Jordan found an apartment-two bedrooms, ground floor, remodeled, with bars on the front window and trash cans outside it, and a car in a parking space! Oh yes, and it has 15x15 foot yard with astro turf!
Oh yes, the asking price, $4500. It makes me nuts, but Jordan went for it. The owner, Italian, named Maria, came over to the real estate office to "check" us out. Jordan didn't do much to present herself, but I put my lipstick and hat on and wheeled the girls around while Jordan filled out the papers. Then Maria and the broker Phillip followed us to Carroll Gardens to "check us out more." Maria also told Jordan she'd like to meet the nanny. Maria's Catholic, so I brought up my Catholic roots and told her one of the nannies had sent her daughter to St. John's. Maria's daughter is going to St. John's. But about the apartment,
I'm pretty sure she'll get it!
Meanwhile Sidney is back from Maine and she went with her ex to take their daughter, Grace, to a middle school open house.
"We were like a bunch of gypsies going there. Grace was pulling on her top and I was nervous! I'd move back to Maine in an instant if I could, if my ex would cooperate!" (of course that is usually why they're an ex!)
"All of this pressure is just too much! I'm exhausted!"
We just been over at PS 29 visiting Staci, Tom, and their two children, Heather and Ryan, and even though it was a Sunday, there were tons of children playing and running around the playground. They'd gone up to Maine too to visit Sidney and we spoke of kids, Maine, and Fire Island.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Cobble Hill Rents-$7000 for nothing!
As I said, they've gone nuts around property in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. The amount Jordan will pay for rent has gone from $2200 to $4500 and we looked at a place today for $7000 a month. All you could say about the apartment is that it's in a new building on a business street, no storage, and no parking. Its a 3 bedroom two story apt. with a deck, 8 foot ceilings, hardwood floors, and it would be about $100,000 to buy in St. Louis, in a good neighborhood. That's $84,000.00 a year after taxes. It all gives me a headache!
In LA, it would cost $400-500,000, depending on the neighborhood.
I keep saying "buy" and Jordan says she doesn't have enough to buy, that just to move it's going to cost her $20,000. To me, that's a down payment, but if they want 20% on a $740,000 dollar apartment, then its about $150,000 down. The broker who showed me a place the other day that Jordan had seen, suggested I "loan" or give the $150,000 to my daughter to get a condo. I don't happen to have that right now!
ANd one of the reasons is I've been living in the most expensive cities in the country the last 25 years, San Francisco and Los Angeles, Ca. Everything is relative and one's POV. The nanny from Jamaica, Marie, pays $1400 a month for her apartment and $600 some winter months for heat.
What's funny is Sidney is temporarily in her "garden" flat, I call it a basement. She is remodeling the top 3 stories of her brownstone, and the renters have left the flat. She came back from Maine and is down there with her two children, who needed to start school. She said she is mortified anybody paid 2400 for the place, that its so dark and depressing! She said she's been getting panic attacks!
In LA, it would cost $400-500,000, depending on the neighborhood.
I keep saying "buy" and Jordan says she doesn't have enough to buy, that just to move it's going to cost her $20,000. To me, that's a down payment, but if they want 20% on a $740,000 dollar apartment, then its about $150,000 down. The broker who showed me a place the other day that Jordan had seen, suggested I "loan" or give the $150,000 to my daughter to get a condo. I don't happen to have that right now!
ANd one of the reasons is I've been living in the most expensive cities in the country the last 25 years, San Francisco and Los Angeles, Ca. Everything is relative and one's POV. The nanny from Jamaica, Marie, pays $1400 a month for her apartment and $600 some winter months for heat.
What's funny is Sidney is temporarily in her "garden" flat, I call it a basement. She is remodeling the top 3 stories of her brownstone, and the renters have left the flat. She came back from Maine and is down there with her two children, who needed to start school. She said she is mortified anybody paid 2400 for the place, that its so dark and depressing! She said she's been getting panic attacks!
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Let's talk about the "Middelton" brand and the "NEW ROYAL BABY"
As I mentioned earlier, the "Middelton's" seem to be calling the shots in England. Either it is conscious or unconscious-probably a mixture of both. There is no doubt that Kate set out to "get" William, her parents sending her to the same school he went to, and she patiently waited for 8 years for William to commit. That's a long time and it could have swung either way.
I suspect that the Middelton's are part of the new, aggressive middle class moving into the upper class. They are industrious, mom was a stewardess and they have a party planning company. They had enough money to take William on their vacations to the islands, to drive him around on their "boat". Recently they "moved up" from a country house, to a much larger country house, one benefitting the entertainment and visits of the future "king" of England.
They are experts at appearing normal and low key, yet much of this is a product of their industriousness. Now on to the "royal" baby-Edward. Kate didn't stay at the castle. She went there for one night and then she and William went to stay at her parents now "much larger house with separate quarters for them." Much more so than Diana, Kate was sending out signals that she was going to be a hands on mother. No nanny for them! Nope, its mom helping out! And the Middelton's set the precedent that Kate decided where they were going with newborn "baby" Edward. Or it was a young couple decision-both were comfortable at Kate's house, or "Kate" needed mom!
What I suspect is that William's relationship with her family is as important as is his relationship to Kate. Remember his mother-in-law, Camilla, is the woman who Diana felt destroyed her marriage. He lost his mother at 12 and Camilla, the woman his mother hated, stepped right into her place. She left her husband and 2 children to be with Prince Charles.
What I find fascinating is the whole nanny bit. Here I am in Cobble Hill NY and everyone has a nanny. Every mother is out there working and competing, as Kate's mom did. Remember she was a stewardess.
But now you have the whole equation being flipped around. No palace with all of its royal staff controlling Kate's every move. Nope, she's the mom and her mom is the "nanny" for now!
The Real Estate Market is NUTS in BROOKLYN_COBBLE HILL
The Landlords are going crazy. Jordan found out that our landlord just raised her rent by 800 dollars! She lives downstairs but she did it by email and has been very sheepish since then. Jordan's been looking for an apartment, 3 bedrooms, but missed out on a few good ones.
But the "landlords" are drunk with their real estate. They are charging outrageous princes for two bedroom, or 3 bedroom, dumpy apartments-4500, 5000. These are places that are nothing to write home about-they throw up a couple of walls on one floor and say its a three bedroom-no closets, no charm, no space.
Oh, but you are in Brooklyn. Half the people I talk to are moving on. My neurologist said he had a place in St. Petersburg and one outside it before he came to America. But he has a son, 20 months old, and he can't take the city. "It's impossible with a boy" was his reply and thus the migration to other parts of the NY area.
Jordans good friends, Mary and Jeremy, are professional actors. They now have 4 boys and have left NY. It's the middle age migration, comfort for family life, betters prices, more room.
Jordan will have none of that, nor will she move further out in Brooklyn. She'll miss an hour with Gigi and Tess. No way.
I looked up our old house on 32 Hobart Ave. in Summit, New Jersey. It's valued at 2 million. We did so much work on it-tearing out walls, adding on to the kitchen, carrying bank vault glass from St. Louis to summit, redoing the doors, the floors, adding a laundry room upstairs, etc. The new owners have added a pool, redone a lot of the rooms, kitchen, upstairs bathroom, etc. It looks very nice-huge.
But back to the term "landlord"-that's from the English and one is called a "landlord" because you always own the land, and every 100-1000 years you renew the lease on the land. Renters are just throwing their money away because they never get part of the equity in the land. ANd here in Cobble Hill they are going from 3-4.5 for plain old brownstones! Robbery I say! Off with their heads!
But the "landlords" are drunk with their real estate. They are charging outrageous princes for two bedroom, or 3 bedroom, dumpy apartments-4500, 5000. These are places that are nothing to write home about-they throw up a couple of walls on one floor and say its a three bedroom-no closets, no charm, no space.
Oh, but you are in Brooklyn. Half the people I talk to are moving on. My neurologist said he had a place in St. Petersburg and one outside it before he came to America. But he has a son, 20 months old, and he can't take the city. "It's impossible with a boy" was his reply and thus the migration to other parts of the NY area.
Jordans good friends, Mary and Jeremy, are professional actors. They now have 4 boys and have left NY. It's the middle age migration, comfort for family life, betters prices, more room.
Jordan will have none of that, nor will she move further out in Brooklyn. She'll miss an hour with Gigi and Tess. No way.
I looked up our old house on 32 Hobart Ave. in Summit, New Jersey. It's valued at 2 million. We did so much work on it-tearing out walls, adding on to the kitchen, carrying bank vault glass from St. Louis to summit, redoing the doors, the floors, adding a laundry room upstairs, etc. The new owners have added a pool, redone a lot of the rooms, kitchen, upstairs bathroom, etc. It looks very nice-huge.
But back to the term "landlord"-that's from the English and one is called a "landlord" because you always own the land, and every 100-1000 years you renew the lease on the land. Renters are just throwing their money away because they never get part of the equity in the land. ANd here in Cobble Hill they are going from 3-4.5 for plain old brownstones! Robbery I say! Off with their heads!
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Ohh the perfection of Kate Middleton!
We have two sides...on the one hand is our "reality family", the Kardashians, raking in their millions with their constantly spewing of lies and intrigues, and plot points. On the other hand, there is the nicely "packaged" team of Kate and William-young, handsome, beautiful to look at, and "in love". Seeing the pictures of Kate it reminds me of myself 47 years ago when I got pregnant with my eldest. I too had that "glow" in my eyes, wore short skirts, was in love with my husband, and ready to live "the dream", or my fantasy of the dream.
If only it all turned out that way. There definitely is a power to tradition, staying with a certain structure, keeping the family together, being solid and dependable, which the "Middletons" seem to be. In ways its like the middle class is calling the shots. The royal family, "the firm", with all of its divorces and broken relationships, seems eager to have the "Middletons" as in laws.
Indicative of the "power" of the Middelton "brand" as opposed to the "royal family," otherwise known as the "firm;" the Middelton's seem to be calling the shots. When "Kate" got married, her sister Pippa was show cased almost more than Kate. Why worry about Kate, she's getting married? But "Pippa," well, she needed to be showcased. For the wedding of the decade, there were no other bridesmaids except Pippa, only young children. Her bridesmaid dress was white like her sisters, only form fitting and sexy compared to Kate's traditional look.
"Pippa" was the hit of the wedding with everyone talking about her-obviously she's the next to be married off!
If only it all turned out that way. There definitely is a power to tradition, staying with a certain structure, keeping the family together, being solid and dependable, which the "Middletons" seem to be. In ways its like the middle class is calling the shots. The royal family, "the firm", with all of its divorces and broken relationships, seems eager to have the "Middletons" as in laws.
Indicative of the "power" of the Middelton "brand" as opposed to the "royal family," otherwise known as the "firm;" the Middelton's seem to be calling the shots. When "Kate" got married, her sister Pippa was show cased almost more than Kate. Why worry about Kate, she's getting married? But "Pippa," well, she needed to be showcased. For the wedding of the decade, there were no other bridesmaids except Pippa, only young children. Her bridesmaid dress was white like her sisters, only form fitting and sexy compared to Kate's traditional look.
"Pippa" was the hit of the wedding with everyone talking about her-obviously she's the next to be married off!
September 5, 2013
I'm back! Okay, I took a vacation, went back to LA for a month and to Maine-god is it beautiful.
Everybody here goes out to the Hampton's, like high school, they all follow one another out there and then try and get into the same restaurants. I always said LA is like high school, don't know why you are in or out.
I've been so many different places I don't know if I'm in or out. Tess and Gigi are wild girls now-10 months old. They are both so active, no more little babies. Still in our 3rd floor loft where the brownstones are selling for 3 and 1/2 million dollars. The owner downstairs came up today to prove to us that the dishwasher works. She said she ordered one 2 months ago, or 3 months ago, but no, she didn't. Who knows about any of this stuff.
Everything is so damn expensive and I don't own a home now. Jesus. I feel out of touch with all this social media. You are supposed to spend half your time on it, its crazy.
We went up to Jordan's gorgeous house in Maine. She says she's always felt like a misfit when we went to her parents house in Rye, New York. I understand. I do too.
One of our nannies, who is actually a sleep expert, wrote me and told me she is working for a very wealthy couple in NY. They both work 12 hours a day, have two other nannies, cameras on them, etc. I told her it sounds horrible, just horrible.
She's out in the Hampton's this summer and there until 2014. But its a dull miserable life.
Jordan went to visit her brother on the opposite coast who is a venture capitalist. He had no time for her, two night of the week she was there, and he wanted her kids to go to golf camp! They don't even like golf.
In Maine though, life seems simple, real, and not that expensive, but cold as hell in winter. There is not much to do except cross country or skiing. You have to start your own business there, not too much business, but god is it beautiful.
I'm back! Okay, I took a vacation, went back to LA for a month and to Maine-god is it beautiful.
Everybody here goes out to the Hampton's, like high school, they all follow one another out there and then try and get into the same restaurants. I always said LA is like high school, don't know why you are in or out.
I've been so many different places I don't know if I'm in or out. Tess and Gigi are wild girls now-10 months old. They are both so active, no more little babies. Still in our 3rd floor loft where the brownstones are selling for 3 and 1/2 million dollars. The owner downstairs came up today to prove to us that the dishwasher works. She said she ordered one 2 months ago, or 3 months ago, but no, she didn't. Who knows about any of this stuff.
Everything is so damn expensive and I don't own a home now. Jesus. I feel out of touch with all this social media. You are supposed to spend half your time on it, its crazy.
We went up to Jordan's gorgeous house in Maine. She says she's always felt like a misfit when we went to her parents house in Rye, New York. I understand. I do too.
One of our nannies, who is actually a sleep expert, wrote me and told me she is working for a very wealthy couple in NY. They both work 12 hours a day, have two other nannies, cameras on them, etc. I told her it sounds horrible, just horrible.
She's out in the Hampton's this summer and there until 2014. But its a dull miserable life.
Jordan went to visit her brother on the opposite coast who is a venture capitalist. He had no time for her, two night of the week she was there, and he wanted her kids to go to golf camp! They don't even like golf.
In Maine though, life seems simple, real, and not that expensive, but cold as hell in winter. There is not much to do except cross country or skiing. You have to start your own business there, not too much business, but god is it beautiful.
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