listing the average salaries of professionals in Columbus. They don’t exceed $100k. So who exactly is going to spend $3,300 a month on this penthouse? Probably no one, which is why it’s available in Columbus. The average salaries of professionals in LA is probably a third more as much as they are in Columbus, which is why a $3,300 penthouse would be snapped up pretty quickly here.
If there is no demand for the penthouse at the price they are paying, you shouldn’t be the gullible one and pay that price. Now if El Guapo wants it so badly that he doesn’t care, then so be it, but there is no way in hell I’d pay it, no matter what my salary is because it’s not worth $3,300 a month.
ElGuapo
3534
Well, I’m looking at it right before Thanksgiving, so I’ll take pictures.
Eilonwy
3535
I turned 30! I think that ticking is a bad sign.
There’s one or two of these penthouses in the city. I clearly agree it isn’t meant for the Average Joe.
Shockingly, the average decently paid Joe isn’t gunning much to live in Columbus, I agree with you on that, too. This pretty much explains why there aren’t a lot of takers for this place. Also logic that centers around “if its still available you shouldn’t get it” is self-fulfilling in all circumstances.
But, assume a decently paid Joe finds himself, for one reason or another, to be residing in Columbus. Paying 2-3 times or so the average rate in the area for a unique place isn’t crazy. The key question is what the price of other options are in the area.
Athryn
3537
It just means that it’s time to report to carousel.
Dude, turning 30 is a piece of cake. I’ve loved my 30s so far. Welcome to the club.
Columbus is actually a really nice city. Some nice culture there and events (hey, there’s a major gaming convention there every year (RPG/Wargame type)). It’s the kind of big city that still feels like a smaller one. I don’t actually live there, but I wouldn’t mind doing so at all. It’s quite nice. Besides, ElGaupo should get it just so I have a cool place to visit on my way to that yearly Con!
Brendan
3540
If ElG can afford it I think he should pull the trigger. Living in a place like that while you are single is one of those Life Experiences that makes it worth the money (Although it may ruin you for mundane properties for life.).
This doesn’t mean he has to be stupid - It’s probably a good idea to try negotiating $500.00 off the price.*
*Disclaimer: Total thumbsuck.
