Yes. This is no time to sell anyway. If you have the money to buy right now, you should.

You're talking about the criminal court on 161st, right?

The housing court is on the Concourse, just north of 166th.

Anyway, getting into the courthouse on 161st is crazy. Even if you're just a spectator or a family member, those guards treat you like you're a criminal .

So, what would happen if you had twenty properties you could do nothing with.

That would be a massive headache and arguments with the missus, threats of divorce, taking you to court for half of what you own.....

Just saying, there is a limit to what the economy can take, not just the person at the centre of affairs.

Anyway, I thought people believed that money is the root of all evil - and you'd want more!

Yeah the one on 161st, my confusion. Forgot about the other big court near the stadium.

Well, my wife and I currently own 8 properties here in New York, and there's always someone looking to rent. I can't fathom that we'd ever sell. I'm 52 years old, so managing the properties has become a full time job for me since I took early retirement from the Teamsters Union six years ago. The buildings keep me busy, and they're honestly quite profitable. And if my wife hasn't divorced me by now, she never will .

Real Estate is not for the faint of heart. It is only for those with patience, and the money to cover the bills in a downturn. I am shocked at how many people think of real estate as a "get rich quick" scheme. It's the furthest thing from the truth.

And I don't believe that a lot of these corporations aren't making money. Most of them just use it as an excuse to keep things tight. I volunteer for the school music organization and we sell ads in the musical's playbill to raise funds. I can't tell you how many companies used the economy as an excuse to not renew their ads. Some, like restaurants, I believe. But one of them was a body shop. People stop getting into accidents in a bad economy? Considering that the majority of this guys business comes from insurance companies, I think he's full of s**t.

Lots of companies are also using this as an excuse to make their employees work more for less. My husband's department was once 13 people. They're now down to five, and four of them are outsourced. My husband is the sole employee. It's not that they're not busy, they are just as busy, if not more so. They just put the squeeze on the employees so that they get more work out of them.

Amen to that. It's a full time job.

Absolutely, Sicilian Babe, buying and selling property isn't a game. I wouldn't know the first thing about it, so instead of seeing the profit and jumping in, I've spared myself and my country by keeping out of it.

But, I can tell you - If I won 50million on the lottery, I still WOULDN'T buy into it. I stick with what I know and understand.

I even avoid buying gold! Even those Facebook shares - no thanks.

Like you said, you've had record evictions. However, you still have to pay the expenses of the building - taxes, maintenance, utilities (at least in common areas), mortgage, if you have one. And you have to cover all that on a smaller income. However, if you have the patience and the resources to hang in there until things improve, then you'll do quite nicely in the future.

That's exactly right, Babe .

What country are you from, DeMeo?

Must have been nice to retire at 46...

the rate things are going in our country, I will have to work till i am 70

I retired from the Teamsters at 46. I still work at managing my properties, and I help my wife run her laundromats.

And stop counting my money, or I'll never offer you an apartment again .

haha fair enough, keeping busy is good

United Kingdom. A place literally called Hell.

Hey, I was a teamster too in Dallas working onfreight docks. In fact, when my wife went to get an office job and she told them I was a teamster, they ended the interview.

Hell, really? Ive only heard good things about the UK. I have an ex-girlfriend who runs the Apple store (dont know which one) in London. She raves about the UK and doesnt fathom ever coming back to the US.

You've only heard what shes told you, and what she wants to believe.

She may be happy with her job now, but next week could be threatened with the company collapse.

She will return to the States when the riots break out, when half of London is up in flames, making that one last year look like a complete wannabe.

She has been over there for four years. I dont think Apple is under any threat of collapsing anytime soon.

In terms of riots, etc. I hope for the worlds sake, your prediction is incorrect.

One thing that always stuck me about people in the UK compared to the States was that in the UK they at least protest for what they believe in (recall all those major student protests over tuition increases). Here in the states we are too busy playing on our smartphones and watching tv to actually complain in any major way to get the attention of our elected leaders.

You have the protest thing completely wrong.

Outwardly, we get out there, BUT it makes no difference. The student riots and the one last year, the police clamped down and used batons and tear gas. Nothing ever changes for us, until we turn up the pressue and really take things back.

The downside is that thousands and thousands of people will die, the upside is that it will help our pensions crisis for several years, returning that to a more acceptable level.

Better to protest and have your voice heard than us who just sit at home and take whatever is given to us.

Just my two cents

Mr Don, our voice isn't being heard.

I'm from Manchester, come on DeMeo England's not that bad! I know the economy is bad atm and jobs are scarce but its better than a hell of a lot of places, low crime, healthcare etc. If I didn't enjoy the beach so much I would even consider living there again!

You may be from Manchester, but your now living in Perth Australia.

Was there a reason why you left? The state of the country, perhaps?

Mostly the weather.

The American Dream Shrinks: Avg. Net Worth Falls 40% From 2007-2010

By Stacy Curtin | Daily Ticker

The slow death of the American dream for middle class families has continued in the last couple years in the wake of the financial crisis.

A new survey by the Federal Reserve shows a shocking decline in the average net worth of U.S. households from 2007 to 2010. According to the report, which adjusted figures for inflation, the average American family saw their net worth drop 40% in that three-year time period from $126,400 to $77,300.

Three-quarters of the loss, not surprisingly, is due in large part to falling home prices, which have seen no reprieve since the housing bubble began to burst in 2007. The average homeowner saw their net worth fall more than $70,000 from roughly $250,000 in 2007 to $175,000 in 2010.

But what is surprising is the fact that overall net worth has fallen to levels not seen since the early 1990's, long before the housing bubble even began.

In three years, 18 years of savings have been wiped away for the majority of the country and at the same time wages have fallen. The average income fell from about $50,00 in 2010 to $46,000 in 2007.

But this negative trend does not stop there. As average families become poorer, rich Americans are growing richer. The Fed survey showed the wealthiest 10% of families actually saw their net worth rise from 2007 to 2010. Over that time period, their net worth increased from $1.17 million to $1.19 million.

As Aaron and Henry discuss in the accompanying clip, the continued decline of the American middle class and the ascent of the rich has resulted in income inequality at levels not seen since the Great Depression. Many economists agree, including Nobel Prize-winner Joseph Stiglitz who recently joined The Daily Ticker to discuss why growing wage and income disparity endangers the future of our country.
While the bulk of consumer spending has historically come from the middle class, if the majority of Americans continue to suffer from falling wages and income, eventually something has got to give. There is no possible way for the super-rich to buy enough stuff to float the entire U.S. economy.

It's growing increasingly clear that we live in drastic times and drastic measures must be taken to save the country's middle class. One drastic measure is that more Americans are putting off retirement because they simply can't afford it.

But with Americans living longer and putting increased strain on programs like Social Security and Medicare, the retirement age is going to have be raised for one reason or another.

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-tic...-160150749.html

This decline is hardly "shocking". It's all simple math. Aside from the housing dollars mentioned, simple math can figure this one out.

At a time when certain expenses, at least here in NY, have gone through the roof, such as gasoline, food and tolls, salaries (if you have a job) have remained stagnant. Additionally, with mortgage rates still ridiculously low, banks are paying out next to nothing on savings and CDs.

I heard an economist speak last fall. He said if you put your money in a plain old savings account, you're actually losing money. Let's say that CoL increase was 3% (I don't know what it was, just using numbers) and you tied up $5,000 in a 12 month CD paying .4%, then you are actually losing money since that money can buy LESS this year than last.

Gas is $3.16 here.

seems like it was just a few wks ago everybody was complaining about gas prices, now you just hear the occasional mention that prices keep decreasing

True DD. While I appreciate $3.16 here, but I bet they'll decline further.

What would be amusing if not tragic is that some voters will base their presidential vote on gas prices.