True dat.

At the Nolibs zoning meeting last month, a landlord who was presenting a project (a house + studio + rental unit) mentioned that he's DECREASED rent for good tenants multiple times in the past just because he didn't want to deal with the hassle associated with turnover.

There are a lot of people in this city renting out units at rates that cover their pre-boom mortgages. Many could command much hire prices if they were willing to force the turnover.

Although I'm from philly, I miss living in DC. Those corporatized places are at least generous. Every management company I deal with in Philly has a lady you have to deal with the typical philly attytood. Not very nice.

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I am the walrus

That doesn't surprise me. I've heard from friends who own rental units in their buildings that a good tenant is worth his/her weight in gold. There are so many shady people in the rental market that if you find one who is reliable, pays on time and in full, and doesn't trash the place, it's smart to make it worth their while to stay because you never know what kind of nutjob the next tenant might be.

That's true. The buildings I lived in down there were all very professional. I deal with that much better than Philly Professional.

Oh, and a little off the topic but on the topic of renting in Philly, has anyone ever encountered this: I looked at a place ages ago, and I told the guy I was interested. He said he had a handful of other people out there who had turned in applications and that I should fill out an application, give him $50, and he'll go through all of them and decide who gets it. I think professionally, you should take money from the first applicant, if they don't meet your requirements, you call the next person who viewed your place and take their application fee and so on until you find an applicant who meets your credit/background requirements. This guy was basically just collecting $50 from everyone who viewed his place. I told him to screw himself, that's just shady. I mean even if he simply didn't know what he was doing, he most likely would have been a mess of a landlord. And last time I walked by there, the apartment was still on the market. But I've heard of other people around here who've encountered the same thing. Definitely one of the perks of renting from a corporation is even if they're Philly Professional, they're most likely not running some kind of scam.

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The idealistic are no longer concerned with influencing public opinion and creating a free world of responsible and ethical social choices, but rather imposing opinion through legislation, mandating these ethics, and outlawing choice in what the loudest sample finds offensive.

Ban the Bans. It's a slippery slope between Idealism and Fascism.

BTW, where did you live in DC?

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The idealistic are no longer concerned with influencing public opinion and creating a free world of responsible and ethical social choices, but rather imposing opinion through legislation, mandating these ethics, and outlawing choice in what the loudest sample finds offensive.

Ban the Bans. It's a slippery slope between Idealism and Fascism.

I've given good tenants a 20% discount, at times meaning that I operate at a loss, just to keep everything simple and neat. I know that I can get the rent down the road and that, for now, my place is in good hands.

Any advice on what to invest in for those of us who are getting out of the housing market? I sold my beloved Wash West townhouse and am moving to NYC with my partner because I literally cannot find a job in Philly proper despite one year of looking. (Meanwhile, I had multiple offers in both NYC and DC after just two months of looking.)

I need a personal "Suze Orman" to help me invest since my partner and I are not buying any real estate in Manhattan. I do have a financial advisor, but I feel like he has steered me toward his own company's funds too many times, and his advice always seems biased. I met with another one from a different company and got a different story, again heavily biased toward the advisor's needs rather than my own.

My net proceeds from the house, which is in my name only, will be $190-200k. (My partner and I keep separate finances and plan to do so for the foreseeable future.) My other assets are:

$35k in moderately conservative mutual funds
$15k in moderately aggressive ROTH IRA (to which I'll no longer be able to contribute)
$5k in VUL
$11k in savings bonds
$50k in an extremely aggressive 401(k) that I'll need to roll over
$15k in miscellaneous high-yield savings accounts

I have no debt other than the mortgage, which will be paid off at settlement. I'm in my mid-20s, don't plan to touch the house sale money for at least five years, and should be in a situation where I can continue to save at least $1k/month plus any bonus, so let's say conservatively $15k per year, even with the ridiculous NYC rents.

Any advice on how to invest the $190-200k lump sum from the house? I feel stupid leaving it in a savings account, but all of the market volatility recently has me .

I'm thinking of dumping half entirely into a moderately aggressive IRA, forgetting it ever exists, and counting on that as my "early 50s retirement." Not sure what to do with the other half -- mutual funds? High-yield savings account? When my partner and I eventually buy another house (probably somewhere other than NYC), I would like to have access to some/all of that money.

Would appreciate any/all advice. I've been really lucky with investments thus far (95% of my money was earned, not inherited or gifted), but it has been mostly dumb luck with a bit of common sense.

Philly area has lots of jobs, but philly downtown not so much.

This is not really a forum for investment advise. Plus I'd be amazed to find anyone willing to share a good strategy. That sure would be stupid.

That being said I've already mentioned inflation is coming. I'd bet on that , but you can figure out your strategy on your own.

We're going back to the 70s and I can't wait!

BRING IT ON! I'm ready to Shake My Groove Thang!

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The idealistic are no longer concerned with influencing public opinion and creating a free world of responsible and ethical social choices, but rather imposing opinion through legislation, mandating these ethics, and outlawing choice in what the loudest sample finds offensive.

Ban the Bans. It's a slippery slope between Idealism and Fascism.

You mention putting half in an IRA, but you can't do that; depending on your job/tax satus, the MOST you can put in an IRA is $4000.

My personal advice (I was a branch Mgr for Chase Bank in a former life) would be to park in the money from the sale of your home in a high yield Money Market acct; Countrywide SAvings is currently offering 5.4%APR if you open on line. Keep the moeny there untill you know what you want to do regarding all your finances.

Depending on what type of 401K your new job offers, you may want to roll over your current 401k to your new comapny, if they offer good investment vehicles. Then what you can do is when you do move to NYC, consult with the commerical banks there; Chase, Citi, Wachovia, BoA( Don't go to Commerce, all they want to sell is a checking acct; they don't know from investments) tell them the funds you have, what you will be saving going forward, and what you investment goals and timelines are. You can then see what each bank offers you interms of investments.