Lounsbury: Foot, must shoot it.

« So long as we're thinking of Cairo | Local color and low value commentary »

May 02, 2005

Foot, must shoot it.

This is on a purely local level. Appears we managed to completely fuck a project up with our biggest client. Delivered unwanted product, so to speak. Client hanging by a thread, lose this, we lose major baraka. Somehow I am completely at ease in this connexion. Local office (us) made it clear the junk pre-package idiocy they were trying to push was not what was wanted. Overruled. My boss sends message today: "Maybe you will start to listen to our advice." He had a moderately amusing observation: "I'm getting tired of constantly apologizing for how much we suck."

I personally am beginning to have a degree of fascination with the sound of ice ripping open metal.

Of course I got about 3 hours sleep last night thinking about this, and the fact I just bought an apartment here in a fit of madness (well okay bribing a woman, more or less the same concept).

To add some value to this post, I note that I have found the process of apartment buying to be utterly fascinating.

First, there is the real or 'black market' price. This is your point of negotiation. Once you arrive at a mutually irritating equilibruim price, then you go to the second round - how much of the price goes on the record, how much goes off the record. As the buyer this is important for two reasons. First, the on the record price is the price against which you can leverage your equity. Not the real price. Although there are caveats there which I will get back to. Second, the greater the off the record price the more you run the risk of an assessment that will really clobber you on real estate taxes. On the other hand, the off the record amount can end up being rediscounted. A bit of a strategic option, and depends on how much you want to lever up your property, your fear of the assessor, and the degree to which the black market gives you the jeebies. One can even get straight up legal advice from straight up sources on the 'customary' and 'acceptable' amounts in black.

Now, as to the lending price - well here there are some well accepted games to add back the black market portion of the real estate price via "furnishing and equipment" addition to the mortgage. The "furnishings" of course are suspiciously close to what the difference between tax declared value and real market value are - which is to say identical, and one can go to established bank-trusted sources for "supporting documentation."

I find the entire process very amusing to observe. Of course, I have not participated in any of these manuevers, I've merely observed. Wouldn't want to soil meself.

In any case, I have now foolishly engaged in a major side payment to the key woman - hopefully this will unwind some expectations. Of course it will not, actually, but I prefer to fool myself at the moment as I go through one of my habitual bouts of paranioa.

May 02, 2005

Foot, must shoot it.

Trackback Pings

Comments

Comment Subscription