0 0 0 r Living n the trap of luxury Ann Arbor's most expnsive student ousing isn't quite worth the price By Trevor Calero II Daily News Editor WednesdayU.TS"0 . T EEE QUOTES OF THE WEEK I had a house for homeless people. Now, I'm homeless." - SHERI WEST, a resident of Cleveland, Ohio, explaining how she lost her home last spring as a result of foreclosure. A few years ago, West ran a group shelter for homeless people, doing their laundry and cookingtorthem, until she couldn't afford it "For...everyone who walks through the doors, their claims are taken at face value." - YOLANDA B. JIMENEZ, a woman who works with victims of domestic violence at the mayor's office in New York City, explaining the city's policy after it was discovered that six women lied about being domestically abused in order to get housing subsidies from the city government 4 Eleven Lofts 9 minutes - Walk to 'Block M $165 - Price of a parking spot $795 - Rent per person for a four bedroom, two bathroom apartment The urban-inspired rooms and sleek, minimalist Residents complained aboui the size of the fitness furniture at 4 Eleven Lofts look more Manhattan room (there are only six machines), as well as noise than Ann Arbor. And because the building is just two traveling through the paper-thin walls. blocks from Main Street, there are countless nearby "You can hear everything that goes on in the other bars, restaurants and other entertainment venues. apartments," Business junior Ian Mark said. "Our Like Zaragon Place and The Courtyards, 4 Eleven neighbors complain about us all the time." Lofts has a fitness room for residents and provides And though residents laud the proximity to down- an HD flat-screen television for each living room. All town, anyone with classes farther than Angell Hall utilities, including cable and Internet, are covered has a much longer commute. with a flatrate of $95- which can be a deal, consider- "I'm a B-school student so my walk is brutal," ing high winter heatingbills for drafty older houses. Business sophomore Jake Barnett said. "I know in The benefits of living at 4 Eleven, however, end the winter it's going to be really tough." there. The rooms are small and don't come with light- Our advice: Proximity to the Main Street bars is ing, while storage space is seriously lacking. There definitely a plus for graduate students and seniors are no closets and the armoires that come with the who are tired of South University nightlife. But you rooms take up what precious space there is. can find a cheaper place with better insulated walls. TALKING POINTS Three things you can talk about this week: 1. Unlawful lease clauses 2. Ex-A.I.G Chief Maurice Greenberg 3. Paul Haggis on Scientology And three things you can't: 1. The off-campus housing rush 2. Seeing the South U. fire 3. Dick Cheney on Afghanistan "I have never seen anything this bad." - DAN TISHMAN, head of Tishman Construction, describing how the current housing bubble will soon affect commercial real estate owners, whose shopping malls, hotels and apartment buildings will suffer a drastic decrease in value. This decline in prices will make it harder to pay mortgages 4 minutes - Walk to 'Block M' $180 - Price of a parking spot Location, location, location. The biggest perk to living at Zaragon Place is a short walk to Central Campus. It's right across the street from the library, the Ross School of Business and numerous South University bars and restaurants. The fitness room is huge and the concrete walls and ceilings help to insulate the sound, blocking out noise from the endless parties that seem to happen in the building. "There are a lot of parties up on the ninth floor," LSA junior Kate Slaga said. "But as soon asI go down (to my apartment), I can't hear a single thing. They'll be blasting music and you can't hear it at all." The ninth floor is home to eight two-story pent- houses that provide a view of the South University area - for whatever that might be worth. $1,100 - Rent per person for a four bedroom, two bathroom apartment Zaragon currently features an on-site cafe on the main floor, with soups, salads and sandwiches. And with a grocery store on the way, residents will soon be able to have beer, wine and pre-packaged meals delivered to their door. Residents gave the person- able staff high marks. Boasting a convenient location and above average amenities, Zaragon is by far one of the most expen- sive student-focused apartment buildings in Ann Arbor. Residents say it's worth it, but these residents are also more affluent students. Our advice: If you can afford it, Zaragon's a great place to live. Nothing beats the location and on-site food services, and the residents sure know how to have fun. But do you really need to be paying this much to live in Ann Arbor? Zaragon Place YOUTU BE VIDEO OF THE WEEK Bubble trouble For many college students, the housing bubble remains an inscru- table concept, something about refinancing and equity and adjust- ahle-rate mortgages. And why is it even called a huhhle in the first place? Well, this video hopes to answer that question. Set to a folksy tune with a catchy beat, the video fea- tures the animated story of Johnny Homoner (pronounced with long "o's"), a stick figure who becomes a victim of the housing crisis. When we first meet Johnny, he is reading a newspaper with "Buy Homes Now" scrawled across the front page. Suddenly, bubbles filled with illustrations of houses are swirling around him, with the nar- rator singing, "It was worth 250, but appraised for double." At which point, Johnny touches a bubble that has 250,000 written inside it; the bub- ble pops, and the number magically changes to 500,000. Johnny is eventually seduced by a lender, who encourages him to buy a new houseand quickly refinance it. Next, we see Johnny relaxing on the beach, a drink in hand. You know where this is going. His rate resets, and he can no lon- ger afford his mortgage. When John- ny reappears, he's sleeping on a park bench. THEME PARTY SUGGESTION BY THE NUMBERS Landlord Summit - It's house-hunting season. All your friends are probably signing leases with crooked landlords, who are charging them exorbitant rent prices and demanding the insurance deposit up front. Instead of being cheated, you should convene a meeting with your friends to discuss Landlord Diplomacy. This must include, among other things, reading Henry Kissinger's memoirs. Just remember: lower rent equals more beer. Throwing this party? Let us know. TheStatement@umich.edu K The Courtyards 36 minutes - Walk to 'Block M' $699 - Rent per person for a four $90 or $110 - Price of a parking spot- bedroom, four bathroom apartment Yes, it's on North Campus. If you have classes in Lorch, go to parties on Greenwood and eat at Sadako for every meal, then The Courtyards are out of the question. But for Engineering majors and School of Art & Design students, nothingbeats this value-priced pick. The Courtyards are the cheapest of the three luxu- ry studentecomplexes, and rife with amenities: tanning beds, a badminton court, a 24-hour fitness room, a state-of-the art theater room with stadium seating and surround sound, study rooms on every floor and mul- tiple common areas that provide grills, fireplaces and gaming systems for the residents free of charge. Each bedroom also comes with its own private bathroom. . "I've had the experience of living on Central and now on North. It was a factor to consider," Engineer- ing junior Katelyn Videto said. "But I can honestly tell you there isn't anything I don't like aboutbeing here." The Courtyards apartments aren't loft-style or urban. The rooms are simple and pleasantly decorated, more like a parent's home than a friend's city apart- ment. Our advice: Don't live here if you have no business being on North Campus. But if the majority of your classes are there, and your friends are too, The Court- yards are yourbestbet (free tanning andbadminton). Hell, if North Campus wasn't so damn far away, we might even consider living there. The percentage by which existing home sales increased in September, the highest level in two years The median price, in dollars, of homes sold in September. The figure is 8.5 percent less than the median price of homes a year ago The percentage of home sales in September that involved distressed properties like foreclosures - BRIAN TENGEL See this and other YouTube videos ofthe week at youtube.com/user/michigandaily I If STUDY OF THE WEEK Rising unemployment increases foreclosures The number of houses facing foreclosure increased more than five percent from July to September, a trend that is largely due to rising unemployment, according to a report recently released hy RealtyTrac Snc., a firm that specializes in monitoring foreclo- sures. The report indicated that almost 938,000 properties were hit with foreclosure during that three-month period, an increase from the preceding three months, when 890,000 properties were fore- closed. Given these numbers, the report stated, foreclosures could reach 3.5 million by the end of the year. Last year, 2.3 million prop- erties were affected by foreclosure. Despite President Obama's efforts to provide federal assistance to borrowers, the surging unemployment rate - currently 9.8 per- cent - has produced a steady stream of people who are defaulting on their mortgages. - BRIAN TENGEL