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Posted by Todd Palino on February 20, 2001 at 01:10:56:

In Reply to: What did you learn from all this ? posted by Real Estate Mogul on February 19, 2001 at 21:57:32:

: Rather than focus on how awful your landlord was, why not think about what you've learned from this, so that others may learn from your mistakes ?

Trust me, that is very much how I look at this. I made some mistakes coming into this situation. I was rushed with the job change and the move, and as a result I rushed into the lease. I overestimated my ability to find a place, based on my past experiences, forgetting that the Boston rental market is very different from the ones I have been used to in Northern Virginia.

I also made some assumptions about the "typical rental" in the area. I should have known that not every place up here is an old building with problems. I've lived in the area before. It's not new to me. And unfortunately, coming out of a situation where I cashed in stock options and had funds, it was very easy to drop almost $9k in one sitting to secure the apartment. Had I been more strapped for cash, it wouldn't have been so quick.

My intention is not to focus on how awful I think my landlord is. My intention is to get into a better situation, which is what I'm doing. I also want to make sure, as best I can, that the remaining tenants and future tenants have a safe and sanitary place to live. I'd like to believe that I'm doing some good for the community. If I wanted to try and punish my landlord for something, I suppose I could take him to court and see if I could get money out of him. But I'd rather have him put the money into the building, where it belongs, to fix any problems that are found.

: I find it odd that you looked for a reasonably priced flat in Cambridge, one of the hottest real estate markets in the Boston area, and home to Harvard University. If you really want a reasonably priced apartment that welcomes pets, why did you not consider other neighborhoods like South Boston ? I have some good friends who grew up in that neighborhood and who love it.

I, as well, have family and friends who have lived all over the area. Cambridge, Somerville, Revere, Salem, Weymouth, South Boston, Neponset, Quincy... the list goes on. However, some years back I became enamoured with the Cambridge area. It's a failing I have; I get an idea in my head and have to follow through on it before I can see it wasn't the only option. I also had a desire to remain as close as possible to my office. I didn't want to be driving through the city, and my office is far enough from Kendall that I didn't want to have to rely on the T. What I should have been doing was looking at the northern suburbs more.

• Tony Madan: Landlord?

Follow Ups:

• Re: What did you learn from all this ? Renee 02/20/01 (1)
  • Re: What did you learn from all this ? Todd Palino 02/20/01 (0)

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: : Rather than focus on how awful your landlord was, why not think about what you've learned from this, so that others may learn from your mistakes ?

: Trust me, that is very much how I look at this.  I made some mistakes coming into this situation.  I was rushed with the job change and the move, and as a result I rushed into the lease.  I overestimated my ability to find a place, based on my past experiences, forgetting that the Boston rental market is very different from the ones I have been used to in Northern Virginia.  

: I also made some assumptions about the "typical rental" in the area.  I should have known that not every place up here is an old building with problems.  I've lived in the area before.  It's not new to me.  And unfortunately, coming out of a situation where I cashed in stock options and had funds, it was very easy to drop almost $9k in one sitting to secure the apartment.  Had I been more strapped for cash, it wouldn't have been so quick.

: My intention is not to focus on how awful I think my landlord is.  My intention is to get into a better situation, which is what I'm doing.  I also want to make sure, as best I can, that the remaining tenants and future tenants have a safe and sanitary place to live.  I'd like to believe that I'm doing some good for the community.  If I wanted to try and punish my landlord for something, I suppose I could take him to court and see if I could get money out of him.  But I'd rather have him put the money into the building, where it belongs, to fix any problems that are found.

: : I find it odd that you looked for a reasonably priced flat in Cambridge, one of the hottest real estate markets in the Boston area, and home to Harvard University.  If you really want a reasonably priced apartment that welcomes pets, why did you not consider other neighborhoods like South Boston ?  I have some good friends who grew up in that neighborhood and who love it.

: I, as well, have family and friends who have lived all over the area.  Cambridge, Somerville, Revere, Salem, Weymouth, South Boston, Neponset, Quincy... the list goes on.  However, some years back I became enamoured with the Cambridge area.  It's a failing I have; I get an idea in my head and have to follow through on it before I can see it wasn't the only option.  I also had a desire to remain as close as possible to my office.  I didn't want to be driving through the city, and my office is far enough from Kendall that I didn't want to have to rely on the T.  What I should have been doing was looking at the northern suburbs more.


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