The Long Road Out

Like many families, we've applied for a refi on our New York City apartment.  The refi is for an amount equal to approximately 28% of the appraised value.  This seems like a pretty safe transaction since so many people we know have financed up to 100% of appraised value in the last six months.  Rates are low and it's a good time to move cash out of real estate in a bad market. Here's the latest message I received from the mortgage banker I've been working with for 50 days. (I submitted all or most of these documents six weeks ago, got a Commitment Letter, and then that letter was shockingly cancelled this week.  The Bank has now offered me an alternative solution with significant points, closing costs, a higher interest rate, and significantly worse terms.  I think the banking term for this behavior is "larceny." Plus, lots of fun photocopying so that I can pay extra points, interest, and principal compared to TD Bank's signed Commitment Letter they failed...

We've been abused by AirBnB several times recently, and we just locked in apartments for late fall 2019 (so we don't miss our favorites which are already largely booked for that period). This gives us some expertise on all the anti-renter policies. The worst one of course is the handling of cash.   If you rent now, AirBnB charges 100% of the rental and their fees.   You pay.   It doesn't matter when the term starts or ends.   Even IHG and Marriott and the rest of the bricks and mortar hospitality industry don't have the balls to do that! It puts AirBnB up there with only one similarly lousy group:   the airlines!   Now for the next injustice--penalties start immediately.   If, for instance, you've rented a place for a month, on day 2, the penalty is 30 days.   In other words, AirBnB took my money yesterday, claims 100% of it now, and I have to stay alive and healthy long enough to show up November 15, 2019 for a full month to benefit from ...

Bright-shiny-object of the second: Guiliani says truth is not truth.   Every since Rudy reemerged from the dustbins of celebrity, he's been short a few brain cells.  But, since he's a celebrity, he can't stop sharing his impairment. Recall that his first effort to ride on Trump's celebrity machine was his insipid and manic assertion that he represented Don in the Stormy Daniels' non-disclosure fee.  It's hard to know.   Trump had corrected Guiliani three times by tweet in the first 24 hours of Rudy's cool new client engagement (has the White House actually written any checks to Rudy?   Wow, that's pretty low value for taxpayer dollars.   He's senile!).  I've never loved the Guiliani brand.   Most people forget about his admirable U.S. Attorney career where he really did get some bad guys (remember the Pizza Connection RICO trial?   No one outside Guiliani's office ever used RICO as effectively since, as the Galahad's sword it was i...

"Would it be possible to get the flourless chocolate cake with just a tiny bit of flour? Thanks so much!"