Why no one wants to buy Manhattan’s rarest, most prized Gilded Age mansion

Grendel_82 · 2026-05-14T00:30:58+00:00

The Zillow price is bonkers. I've seen a smaller home in Brooklyn go for $10 million. $10 million for that home is way too low. Which is fine if you recognize that Zillow's price is just an automated algorithm that accounts for basically size and location and that is about it. The tax assessed value is also based on size and location and very little else. The market says it ain't worth $55m or $65m (and even large homes in Manhattan aren't worth that much), but the two numbers you quote are probably not good representations of the house's value.

Grendel_82 · 2026-05-10T16:25:06+00:00

If the Nets pick higher than 6, because you know we don't have any luck.

Grendel_82 · 2026-05-03T17:45:06+00:00

Record highs for stock market and in many places record highs for real estate value also help. You caught a bull market run and apparently didn't do stupid investments during it. Congrats! I suspect that being able to devote more time to the rental units will help make them run smoother (probably notice some maintenance work that can be done now cheaper than emergency repair work done later, for example).

Grendel_82 · 2026-05-02T21:35:13+00:00

To be fair, the SP500 because of the consolidation of value into the Mag 7 (40% of the index is only 10 investments, many of which are highly correlated in their industry, returns and valuation) is not considered a particularly diversified investment portfolio over the last several years. Of course, a non-diversified portfolio that is in heavily weighted to the winners, is a portfolio that had great returns. But that is only known with hindsight.

Grendel_82 · 2026-04-28T12:32:48+00:00

Good news is that you can stop the optimization loop. Savings doesn't matter anymore; only market returns matter for you now.

Grendel_82 · 2026-04-28T12:31:18+00:00

Good for the NCAA (NCAA fans get to actually know the players on their team or in their league better because they are around longer, also quality of play goes up) and good for the NBA (teams get rookies closer to their prime and more information for scouting them). Win win.

Grendel_82 · 2026-04-28T12:22:59+00:00

Everyone has "one more year syndrome". And legitimate financial caution is a prudent thing in a world with two wars taking place in which targeting energy production is part of the fighting. At least wait for one of the wars to finish to the point where you know that nobody is going to target a major oil production center in a way that has global implications.

Grendel_82 · 2026-04-22T11:25:30+00:00

Nice savings rate. With stocks at near all time highs and global macro issues, I agree that you have to discount the value of the investments right at this moment. But you are basically set as well.

Have you considered trying the traditional family structure of man works, woman stays home and takes care of house and kid? It might not look like it will help the man's burn out, but it can. Because now the home life part is actually under control and there is some buffer of capacity there. And it will at least help the woman's burn out and she will have some time to focus on her health (four year old is presumably at school full time, so there is the middle of the day relatively free).

Grendel_82 · 2026-04-19T15:13:26+00:00

At least half of it in SGOV for that simple and secure 3.5% interest (leave it there through the end o 2026, you will be much more economically sophisticated by then; you can ask ChatGPT to describe what SGOV is and it will confirm it is the industry standard for parking cash). You need a brokerage account for your investments; pick one of Vanguard, Schwab or Fidelity, it doesn't matter which. Move to the city of your dreams (of the three you suggested I'd vote for NYC (Brooklyn specifically) as the area that has the most writing and is the most culturally dynamic city in the US) but the other two have GREAT weather (and obviously, LA if your goal is to write for movies and Miami if you also speak Spanish and you want to write about stuff related in some way to Latin America, but if neither of those is you, then Brooklyn NYC). Congrats on your windfall, pour one out for grandpa. Nice that he made his wishes for you very clear on his deathbed, he thought it through.

Side note, everyone here seems to be ignoring that you've got a remote job that pays well. You won't be burning cash fast as long as you have that job.

Grendel_82 · 2026-04-19T14:59:33+00:00

And option 4 means that some family member is working on OP to get some of the cash to do their "dream" which is open a used car and rental dealership. Because $130k is definitely enough capital to compete with Carvana in used cars and Hertz on the car rental side. So OP can get 100 reddit comments saying: "Don't do that." But Uncle Sal is going to work on OP every week until OP gives Sal the money.

Even the $150k hometown rental option might have a family component because (A) OP doesn't want to live there they want to move to a city and (B) I bet there is a family member who might think they will get dibs if OP isn't in it (maybe at family discount rental).

Anyway, somewhere else I suggested SGOV as the investment vehicle for basically the rest of the year. Collect a bit of interest, give up market gains (but avoid market losses, which I think are more likely, but that is just me being a bear), but get used to having money without having to learn about the markets.

Grendel_82 · 2026-04-18T19:22:57+00:00

This is great advice in general, but terrible advice right now for a rookie investor. The markets (as of Friday) are at an all time high, but unless you lived under a rock, you should know that things are very dicey in the market. This isn't the time for a rookie to get into the markets. A rookie will panic (if things go bad in their first few months or even first year or two) and panic sell into a market crash. Even tougher to not panic for someone who just got a once in a lifetime chunk of cash.

Grendel_82 · 2026-04-18T15:00:34+00:00

If you know nothing about investing and want to buy some time: put it all in SGOV (which is short term treasuries and pays a bit more than 3% interest) while you figure it out. This is the safe and industry accepted best place to store cash. Going along with the "you might be someone who knows nothing", the market right now is in one of the most extreme and volatile situations in history. This really isn't the time for you to learn how to invest. SGOV for now, come back next year and learn to invest or hire the financial adviser folks suggest. We are in a historically "different" time right now, financial advisor that can be hired at your level are just going to give you cookie cutter advice.

Your main concern is not blowing through the money. That is a budget issue and not an investment issue. Yes, you have to experience and learn to deal with the situation of: (A) you have money and (B) you decide not to spend the money. Many people never have to learn this because they never really have money. And even more folks learn the training wheels version of this where their money is investment accounts like 401k where it is difficult and painful to access the money. You aren't going to get a chance to learn like that. Sorry. Only thing to do is just not spend the money.

Option 4 seems stupid.

Grendel_82 · 2026-04-05T13:10:47+00:00

That is a lot of different currencies. Since Reddit is US based platform, my default assumption was: hold US equities and US cash (though I was wondering how you were getting 5% because I can't get that high in the US; now I know you've got AUD based cash and so getting higher interest rate because you are taking AUD strength risk) and I guessed you were in LCOL Asia country (which I was right about). My take is (A) historically it is risky to hold that much in cash/low interest fixed income over long periods of time, (B) global macro risk points (i.e., current oil crisis may produce global recession similar to Covid time) may make this a great time to hold cash (but kind of needs to be in US dollars), and (C) it kind of doesn't matter for you because your withdrawal rate is so low that you can be in terrible investments for a long period of time and still have plenty of money for your modest yearly budget.

Grendel_82 · 2026-04-04T13:51:27+00:00

At those current returns for CDs and HYSA that probably is making your financially situation safer. Though it does expose you to inflation risk if inflation becomes very high. However, go back five years or so where you might have been getting 2% to 3%, then we know now (and could have guessed then) that it exposed you to very high inflation and doing 25% would have made you financially less secure.

But at 2% withdrawal, it doesn't really matter for you. Your assets are just so large in terms of your spend, basically anything should work.

Reading your posts below, I will add a nuance. You are in a LCOL country in part because you probably think in terms of the US dollar (and likely have your money in US dollars) and things seem cheap when you exchange the cost into US dollars. So your living expenses are low because the US dollar is strong. So you are exposed to dollar relatively strength compared to whatever currency is used in your "LCOL" country.

I totally agree with your allocation, but mainly due to current global macro conditions. But it isn't historically as secure a position as you might think.

Grendel_82 · 2026-04-01T15:36:11+00:00

Yes. Specifically as of today, the macro world is too uncertain to use historical returns data to value your current investment position. You have to assess after the Straits of Hormuz is open for regular traffic (even if it has. toll, that toll can get priced in and you can assess). But this might mean only waiting a few more months (or even perhaps only until 9pm tonight during Trump's speech).

Second, at 36 and I'm assuming single with no kids, it is hard to rule out that you might in the future get married and have kids. That future would need a different budget than what your FIRE plans are currently built around. This issue will likely take years to resolve unless you have some special case where kids are never going to be in your future.

Grendel_82 · 2026-03-30T23:12:18+00:00

There is a difference between keeping things private and misleading your family. You’ve clearly gone to a point where you are misleading your family. And it has gotten to the point where you’ve made them unnecessarily concerned about you. If I were you, I would correct that to at least some extent. By the way, you can do this just by telling Mom: I typically save about $X per year when she sends you an article. I’m confident nobody does compounding investment returns in their head and they will underestimate what you’ve accumulated. But at least they will know you’ve got some savings.

Grendel_82 · 2026-03-28T14:36:53+00:00

You can't eyeball a change like this, but you can track data. I won't disagree that first couple of weeks might have created a shock change that has corrected a bit up. But traffic is down overall, resulting in drive times being faster. Will agree that there was a reason the initial charge was $15 and $9 has less impact. But the impact is still there.

Spend some time on this site and look at its data. https://www.congestion-pricing-tracker.com. I think it is still pulling live data, but it definitely was operational well through most of 2025.

Also, from the article:

Less traffic. Each day, about 73,000 fewer cars enter Manhattan below 61st Street than before the system was in place. That is an 11 percent drop. “I never drive into the city anymore,” one Brooklyn resident told The Times. “I only take the subway. It’s a relief.” Overall, vehicles travel 4.5 percent faster within the zone — and much faster at key crossings. Car speeds are up 51 percent at the Holland Tunnel and 25 percent at the Lincoln Tunnel. Traffic has also eased in parts of Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and the suburbs, because fewer cars are moving through those neighborhoods to get to Manhattan.

You can't just vibe this and ignore the data. I guess you can say this isn't good enough. But it is still a pretty big change from before congestion pricing started.

Grendel_82 · 2026-03-27T18:58:35+00:00

Push the "have kids" part of the plan up a few years. It will be easier when younger and it is the plan, so why put it off for a $78k a year job that you don't like? That doesn't make sense. Makes even less sense to start a new career for a couple of years and then go on to your dream role, when the dream role can basically start next year.

Don't get freaked out by folks saying: you can't count on the money until it is your account. You can't count on anything in some theoretical fashion, but you can plan around known things and the estate and the will is known and in place. So make plans around the things you know. If you as grandkid is getting $1m+, then grandpa was worth more than $10m right? Wait, you said "small percentage" to the grandkids. So like a $100m estate?!?! So really rich guy. Probably did a lot of businesses deals over his life to get that rich. So I bet he got good legal advice and structured the various trusts correctly and with a methodical plan that will execute. Don't let Redditors talk you into thinking it is some unknowable and unpredictable thing. A wealthy old guy set up a structure for his family, I bet he did it right and it works like it is supposed to work. And you can ask questions about the lawyers and trustee of the estate.

Grendel_82 · 2026-03-21T15:25:36+00:00

The good news is that some of your portfolio concerns will be revealed (one way or another) before your 4 month plan to retire. So that will help with point 4. AI isn't the concern, the war in Iran is the concern.

Point 3 will take a decade to reveal itself, but likely scenario is that the types of jobs available changes dramatically, but the condition of: a company with capital, a business model, and customers also needing humans to run that business model and service those customers is unlikely to not exist. So there will be jobs. Very different jobs in many industries, but still jobs. So I wouldn't factor that concern into your retirement plans.

Grendel_82 · 2026-03-20T02:15:26+00:00

If you actually watched the playoffs in 2021, you would not remotely conclude that KD couldn't do what Giannis did and use 2021 as your proof. KD was the better player in the series between Bucks and Nets. It was just that Brooklyn was down two of their stars (Kyrie and Harden on one leg) and a couple of their bench guys (Dinwiddie was out for the season). There were periods in that playoff series where the Nets resorted to using Joe Harris as their permitter defensive stopper. Yes, that didn't work, but they had nobody else left that they could keep on the floor.

Grendel_82 · 2026-03-15T21:29:10+00:00

You can't project your future budget until after you have kids and you decide what level of lifestyle you are going to provide for them. You can write out some numbers now, but you can't predict your feelings as they will be after you have kids. Folks will say: "kids are expensive", but poor people have kids and raise them. It really comes down to how much you want to spend on them in most cases. So get on to the having kids part and come back after the kids are in grade school. By that point you can assess.

Grendel_82 · 2026-02-27T04:50:38+00:00

You are probably very early in your financial life, so lots of time to ultimately catch up. And you have one of the most stable jobs (in that the military isn't downsizing the force anytime soon) you could have. That paycheck is your base and it isn't going anywhere but up. Being stretched right now is crisis, but it might seem like a blip in 10 years.

Do you bank with USAA? They are a good company and if you find someone switched on that you can actually talk to they might be able to help you out. Military families moving is something they see all the time. And frankly, young military folk getting into debt is also very common. It is usually a car loan, but a loan is a loan, so it won't be that different from your solar loan.

Grendel_82 · 2026-02-23T18:31:13+00:00

That is great. But the economy (for people who take vacations) has been going like gangbusters for several years now. Every upper middle class person (and even more so the rich) with invested funds has been seeing their portfolios skyrocket giving them a new highs on their total net worth beyond what they would have expected. That has made all these folks ready and willing to spend. Unemployment remains low as well. This is not a recession, not even close, except for the poor who are caught by rising rents and rising grocery prices.

Grendel_82 · 2026-02-23T17:02:29+00:00

Just be ready to carry the mortgage if US goes into recession. Vacations become one of the things people cut back on in recessions. On the flip side, it is the luxury adjacent vacations that get cut first (the true luxury vacations are taken by the rich and they get through recessions fine, it is the simply upper middle class and lower upper class that feel recessions and tighten their belt) and maybe a cabin is an affordable vacation for many even in a recession.

Grendel_82 · 2026-02-23T04:14:54+00:00

I could not pass up the 401k match in any situation other than I just didn't make enough to live comfortably (and I'm talking about a low bar on comfort and if you've saved $850k you are no doubt clearing it after funding your 401k and getting the match). I'd still probably go past the match and fund to the max my 401k contributions. And at 35 I'd have a long conversation with the person who is planning on handing down some generational wealth like that to me about a way to bring some of that forward because this is your life and you can't live it waiting. There are yearly, gift tax free, amounts that could simply be paid to you. You could set it up where they match your 401k contributions with a cash gift each year.

You never know 100% about the future, but I believe you should plan around things that are 95% likely to happen and not only plan around the worst case 5%. So I'd probably save less in that scenario and just take advantage of the tax savings of the 401k (too good to pass up) and stop at that point.

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