Is a New York Apartment the New Graduation Gift?

What do these three graduates have in common? Student loans? Maybe. But that’s petty change when you’ve just been handed a swanky New York City apartment before you’ve even cut your teeth on your pending career.

It used to be that kids lucky enough to get a set of car keys for their graduation, even if they were to grandma’s 1988 Dodge K Car, were the envy of their peers. Is a New York Apartment the new New Car?

Evidently many parents are looking at real estate as an excellent way to reward their children while parking their money in what they hope will turn into a great investment, whether it’s for them or their kids. Some parents have purchased condos or co-ops and are letting their children live there for the time being, thinking in the future they will use the apartment themselves, while others are taking advantage of the gift exclusion and giving their kids an apartment outright.

Legal details abound, but when you’re a recent graduate living in a $1.15 million doorman apartment on the Upper East Side with a spa, climbing wall and basketball course, who cares? The sales director for the aforementioned building said that a dozen parents have bought apartments in that building in the past year. The most pressing question is, are any of these parents looking to adopt?

Source: NY Times

« London Mansion Slashes Price to $123 Million | Home | Design Tip: Paint the Ceilings, Not the Walls »