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    MattyWollyHamilton Nolan
    2/29/16 9:37am

    Don’t see a return of the suburbs as being any sort of positive.

    How about making affordable condominiums and apartments near public transit?

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      Doofenschmirtz, Inc.MattyWolly
      2/29/16 9:46am

      There is no such thing as an affordable condo.

      Even if you manage to have a “reasonable” sale price, the condo fees are as much (if not more) than the mortgage or rent you’d have to pay per month.

      Why anybody buys a condo as anything other than an investment property to rent out to other people is beyond me. It’s the dumbest financial decision anyone can make.

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      JoshDigiDoofenschmirtz, Inc.
      2/29/16 9:56am

      What are you talking about? Show me a condo that has fees higher than a mortgage payment. Not all condos come with pools and $700 condo fees. Most condos have much lower fees and they cover things you would pay for anyway like insurance and maintenance.

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    Hatless Süspęçt and 6 othersHamilton Nolan
    2/29/16 9:24am

    How were the only Gawker Oscar articles cross-posts from Jezebel. This new format has got to give. It's still only February and I'm already ready for the biannual Denton blowup of the blog.

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      IanHatless Süspęçt and 6 others
      2/29/16 9:29am

      Yeah, I’m confused by the Stacey Dash shit and would like some of my Gawker friends to chime in. I’m sure they have on Jezebel, but I’m too lazy to find them.

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      Richard M TysonHatless Süspęçt and 6 others
      2/29/16 9:30am

      Who gives a shit about the oscars?

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    GoOnWithoutMeHamilton Nolan
    2/29/16 9:33am

    Russian, Chinese, and whoever else bajillionares aren't buying because of the uncertainty of the election?

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      frankwalsinghalmGoOnWithoutMe
      2/29/16 9:44am

      They’re not buying because the government has started tracking the funds spent on the apartments.

      https://www.fincen.gov/news_room/nr/p…

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      EvanrudeJohnsonGoOnWithoutMe
      2/29/16 9:44am

      Wealthy Russians are getting hammered because of declining energy prices, wealthy Chinese have had their stock market tank and their economy is slowing.

      It isn’t all about us.

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    festivusaziliHamilton Nolan
    2/29/16 9:36am

    Oh, man, this quote is great:

    “I don’t think that today’s $45 million buyer necessarily wants to live in a building where every other apartment sold for 25 percent of that price,” Maloney said. “You don’t want to be that guy that paid $45 million and everyone else paid 10. It’s a cultural thing.”

    Can you imagine having to live in a building filled with people that could only afford $10 million? The unwashed masses are gross.

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      TimeOnTargetfestivusazili
      2/29/16 9:57am

      it's the same argument about Yankees tickets (over on deadspin) nobody wants to be the sucker paying full price when you can get them for 14 bucks on stubhub... Different prices, same issue... :-)

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      festivusaziliTimeOnTarget
      2/29/16 10:00am

      Nah, that isn’t it. The article is specifically referencing buying the $45 million dollar penthouse when the lower level units are $10 million. The problem isn’t that they paid more for the same thing. It’s that they bought something way better, but the building is filled with the wrong class of people.

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    Richard M TysonHamilton Nolan
    2/29/16 9:32am

    I wonder when this will reach Portland. There are apartment buildings going up like crazy and we are estimated to get about 100,000 new people a year to the metro area, though I doubt many of them can afford the price gouging that is occurring here. I can see a ton of empty apartment in the future, closer to London style than NY style.

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      IanRichard M Tyson
      2/29/16 9:34am

      Based on the one time I’ve been there, and the several times I looked into moving there, I’d say rental rates have kinda flattened out.

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      Richard M TysonIan
      2/29/16 9:38am

      I live three miles outside of downtown and it still costs 1400 for a one bedroom. I lived here ten years ago, moved away and when I came back the prices and the traffic levels had risen dramatically.

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    Rom RombertsHamilton Nolan
    2/29/16 9:44am

    Fill a garbage bag with Gatorade. Get inside. This is home now. Emerge from the bag each morning like a young, chirping alligator, being careful not to rip the bag or spill much of the Gatorade. Pigeons are free to eat if you can catch them. Your skin will appreciate the electrolytes. Your boss at the ham factory will commend your frugality and vision. You will be awarded 30 more seconds of feeding trough time. From inside your plastic and Electric Blue Mountain Glacier Razz egg, you will stretch time like taffy and you will outlast the dry ghouls shuffling through their bone dry penthouses. When their towers finally tumble and the lights go out you will be there, in your plastic garbage bag filled with Gatorade, waiting.

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      cheesyblasterRom Romberts
      2/29/16 9:57am
      GIF
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      Desperate for a Shag GilesRom Romberts
      2/29/16 10:03am
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    OMG!PONIES!Hamilton Nolan
    2/29/16 9:29am

    God dammit! You can't just chop a penthouse in half. If people wanted to buy a duplex, they'd buy a duplex. This is a building for the idle rich, not the working poor.

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      cuntybawsOMG!PONIES!
      2/29/16 9:35am

      Truly, this is the dystopian future the one per cent feared

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    SktroopHamilton Nolan
    2/29/16 9:31am

    I really hope that the government steps in to help bail out these poor developers who are facing this potentially catastrophic situation. They would like the same deal the banks got, please...receive a pile of cash and continue to do business as usual.

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      SplatworthySktroop
      2/29/16 9:44am

      #ImWithHer.

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    budgetrockshowcaseHamilton Nolan
    2/29/16 9:34am

    None of this should be interpreted as meaning that you can now afford an apartment.

    This is the most important line in the article. A markdown of a few million on these luxury pads is not going to benefit us working stiffs any time soon, if ever.

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      Rowen (Paid Politcal Shill)Hamilton Nolan
      2/29/16 9:27am

      So...basically, what we’re looking at is more luxury condos just sitting there, while the investor gets some sort of tax write off?

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        ARP2Rowen (Paid Politcal Shill)
        2/29/16 10:03am

        Yes, but it’s not just a Kramer-esque write-off.

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