Hat tip to Ben’s commenter housegeek (scroll down) for this [1] outrageous find. The article, from tomorrow’s Sunday New York Times, is a brilliant piece of propaganda designed to coax single women to buy into the unstable condo markets of Dumbo and other Brooklyn neighborhoods. Here are some examples of how the author is persuading young singles to catch a falling knife.
Some women said that they felt their friends were better market indicators than any statistics that point to a downturn.
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While Ms. Brenner encouraged Ms. Montaigne to buy, Ms. Brenner had some reservations about the neighborhood. In the spring, Ms. Montaigne went to dinner at Ms. Brenner’s and encouraged the Brenners to move to Dumbo. The next weekend, the couple checked out the building for themselves.
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“There’s a certain amount of evangelism that goes on,” Ms. Montaigne said. “There are so many people who moved in because they knew someone else who bought in the building.”
By midsummer, Ms. Brenner and her husband, Michael Brenner, had put down a deposit on a $1.2 million one-bedroom. Ms. Brenner said she was now confident that the neighborhood had enough momentum and that apartments in Dumbo would keep their value.
Some women treat buying in a declining market as another stage of friendship, like making it through the college application process. Alexandra Dib, a 33-year-old food and wine consultant and jewelry designer, told friends about her new apartment at her recent baby shower. She and her husband, Said Dib, 45, the managing director of a global apparel firm, bought a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment for $815,000 at 110 Livingston Street.
